The national dance company opening doors for young performers – Positive News
A national youth dance programme is bringing together 16–24-year-olds from across England to perform on major stages, widening access beyond traditional training routes
A national youth dance programme is bringing together 16–24-year-olds from across England to perform on major stages, widening access beyond traditional training routes
As concern grows that young people are being priced out of creative opportunities, a national youth dance company is putting performers without formal training onto major stages.
The National Youth Dance Company, a programme run by the London dance theatre Sadler’s Wells, brings together young dancers aged 16 to 24 from across England, recruiting from a wide range of backgrounds and dance styles rather than only from formal training routes.
Its latest cohort features 32 dancers from 25 towns, cities and villages, from Blackpool to Brighton and Colchester to Exmouth. After opening its latest production, Memory Keepers, earlier this year, the company continues its July run with performances in Falmouth, Sadler’s Wells East and Coventry.
The programme arrives at a time of growing concern about access to the arts. New research commissioned by London’s Roundhouse found that 87% of 18- to 30-year-olds believe they have fewer chances than previous generations to connect with others, build confidence and be creative outside school or work. The Roundhouse and the Centre for Young Lives are now leading the Young Creatives Commission, a national inquiry into widening access to arts, culture and creative careers.
Hannah Kirkpatrick, head of the National Youth Dance Company, said representation was central to the programme, now in its 14th cohort.
“We want young people to come and watch the company and see themselves represented,” she said. “It’s the country’s national youth dance company so it is important that young people from all different backgrounds, from different areas of the country, from different dance styles and disabled and non-disabled dancers are there.”
Since it was founded, NYDC has worked with more than 12,000 young people. Its 10-year report found that nine in 10 company members went on to further training or work in dance or the performing arts, while 24% came from the 30% most deprived postcodes nationally.
Michael Omoruyi, an 18-year-old dancer from Blackpool, told Positive News that NYDC had helped him grow “not just as a creative but as a person”.
“NYDC has helped me not only perform on one of the world’s most renowned stages but also network and befriend lots of like-minded creatives across the nation,” he said. “Cohorts become families filled with passion and love for our art and for each other, and that’s what dance is about – bringing us together, with no barriers or boundaries.”
Images: Elly Welford
Main image: Students rehearse the production Memory Keepers, which tours the UK this summer
YFX Presents: National Youth Dance Company x Alleyne Dance – Sadler’s Wells East
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