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Press Release: National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) announces new members to work with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Akram Khan


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National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) announces new members to work with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Akram Khan

 

Following a series of workshops around the country in June and July that saw over 300 people take part, the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) has selected its second intake of 30 members who join the current company and will work with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Akram Khan on a new work specially created for NYDC.

 

The newly recruited company members have been selected from sixteen experience workshops held in 9 different regions across the country. The 30 new company members consist of 20 male and 10 female dancers aged 15 - 19, coming from over 20 towns, cities and villages across England.

 

NYDC’s next guest Artistic Director is Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Akram Khan. Khan will work with the company to create a new work that will receive its world premiere on 16 April 2013 at Sadler’s Wells. The new work will be performed as part of a double bill that will feature a reworked excerpt of Khan’s Vertical Road.

 

Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over a decade he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the cultural arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as DESH, iTMOi, Gnosis and zero degrees.

 

Award-winning dancer and choreographer Akram Khan says: “I thoroughly enjoy working with young people who have passion and ambition so I am really looking forward to being the next guest artistic director for the National Youth Dance Company. The positive role of the arts in our society is fundamental in providing young people with the skills they need to succeed in any walk of life. Having dance recognised by the setting up of this company is a real achievement for the industry as it presents a fantastic opportunity to nurture the next generation of artists and inspire a host of young people to get involved. I’m honoured to be involved in this project.”

 

Since its inception in 2012 NYDC has seen over 500 young dancers attend 27 workshops across England. Over June and July 2013 NYDC took part in nine performances seen by over 5,000 people in a range of venues, from large scale theatres to site specific outdoor stages, in locations stretching from London to Leeds, Bristol to Kent.

 

NYDC will meet during school holidays at Sadler’s Wells and other venues across England to participate in four intensive weeks per year. The company will give its members the opportunity to work with a range of inspirational teachers and choreographers, to learn, create and perform original work, drawing on a number of dance techniques including contemporary, hip hop, ballet and South Asian dance.

 

Sadler’s Wells is proud to be the host organisation for NYDC, an exciting new company that aims to create and perform innovative and influential youth dance, and aims to draw together some of the brightest young talent from across the country to work with our internationally renowned Associate Artists.

 

Alistair Spalding (CBE), Chief Executive & Artistic Director at Sadler’s Wells says “Having set a very high standard with their sold out debut performance of Jasmin Vardimon’s (in between), the young dancers of NYDC have shown that they can hold their own alongside established companies on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells. I’d like to welcome the new members who are joining this year and look forward to seeing how the company grows as they work with Akram Khan. ”

National Youth Dance Company is funded jointly by Arts Council England and the Department for Education, from the National Lottery and Grant in Aid funds.

 

 

Notes to Editors

 

Akram Khan
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over a decade he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the cultural arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.

An instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists from other cultures and disciplines. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographer/dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, singer Kylie Minogue, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, writer Hanif Kureishi and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney and Jocelyn Pook.

Khan’s work is recognised as being profoundly moving, in which his intelligently crafted storytelling is effortlessly intimate and epic. Described by the Financial Times as an artist "who speaks tremendously of tremendous things", a recent highlight of his career was the creation of a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that was received with unanimous acclaim.

Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including the Laurence Olivier Award, the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and two Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. He is also an Honorary Graduate of Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban.

Khan is an Associate Artist of MC2: Grenoble and Sadler’s Wells, London in a special international co-operation.

 

National Youth Dance Company (NYDC)

Founded in 2012, and hosted at Sadler’s Wells, NYDC is an exciting new company that aims to create and perform innovative and influential youth dance, drawing together some of the brightest young talent from across the country to work with our 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.

 

About Arts Council England

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. ACE support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

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