Press Release: Boost in funding for young dance talent as National Youth Dance Company announces new guest choreographer

[Jan McNulty]

Boost in funding for young dance talent as National Youth Dance Company announces new guest choreographer

- £450k from Department for Education and Arts Council England to nurture young dancers through NYDC 
- French-Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet to guide dancers in fifth year of work

LONDON, Friday 1 April 2016 - The National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), the country’s flagship organisation for young dancers run by world-leading contemporary dance venue and producing house Sadler’s Wells, has been granted further support for the year ahead of £200,000 from the Department for Education and £250,000 from Arts Council England, to continue nurturing the country’s greatest young dance talent and building the leading dance artists of the future.

The funding will be used for NYDC’s upcoming fifth year of work, for which French-Belgian choreographer and performer Damien Jalet has been appointed as Guest Artistic Director, and is a crucial element of the Department for Education and Arts Council England’s support for young people’s creative learning and development. In continuing with NYDC as one of its core artistic programmes, Sadler’s Wells further cements its dedication to developing young dance artists and nurturing emerging talent.

Damien Jalet will take over from NYDC’s current Guest Artistic Director Michael Keegan-Dolan, an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, whose new creation In – Nocentes will be premiered by the current NYDC cohort at Sadler’s Wells on Thursday 7 April. The production then tours to seven locations around the country in June and July. 

Through NYDC Experience Workshops 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 will mentor these dancers in three intensive residencies spread across the year to create, rehearse and develop the piece.

Since its inception in 2012, 120 dancers have become NYDC members, chosen from 48 different towns and cities in England to work with the some of the greatest names of 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. NYDC has a track record of putting young people on paths to successful dance careers, with over 80% of all former NYDC dancers now either in further dance studies, in vocational training or working professionally.

Damien Jalet has been the closest and most regular collaborator of Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Together they have choreographed Babel(words), which won two Olivier awards in 2011, and Bolero, a collaboration with performance artist Marina Abramovic for Paris Opéra Ballet in 2013. Jalet recently collaborated with cutting-edge fashion designer Hussein Chalayan on the Sadler’s Wells 2015 production Gravity Fatigue.

Jalet’s work aims to make dance dialogue with other art forms, which led him to collaborate with high profile artists such as sculptors Jim Hodges, Antony Gormley, and Nawa Kohei, designers Bernhard Willhelm, Jean Paul Lespagnard, and Riccardo Tisci, film director Arthur Nauzyciel, and  musicians Fennesz, Florence and the Machine, Ben Frost, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Alistair Spalding, Sadler’s Wells’ Artistic Director and Chief Executive, said: “Damien Jalet has made a great impression at Sadler’s Wells with both his co-authorship of Babel with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and his work on our production Gravity Fatigue last year, where his choreography flawlessly translated Hussein Chalayan’s vision. I very much look forward to seeing how Damien’s original ideas and distinct approach will inspire our National Youth Dance Company and what kind of piece he will create with the young dancers."

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists Jasmin Vardimon, Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaouipreceded Jalet and Keegan-Dolan as NYDC Guest Artistic Directors. Through their work with NYDC, these internationally acclaimed figures illustrate their commitment to young artists and highlight the power young dancers have to shape the future of dance.

On Saturday 2 April National Youth Dance Company leads the celebrations of Get Greative Day at Sadler's Wells, an afternooon of free dance and culture activities open to all the local community. Get Creative Day is organised by BBC and What Next? featuring over 100 events around the country. 

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

In – Nocentes tour dates:
Thursday 7 April: Sadler's Wells, London
Sunday 26 June: Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham 
Saturday 3 July: Dance City, Newcastle 
Sunday 4 July: Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds 
Friday 8 July: The Lowry, Salford
Tuesday 19 July: Jerwood Dance House, Ipswich 
Thursday 21 July: Falmouth University
Saturday 23 July: Mac, Birmingham

NYDC Experience Workshops for 2016-17 intake:
Saturday 28 May: DanceXchange, Birmingham
Sunday 29 May: Sadler’s Wells, London
Monday 30 May: UClan, Preston
Tuesday 31 May: Wyke College, Hull
Wednesday 1 June: Marina Studios, Brighton
Thursday 2 June: The Garage, Norwich
Friday 3 June: Dance East, Ipswich
Saturday 4 June: Swindon Dance
Saturday 4 June: Plymouth Dance
Sunday 5 June: The Point, Eastleigh
Sunday 26 June: Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham
Saturday 2 July: Dance City, Newcastle
Sunday 3 July: Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds
Saturday 9 July: Manchester 

About National Youth Dance Company 
Founded in 2012, and hosted at Sadler’s Wells, NYDC is an exciting young company that creates and performs innovative and influential dance, drawing together some of the brightest young talent from across the country to work with Sadler’s Wells’ internationally renowned Associate Artists. NYDC is funded jointly by Arts Council England and the Department for Education, from the National Lottery and Grant in Aid funds.

Since NYDC’s inception in 2012:
- 120 dancers have joined the company, working intensively with renowned dance artists including Guest Artistic Directors: Jasmin Vardimon (2012-13), Akram Khan (2013-14) and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (2014-15) and Michael Keegan Dolan (2015-16). These 120 dancers come from 48 different towns and cities in England.
- Over 1500 young people have worked with the company
- NYDC has delivered 66 workshops in 26 different venues across 23 towns and cities
- Over 25,000 people have seen the company perform
- NYDC has featured in 36 performances, visiting 19 different venues across the UK, including some leading theatres in the country.

About Sadler’s Wells
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance house, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding, the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap.

Since 2005, it has helped to bring over 100 new dance works to the stage and its award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour internationally. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies, an Associate Company and two International Associate Companies. It also nurtures the next generation of talent through research and development, running the National Youth Dance Company and a range of programmes including Wild Card, New Wave Associates, Open Art Surgery and Summer University.

Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England.