Youth Moves to gem of a song

POP stars, it is absolutely fair to say, don't always inspire the best of behaviour.

Not least sartorially, especially to an unformed fashion sense exposed to their influence at an early stage of development.

More years ago than I care to count, I hankered after the tanned limbs, swept, cemented 'bangs' – as I once bravely, briefly, referred to my fringe – spearmint breath and perfect dentistry of wholesome '80s popstrel Debbie Gibson.

Less easy to emulate than you might think in the rainy north-west of Britain, where dentists took a very hands-off approach to gnarly teeth and hairdressers a very hands-on approach to making you resemble, as closely as humanly possible, a ginger poodle. As a technique for preserving my girlhood innocence, it worked excellently.

Now, tweens heave sighs over the less is more look of Rihanna or Lady Gaga – ham hock handbag, anyone? – or explosion-at-the-Elizabeth-Duke-counter excess of hip-hoppers like Kanye West. All poor old mum and dad can do is pray more extreme lapses in taste – like the latter's radical decision to replace all his teeth with diamonds – does no lasting damage.

But for Alderney Keep Fit Association Youth Moves at least, Kanye and his fondness for bling have been nothing but a force for good.

Angela Stanley, Alderney KFA Youth Moves founder, teacher and choreographer, is taking 20 girls, aged eight to 16, to the KFA National Festival in Milton Keynes next June to represent the Southern Counties. The first hurdle she faced was finding the right piece of music.

'I can't work anything out until I'm inspired by a piece of music,' Angela explained. 'But I was in Cyprus in a friend's villa at the end of August, sat around the pool, when my son Matt played Kanye West's Diamonds from Sierra Leone. It was a pretty funny sight, me in my swimwear dancing some of the moves around the pool. But I knew I could use it.'

She realised it had all the elements she was looking for. A precious stone – next year marks the emerald anniversary of the national dance festival so the theme is gemstones – and an upbeat, contemporary vibe.

Said Angela: 'The idea is we are going funky, because we will be one of only two youth teams performing at the festival. The music starts off very prettily with Shirley Bassey singing Diamonds are Forever and there's a rap section where we are bringing in some street dancing.'

The next obstacle was the cost.

Determined to raise as much of the £10,000 needed for their trip themselves, 35 KFA youngsters – and Angela – are currently recovering from a 24-hour dance-athon held jointly to raise the £10,000 for the trip and help local youngster Kaylee Tugby.

Anyone with a few spare diamonds at their disposal, especially those with thoughts straying to available surgical options, is urged to get in touch. (ange@stanleys.co.uk.). If you're listening, Kanye, this could be a whole new chapter for you.