New leader for the National Youth Dance Company
Stacey MacNaught |
A recent boost in funding for the National Youth Dance Company means that the young dance talent which makes up the group will be working with new guest choreographer, Damien Jalet. A £450k grant from the Department for Education and Arts Council England will enable the NYDC to nurture its young dancers in its fifth year of operating.
Referred to as the country’s flagship organisation for young dancers the NYDC will benefit from the choreographic expertise of French-Belgian choreographer Jalet, run by world-leading contemporary dance venue and producing house Sadler’s Wells. Jalet will take over from NYDC’s current Guest Artistic Director Michael Keegan-Dolan, whose newest creation will tour to seven locations around the country in June and July following a premiere at Sadler’s Wells.
The funding will be used for NYDC’s upcoming fifth year of work, to continue nurturing some of the country’s young dance talent and building leading dance artists for the future. NYDC is now one of core artistic programmes at Sadler’s Wells, further emphasising its dedication to developing young dance artists and nurturing emerging talent.
Through NYDC Experience Workshops to be held in May and June in 14 different towns and cities, the company will look for a fresh intake of dancers for 2016-17, to work with Jalet in the creation of a new contemporary dance piece. Jalet’s work aims to combine dance with other art forms, following the Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists who preceded him. Jasmin Vardimon, Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Keegan-Dolan have all worked with NYDC to highlight the power young dancers have to shape the future of dance.
Since its inception in 2012, 120 dancers have become NYDC members, chosen from 48 different towns and cities in England to work with some of the greatest names in contemporary dance. The company has worked with over 1,500 young people over the years and more than 25,000 audience members have seen the company perform.