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Posted (edited)
Just saw that the BBC Young Dancer will take place again in 2017 with four categories: ballet, contemporary, street dance and South Asian dance. The closing date for entries is now 2nd October, 2016. Category finals will be in January 2017, with the finals on 20th-22nd April, 2017


 

I have mixed feelings about this event. I did enjoy the 2015 final at Sadler's Wells - it was particularly interesting to see forms of dance about which I knew very little. And there were certainly some good ballet dancers. But with the schedule and the lack of focus on ballet etc. it was hardly surprising that entries from the top vocational schools were low.

 

...I do miss YBDY, and the following Spring joint vocational schools performance, and hope we'll get more opportunities to see the best UK ballet students perform on the same stage.

 

[edited to add competition categories]
Edited by Yaffa
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Posted

I felt that YBDY gave many trainee ballet dancers the chance to show themselves to both prospective employers and the public in a way which BBC Young Dancer does not. And many  dancers (not necessarily 'winners') were 'discovered' in that competition by fans who have delightedly followed their progress ever since.

 

The competition also gave the feeling of opening up the Royal Ballet School which seems to be missing now.

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  • 4 months later...
Posted

Press Release with more information:

 

BBC YOUNG DANCER 2017 CATEGORY FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

 

  • Twenty Category Finalists from around the UK announced today across Ballet, Contemporary, South Asian Dance and Street Dance

 

  • All Category Finalists to be mentored by leading dance practitioners as they prepare for the Finals

 

  • Category Finals judging panel announced featuring distinguished figures from across the world of dance

 

  • Category Finals to be broadcast on BBC Four in March and April

 

 

BBC Young Dancer 2017 today unveils the twenty talented young dancers who have made it through to the Category Finals of the competition. Dancers aged 16-21 from across the UK were selected through two preliminary rounds to compete in four Category Finals – Ballet, Contemporary, South Asian Dance and Street Dance.

 

One winner from each category will be selected to receive a trophy, £1,000 towards further dance studies and a place in the Grand Final – together with at least one ‘wild card’ from across the Category Finals who impressed the judges with their potential despite not winning their category.

 

The Category Finals will be broadcast on BBC Four throughout March and April, before the Grand Final, which will be broadcast live from Sadler’s Wells on BBC Two, on 22 April.

 

 

 

Category Finalists

 

Ballet

-  Ryan Felix, 16 (West Midlands) 

-  Uyu Hiromoto, 19 (Argyll) 

-  Jade Wallace, 19 (Derbyshire) 

-  Oscar Ward, 18 (Nottingham) 

-  Rhys Antoni Yeomans, 18 (London) 

 

Contemporary

-  Joshua Attwood, 19 (Nottingham) 

-  Nafisah Baba, 20 (London) 

-  Jacob Lang, 20 (Kent) 

-  Nora Monsecour, 20 (Belgium/Leeds)

-  John-William Watson, 18 (Leeds) 

 

South Asian

-  Anaya Bolar, 19 (Birmingham) 

-  Shyam Dattani, 19 (Middlesex) 

-  Jaina Modasia, 21 (Watford) 

-  Akshay Prakash, 21 (London) 

-  Anjelli Wignakumar, 20 (London)

 

Street Dance

-  Harry Barnes, 19 (Wirral) 

-  Jodelle Douglas, 21 (Cardiff) 

-  Darren Hamilton, 21 (Glasgow) 

-  Tom Hughes Lloyd, 18 (Wrexham) 

-  Kate Morris, 17 (Maesteg)

 

Some of the leading names across dance have come together to provide mentorship to the category finalists, in sessions which will be seen as part of the BBC Four programmes. The category mentors are former Royal Ballet Principal, Viviana Durante and Artistic Director of Northern Ballet, David Nixon for Ballet; Rambert dancer and choreographer, Miguel Altunaga and performer and co- founder of Alleyne Dance, Sadé Alleyne for Contemporary; dancer and Artistic Director, Mira Balchandran Gokul and dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director, Sonia Sabri for South Asian; Hip Hop DJ and dancer, DJ Renegade and dancer, actor and choreographer, Rhimes Lecointe for Street.

 

Judging the Category Finals is a distinguished jury, made up of former Royal Ballet Principal and Royal Opera House Creative Director, Deborah Bull and former Principal Dancer and Artistic Director of English National Ballet, Matz Skoog for Ballet; choreographer, director and founder of Mark Bruce Company, Mark Bruce and choreographer, dancer and Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre, Sharon Watson for Contemporary; Kathak performer and teacher, Kajal Sharma and choreographer, performer and educator, Chitra Sundaram for South Asian; choreographer, dancer, curator and Artistic Director of Avant Garde Dance, Tony Adigun and dancer, co-founder of Septième SenS and house dance teacher, Clara Bajado for Street.

 

 

 

TV Broadcast Information

-  Friday 24 March, BBC Four - Street Dance Category Final 

-  Friday 31 March, BBC Four - Ballet Category Final 

-  Friday 7 April, BBC Four - South Asian Category Final 

-  Friday 14 April, BBC Four - Contemporary Category Final 

-  Saturday 22 April, BBC Two - GRAND FINAL (live) 

 

Each of the four BBC Four programmes will focus on an individual Category Final, going behind the scenes as the young dancers prepare for their performances with the help of teachers and mentors. The programmes will also feature highlights of the dancers’ performances and thoughts from some of Britain’s foremost dance experts, providing an insight into what it takes to succeed in such a competitive and pressurised discipline.

 

To watch a short film about BBC Young Dancer click here

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About BBC Young Dancer

BBC Young Dancer provides a platform for non-professional UK resident dancers aged 16-21 to demonstrate their dancing abilities through four competitive rounds designed to highlight their technical command, creative ability and expressive capability. Their competition journey, from the early stages through to preparing for the Grand Final, will be documented in four programmes (each focusing on one of the dance forms) to be shown on BBC Four in the weeks running up to the Grand Final, which will be broadcast live on BBC Two.

 

BBC Young Dancer entrants were required to submit a video of two solo pieces by 9 October 2016. Each genre was judged separately by judges with style-specific knowledge, who narrowed the video submissions down to a maximum of 80 successful entrants (20 from each category). The selected dancers were invited to perform in front of an audience and an expert panel of judges at the second round in October / November 2016, before the category finalists were selected.

 

The BBC Young Dancer 2017 overall winner will receive a trophy and a £3,000 cash prize to help support further dance studies.

BBC Young Dancer is managed and produced by BBC Studios / BBC Cymru Wales. The series executive editor is Paul Bullock, the competition manager is Kerry Clark, the series was ordered by Jan Younghusband Head of Commissioning, BBC Music Television and Performance and the Dance Consultant is Jane Hackett.

 

 

Grand Final Judges

  • Marc Brew (choreographer, Artistic Director of Marc Brew Company) Kevin O’Hare (Director of The Royal Ballet)
  • Kate Prince (founder and Artistic Director of ZooNation Dance Company) Nahid Siddiqui (Kathak dancer, choreographer)
  • Kenneth Tharp (dancer, choreographer, former Chief Executive of The Place)
  • Jasmin Vardimon (choreographer, dancer, Artistic Director of Jasmin Vardimon Company)

 

 

After care

The BBC has partnered with Dancers’ Career Development to provide confidential, bespoke career transition support to the finalists of the BBC Young Dancer Competition. This continues from the aftercare support package Dancers’ Career Development provided for the six finalists of the inaugural BBC Young Dancer 2015.

 

 

Dancers’ Career Development is a registered charity which supports all professional dancers in the UK, from all genres, in their transition to a post-performance career. Transition support services include confidential one-to-one consultations; careers profiling; transition coaching; EVOLVE workshops; EMERGE shadowing programme; networking with qualified individuals and other retrained dancers; and mentoring. 

Posted

It is depressing to see how little focus there is on ballet in this British competition, and that there are only two female entries in the ballet category, one of whom, Uyu Hiromoto, is not from Argyll, she is from Japan. It is certainly a great shame that the Young British Dancer of the Year has stopped. Does anyone know why? Most students at the Royal Ballet School have almost no opportunities to perform in public, which cannot be good for building their confidence as performers.

Posted (edited)

 Most students at the Royal Ballet School have almost no opportunities to perform in public, which cannot be good for building their confidence as performers.

 

I'm not sure about 'most' ... but just look at the opportunities afforded a selection of graduating RBS students to dance in New York and Paris - not to mention Holland Park and the ROH.    

 

Alright for 'some' surely  :)

 

Was the 'Young British Dancer of the Year' ever about the many?  Perhaps I'm wrong .. but as far as my memory serves that too was a somewhat strict selection ... at least in the final bit ... which was all that I personally ever saw.  

 

On another score ... I do share (and sympathise with) the lack of 'ballet' in the overall regime noted above ... but I do think that in the popular mindset today Britain's dance scene is decidedly contemporary .... surely.  (Alistair Spalding is fond of noting this and has done so much to advance Britain as a contemporary mecca.)  ... So it is, I think, at very least understandable.  The BBC also seem to want to frame it as 'popular entertainment'.  It is decidedly not akin to, say, the Prix du Lausanne or YGAP..  

Edited by Bruce Wall
Posted

It is indeed a great shame it stopped!

 

I saw Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergey Polunin, Yasmine Naghdi, Reece Clarke, William Bracewell, Francesca Hayward and James Hay winning the Young British Dancer of the Year competition. It was such a glorious event to see those youngsters perform in public, and the competition gave them a great opportunity to shine.

 

The winners of that competition all became highly successful dancers and I take great pleasure in following their career.

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Posted

I'm not sure about 'most' ... but just look at the opportunities afforded a selection of graduating RBS students to dance in New York and Paris - not to mention Holland Park and the ROH.    

 

Alright for 'some' surely  :)

 

Was the 'Young British Dancer of the Year' ever about the many?  Perhaps I'm wrong .. but as far as my memory serves that too was a somewhat strict selection ... at least in the final bit ... which was all that I personally ever saw.  

 

On another score ... I do share (and sympathise with) the lack of 'ballet' in the overall regime noted above ... but I do think that in the popular mindset today Britain's dance scene is decidedly contemporary .... surely.  (Alistair Spalding is fond of noting this and has done so much to advance Britain as a contemporary mecca.)  ... So it is, I think, at very least understandable.  The BBC also seem to want to frame it as 'popular entertainment'.  It is decidedly not akin to, say, the Prix du Lausanne or YGAP..  

 

I am afraid I have to stand by what I said about performance opportunities at the Royal. As you said yourself it was a 'selection' of graduating students who were fortunate to go to New York or Paris. A selection is not most of the students who have worked with such dedication to get there. Furthermore not all students who have undertaken the first two years will get to continue to the graduate year and they need performance opportunities in the 1st and 2nd Year in order to help them as performers.  As for Holland Park and the ROH, analysis of last year's programmes revealed that the majority of the 1st and 2nd year students were only able to perform in one item, a chorus: Gypsy Dance from Deux Pigeons, which did not show their abilities as classical dancers - and this was omitted from the ROH end of year performance. These students were not represented in the programme at the ROH until the defile and then only for less than a minute. Some 2nd year students were also only in one item in Holland Park, which was not performed in the ROH.

Both these performances showcase the graduates in the main, with a handful of the chosen few from the 1st and 2nd years who the school wants to promote.

Posted

British ballet training doesn't seem to revolve around the competition circuit in the same way that it does in many other countries. Don't know why.

Shame really, as so few young dancers get the exposure that those from other nationalities do - and they also seem to miss out on the intensive one-to-one variation coaching / experience of performing solos to an audience.

Posted

Yes, you are absolutely right, and it is more than a shame; it is a tragedy for these young people that those responsible for training them are letting them down.

 

The burning question is will British ballet survive without engaging fully with international practice?

 

I think the answer is no, unless schools and companies adopt a more protectionist position and use their students to feed their corps because they feel a commitment to nurturing and employing British dancers.

 

British students are clearly disadvantaged by not being coached for these competitions because when it comes to their Upper School auditions they are replaced by international students from the competition circuit. It suggests that there is a crisis going on in British ballet training because the school is not training the kind of dancers it wants to showcase in the long run and who will make it into the company. My heart bleeds really for the children who enter White Lodge age 11 (and their families) because they don't realise that most of them won't make it all the way through the school, and that the odds of entering the company are so very heavily stacked against them. Only three British female dancers have made it into the company over the past three years. The few who realise this are opting for private coaching and competitions, so the next question is will White Lodge survive if it continues to demonstrate that it isn't producing enough of the students the Upper School wants? Is this public money well spent?

 

Worst of all the Royal doesn't demonstrate that it has any responsibility for this, or for looking after the interests of British students. The fact that the school is  funded by British taxpayers who think it is training the next generation of British ballet dancers, doesn't seem to engender any sense of duty towards, or pride in the country's home-grown talent.

British choreography is generated by British choreographers, that is understood and celebrated. But British schools and companies do not demonstrate equivalent commitment to the British dancer. This kind of sentiment will no doubt be criticised by some as being nationalistic, but I return to my original point which is that if the current situation continues the concept of an English or British Company will be dead in a generation, if it isn't already.

 

Poor Ninette de Valois!

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Posted

I can't comment about what's going on at School level but the RB and BRB are certainly bursting with talent coming out of the Royal Ballet School.

 

Just look at former White Lodgers Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Claire Calvert, James Hay, Reece Clark, Matthew Ball, Anna Rose O'Sullivan, Olivia Cowley, Emma Maguire, Romany Pajdak, ... followed by those who trained at the Upper School such as Marcelino Sambe, Zucchetti, Dyer, Magri, Stock, Heap, Ella,... not to forget Lauren Culbertson, Edward Watson, Bennet Gartside and Gary Avis.

 

The RB now also has the Aud Jebsen Scheme giving young graduates the chance to dance with the Company for a year in order to give them more performance experience before they become fully professional.

 

I don't know the % but British trained dancers represent a very high % in the Company. I think Ninette de Valois would have been very proud of all those British trained dancers.

  • Like 3
Posted

Yes, you are absolutely right, and it is more than a shame; it is a tragedy for these young people that those responsible for training them are letting them down.

 

The burning question is will British ballet survive without engaging fully with international practice?

 

I think the answer is no, unless schools and companies adopt a more protectionist position and use their students to feed their corps because they feel a commitment to nurturing and employing British dancers.

 

British students are clearly disadvantaged by not being coached for these competitions because when it comes to their Upper School auditions they are replaced by international students from the competition circuit. It suggests that there is a crisis going on in British ballet training because the school is not training the kind of dancers it wants to showcase in the long run and who will make it into the company. My heart bleeds really for the children who enter White Lodge age 11 (and their families) because they don't realise that most of them won't make it all the way through the school, and that the odds of entering the company are so very heavily stacked against them. Only three British female dancers have made it into the company over the past three years. The few who realise this are opting for private coaching and competitions, so the next question is will White Lodge survive if it continues to demonstrate that it isn't producing enough of the students the Upper School wants? Is this public money well spent?

 

Worst of all the Royal doesn't demonstrate that it has any responsibility for this, or for looking after the interests of British students. The fact that the school is funded by British taxpayers who think it is training the next generation of British ballet dancers, doesn't seem to engender any sense of duty towards, or pride in the country's home-grown talent.

British choreography is generated by British choreographers, that is understood and celebrated. But British schools and companies do not demonstrate equivalent commitment to the British dancer. This kind of sentiment will no doubt be criticised by some as being nationalistic, but I return to my original point which is that if the current situation continues the concept of an English or British Company will be dead in a generation, if it isn't already.

 

Poor Ninette de Valois!

I would not feel qualified to comment on most of your thoughts but as a mum of a WLer I would like to reassure you that all the parents and children are extremely aware of the number of children that make it through - we all enter this process with our eyes very wide open as would any responsible parent. I discussed this very issue with my daughter many times before finally giving in and letting her follow her dream. The attitude is one of enjoying all the experiences for as long as they last, these are memories to treasure even if they don't make their ultimate goal. My only concern has been the amount of performing and time out of academics that my dd has had since being there! Not everyone can make it through for many reasons but even if this does not happen, my dd and I will always hold onto the incredible experiences that she has had - taking a bow out front on her own at ROH having danced with Edward Watson in RavenGirl has got to be one to remember. ????
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Posted

I'm closing this thread as the BBC Young Dancer competition finals are now ongoing and the BBC Young Dancer competition will be best discussed in the Performances Seen Forum.

 

Discussions about British ballet education are best held in the Doing Dance forum and there have been plenty of previous threads discussing just that.

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