Fear, loneliness and pain are themes of work to be performed at the prestigious Royal Opera House by gifted students from Ramsgate’s Marlowe Academy.

Thirty-three youngsters from Years 8, 9 and 12 chose these themes to create an original piece of work incorporating dance and music inspired by the subject Wild Earth.

They will perform at the ROH’s Linbury Studio Theatre on Thursday as the climax of a year-long collaborative creative dance and music project.

Students have undertaken workshops with ROH Education leading up to performances of their 10 minute pieces at evening and matinee shows.

These will showcase work by 270 young musicians, dancers, choreographers and designers from nine academies in London, Thurrock, Birmingham and Derby, as well as Ramsgate.

It is part of the Creative Exchange project in which the ROH teams up with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to explore the relationship between music and dance.

Marlowe Academy students have visited the ROH and met dancers from its orchestra backstage and dancers from the Royal Ballet and seen the professionals in action.

Vicky Goldfinch, school head of dance, said: “We are very pleased to have such strong links with the ROH, enabling students to gain additional expert tuition to help them to create an innovative performance piece.

“The performance in July brings down the curtain on this particular project, but we hope to work closely with the ROH for the benefit of our students in future years.”

Paul Reeve, ROH director of education, said: “Creating completely original work is an exciting, challenging and incredibly rewarding process.

“Our aim is that this project will allow academy teachers, and in turn their students, the freedom to experiment and try new ways of creating material.”

The Marlowe Academy specialises in the performing arts and business studies and its link with the ROH was set up three years ago by the school’s creative and media team leader Naomi Black.