Marc Brew, Kevin O'Hare, Kate Prince, Nahid Siddiqui, Kenneth Tharp and Jasmin Vardimon announced as Grand Final judges for BBC Young Dancer 2017. 

Following the success of the inaugural competition in 2015, BBC Young Dancer 2017 has been inviting dancers aged 16-21 to enter in four categories; Ballet, Contemporary, South Asian Dance and Street Dance.

Watch a short film about BBC Young Dancer here. 

The Grand Final will take place at Sadler’s Wells in London on the 22 April 2017 and will be broadcast on BBC Two. It will feature the winner of each category together with at least one wild card from the Category Finals and will be judged by a leading panel of dance experts, who are announced today:

• Marc Brew, Artistic Director, Marc Brew Company
• Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet
• Kate Prince, Artistic Director of Zoonation Dance Company
• Nahid Siddiqui, Dancer and Choreographer
• Kenneth Tharp, Chief Executive, The Place
• Jasmin Vardimon, Artistic Director of Jasmin Vardimon Company

Award-winning British choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh will act as cross-category judge on all four Category Final judging panels. The full judging line-up will be announced soon.

Shobana Jeyasingh says: "I am thrilled to be a part of BBC Young Dancer 2017. It’s a great occasion to celebrate the talent and aspirations of our young dancers throughout the UK. It’s definitely a high point in the dance calendar!"

Paul Bullock, Executive Editor, BBC Music Television and Events, says: “As well as the quality of the dancers, much of the success of BBC Young Dancer is down to the way in which it is supported by so many leading figures from the dance world. We're delighted to announce the line of Grand Final judges for the next competition and are grateful that Shobana Jeyasingh has agreed to be with us for the Category Finals.”

Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, says: “BBC Young Dancer is an excellent platform for talented young dancers of different backgrounds to showcase their abilities, and for audiences to enjoy a wide range of performances and find out more about dance styles they may be less familiar with. We are very excited to be hosting the Grand Final again live from the Sadler’s Wells stage. If the first edition is anything to go by, the calibre of performances will be very high. I can’t wait to see it.”

Connor Scott, winner of BBC Young Dancer 2015 says: “BBC Young Dancer 2015 was an immense experience. Dancing at Sadler’s Wells In front of the amazing judges, working with my choreographer, getting to know the other dancers – the whole experience meant a great deal to me.”

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 to be shown on BBC Four in the weeks running up to the Grand Final, which will be broadcast on BBC Two.

Each programme will focus on one of the dance forms, provide insight into the demands and dedication needed to pursue a career in one of the most rigorous and disciplined art-forms and feature performances from the relevant Category Final.

The closing date for applications has been extended until Sunday 9 October. Applicants are invited to apply by downloading the entry brochure from the BBC Young Dancer website - or by emailing young.dancer@bbc.co.uk for a hard copy.

BBC Young Dancer is a fully inclusive project, and positively welcomes applications from deaf and disabled dancers aged 16-25. The entry brochure is also available in easy read, Braille and as an audio version.

The Grand Final of the first competition took place at Sadler’s Wells in 2015 and was won by Contemporary dancer Connor Scott (17). The judging panel included leading dance experts: Artistic Director of New Adventures, Choreographer and Director Matthew Bourne; Artistic Director of ZFin Malta, Mavin Khoo; Choreographer and Director Wayne McGregor; English National Ballet Artistic Director, Tamara Rojo; Dancer and Choreographer Kenrick Sandy; and Alistair Spalding, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Sadler's Wells. The other finalists were Harry Barnes (18), Kieran Lai (18), Jacob O’Connell (17), Vidya Patel (19) and Archie Sullivan (18).

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.

Notes to Editors

• BBC Young Dancer requires entrants to submit a video of two solo pieces by 9 October 2016.
• Each genre will be judged separately by judges with style-specific knowledge, who will narrow the video submissions down to a maximum of 80 successful entrants (20 from each category). The selected dancers will be invited to perform in front of an audience and an expert panel of judges at the second round in October / November 2016.
• The competition continues at the Category Finals (round three), scheduled to take place in January 2017. Five successful dancers from each category are required to perform two solos and a pas de deux / duet to demonstrate partnering skills. Before these performances, the Category Finalists will be invited to a workshop where they will have the opportunity to work on their repertoire with experienced mentors from within their genre. One winner from each category will be selected to receive a trophy and £1,000 to help support further dance studies, and a place in the Grand Final. Up to two wildcard places may also be awarded to the best dancers who did not win their category. The Category Finals will be filmed for broadcast on BBC Four.
• All dancers selected for the Grand Final will be given the opportunity to attend workshops in March with a professional choreographer from their dance style, to create a new, specially commissioned solo, and perfect their performances before the Grand Final in April 2017. The Grand Final will take place at Sadler’s Wells in London in front of a panel of internationally renowned dance professionals, a live audience, and will be broadcast live on BBC Two.
• The finalists will be assessed on three pieces – two solos and a pas de deux / duet - as they dance for the prestigious title of BBC Young Dancer 2017. In addition, they will perform in a short group piece, created especially for the Grand Final.
• The winner will receive a trophy and a £3,000 cash prize to help support further dance studies.
• Website for entry details and more information: bbc.co.uk/youngdancer
• Email address to request hard copies of the entry brochure: young.dancer@bbc.co.uk

Aftercare

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.