Press Release: National Youth Dance Company on UK Tour and Experience Workshops across the country

[Jan McNulty]

National Youth Dance Company
- National Tour of Damien Jalet’s Tarantiseismic this summer
- Experience Workshops around the country for 2017-18 intake from May to July this year

National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), the country’s flagship organisation for young dancers, performs Tarantiseismic around the country this summer. This production is a new creation by the company’s Guest Artistic Director Damien Jalet and received critical acclaim for its world premiere at Sadler’s Wells in April. Tarantiseismic sees Jalet present a unique piece of theatre which addresses themes of melancholia, ritual, control and abandon. This year’s diverse cohort of 39 young dancers perform on a national tour in June and July visiting Plymouth, Newcastle, Leicester, Birmingham, Ipswich and Hull as well as Latitude Festival.

Alongside the tour dates, Experience Workshops will take place across England from May to July. The workshops are an opportunity to find out more about NYDC. Young dancers will take part in a company class, learn repertoire from NYDC productions and take part in creative tasks. Participants will also meet members of the current company, ask questions and get advice on dance training. Experience Workshops are used as an opportunity to be considered for a place in the 2017-18 company. They are open to dancers from all backgrounds and abilities, with experience in any dance style. 



Damien Jalet is a French and Belgian choreographer and dancer. He has worked as a dancer for several companies such as Les Ballets C de la B and Wim Vandekeybus. He has been involved in many collaborations with companies such as Eastman, Chunky Move, Icelandic Dance Company, Akram Khan, Erna Omarsdottir and Sasha Waltz. Recent projects include Babel (Words), which won the Olivier Award for Best Dance Production in 2011, les méduses, an itinerary installation inside Louvre museum in Paris with 30 artists. He worked with Hussein Chalayan on the Sadler’s Wells production Gravity Fatigue and a restaging of Ravel’s Bolero for the Paris Opera Ballet – a collaboration with Marina Abramovic and Cherkaoui. Jalet is entitled ‘Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres’ by the French government and is a laureate 2015 of the Kujoyama residency in Kyoto.

Now in its fifth year, NYDC has established a reputation for innovative, challenging and influential work, producing open-minded, curious and brave dancers. The company brings together the brightest talent from across England, immersing the members fully in the process of creating, performing and touring new work, giving them a unique insight into the dance profession. 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.

NYDC is jointly funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Education from the National Lottery and Grant in Aids funds


LISTINGS INFORMATION

2017 UK national tour dates:
Sunday 25 June: Peninsula Arts, Plymouth University
Saturday 1 July: Dance City, Newcastle
Saturday 8 July: The Curve, Leicester
Friday 14 July: Birmingham Hippodrome, as part of UDance 2017
Sunday 16 July: Latitude Festival
Tuesday 18 July: Jerwood Dance House, Dance East, Ipswich
Thursday 20 July: Middleton Hall, Hull

NYDC Experience Workshops for 2017-18 intake:
Sunday 21 May: Hymers College, Hull
Saturday 27 May: DanceXchange, Birmingham
Sunday 28 May: Swindon Dance, Swindon
Monday 29 May: AMATA - Falmouth University, Falmouth      
Tuesday 30 May: Sadler’s Wells, London
Wednesday 31 May: The Point, Eastleigh
Thursday 1 June: DanceEast, Ipswich
Friday 2 June: Marina Studios, Brighton
Sunday 4 June: Northern Ballet, Leeds
Sunday 4 June: Déda, Derby
Saturday 10 June: The Dancehouse, Manchester
Sunday 11 June: MDI, Liverpool
Sunday 25 June: Peninsula Arts – Plymouth University, Plymouth
Sunday 2 July: Dance City, Newcastle
Saturday 8 July: Curve, Leicester


NOTES TO EDITORS

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: 
- 150 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 150 dancers come from over 60 different towns and cities in England. 
- Over 2000 young people have worked with the company 
- NYDC has delivered 87 workshops in 32 different venues across 22 towns and cities 
- Over 30,000 people have seen the company perform 
- NYDC has featured in 47 performances, visiting 20 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 130 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 three 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 9% of its revenue from Arts Council England.