Eight-year-old Burnley dance sensation to perform with Justin Bieber in Cardiff

A young Burnley dancer has seen her dreams come true after she was picked to be one of just four back-up dancers for Justin Bieber at his Cardiff show later this week.
Destiny (third from right) will be performing alongside Justin Bieber.Destiny (third from right) will be performing alongside Justin Bieber.
Destiny (third from right) will be performing alongside Justin Bieber.

Eight-year-old Destiny Mannan - who dances at Next Level Dance, a professional studio based at Burnley College - was chosen from thousands of applicants after the clip of herself performing a set routine by Bieber's choreographer, Nick Demoura, was singled out.

After Destiny had practiced the routine for months, her mother Siobhan Waddington uploaded her video to YouTube and thought nothing more of it until she was casually checking her emails earlier this week.

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"I refreshed my email, and it just said: 'Purpose Tour,'" said Siobhan. "I couldn't believe it; I just screamed - it was half ten at night, Destiny was in bed - but I couldn't help it. Out of thousands of people, one of the four picked is my daughter!"

Now preparing to travel down to Cardiff, where Bieber will be performing his Purpose World Tour gig at the Principality Stadium this Friday, June 30th, Destiny and Siobhan are understandably on cloud nine.

"She's always been a dancer, it's her life from the moment she gets up," explained Siobhan. "Even at school, all she does in the yard is dance. There's a video of Destiny on Facebook of her singing Justin Bieber when she was two!

"Everyday, she'd practice, and it certainly paid off," Siobhan - who will be attending the event with her younger daughter, Alissia, Destiny's grandmother, Lynn, and her niece, Shannon - added. "The family was gobsmacked; I've not been able to sleep right! Her little sister keeps saying: 'I'm so proud of you!'"

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Having been told about the chance to perform with Bieber by Destiny's dance teacher, Next Level Dance's Lucy Fallows, Siobhan said: "If it wasn't for Lucy we wouldn't have known about this and we wouldn't be where we are today," while everyone at Next Level is understandably proud.

"We're absolutely over the moon," said Lucy. "She's a dedicated and hardworking student, she comes to every class, gets on well with the rest of the girls, and she definitely deserves what she's got.

"It's crazy to have a representative from Next Level Dance," Lucy added. "They've only picked four children out of the whole of the UK for the Cardiff event, so for someone from Next Level to be there is absolutely crazy!"