National Youth Dance Company’s 2020/2021 Cohort
National Youth Dance Company has continued to work digitally with its new 2020/2021 cohort throughout the pandemic. NYDC, as the country’s flagship company for young dancers, has completed its second fully digital residency for the 2020/2021 cohort, led by Guest Artistic Director Alesandra Seutin.
NYDC has responded to the challenges by embarking on virtual taster workshops, Q&As, live online workshops and digital sessions to ensure that residencies were able to continue for the 2020/2021 cohort. The cohort continues to work together with Alesandra Seutin and her team of artists from Vocab Dance on two further residencies, before embarking on a short UK tour this summer, including a performance at London's Sadler’s Wells on Saturday 24 July.
The cohort of 29 is made up of 21 dancers recruited virtually in November 2020, who joined eight returning dancers from last year’s cohort. The group is made up of 19 female and 10 male dancers from over 20 different towns and cities across the country. The NYDC company age range is 16-18, or up to the age of 24 for deaf or disabled dancers, and this year’s company members span the full age range.
NYDC made a decision early on that it would not stop creating new work, but adapt how the work can be created. Creating a new work over lockdown has kept the company motivated and focused in a time when so much is out of our control. It 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. Graduates have danced in Michael Keegan-Dolan’s Teaċ Daṁsa, Hofesh Shechter Company, BalletBoyz, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Cullberg Ballet, Ultima Vez, Russell Maliphant Company, Rambert2 and the Jasmin Vardimon Company.