20- year-old Contemporay dancer Nafisah Baba, from London, has been announced the winner of BBC Young Dancer 2017.

Nafisah was crowned the winner live on stage at Sadler’s Wells by former Royal Ballet Principal Darcey Bussell.

Broadcast at 8pm on BBC Two (and available for 30 days on iPlayer), the Grand Final was presented by Anita Rani and Ore Oduba with Darcey Bussell providing insight and commentary on the performances. Darcey was joined by some of the top names in dance including Sir Matthew Bourne - Choreographer and Artistic Director of New Adventures; Shobana Jeyasingh - Choreographer and Artistic Director of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance (and Chair of all the BBC Young Dancer category finals judging panels); and Kenrick H2O Sandy - Artistic Director of Boy Blue Entertainment.

The BBC Young Dancer 2017 finalists were: Nafisah Baba (20), Shyam Dattani (19) Jodelle Douglas (21), John-William Watson (18) and Rhys Antoni Yeomans (19).

The five finalists performed in front of a panel of leading dance experts: Marc Brew - Artistic Director of 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 - Choreographer, Director and former Chief Executive of The Place; and Jasmin Vardimon - Artistic Director of Jasmin Vardimon Company.

Competing for the title of BBC Young Dancer 2017, each finalist premiered a new piece commissioned by the BBC and created for them by leading choreographers: Laila Diallo (for Nafisah Baba), Morgann Runacre-Temple (for Rhys Antoni Yeomans) Caroline Finn (for John-William Watson), Nicholas Marvel (for Jodelle Douglas) and Sonia Sabri (for Shyam Dattani). The finalists were judged on technical skill, creative expression and overall performance.

Nafisah Baba performed three pieces in the Grand Final: Near The Place Where Your Feet Pass By, specially created for her by choreographer Laila Diallo; Inescapable, choreographed by Nafisah herself; and a duet, Deliverance, performed with Lois Wong and choreographed by Jodie Blemings. Nafisah started ballet at the age of three, and whilst she was growing up began to study various styles including contemporary, tap and jazz. She is currently a company member with Chrysalis London, a post-graduate dance company based in London, and has quickly developed her passion for this style of contemporary in particular. Nafisah is also an associate with Ballet Black. Nafisah’s ambition is to be a part of a professional dance company and perform the works of established choreographers.

Nafisah Baba says: "I'm so overwhelmed to have won - it's an honour to be on the Sadler's Wells Stage alongside my amazing fellow finalists, and of course the judges and presenters. To be given the opportunity of BBC Young Dancer, and then to win, is the type of experience that only comes along once in a lifetime, so I feel absolutely incredible!"

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet and Grand Final Judge, says: "It has been a privilege to judge the BBC Young Dancer 2017 Grand Final, and I am thrilled that Nafisah has been crowned the winner. It is wonderful to have dance on prime time TV. It shows the strength of dance in this country today - it really seems to be having a renaissance and the future of dance is looking very bright."

Darcey Bussell, former Royal Ballet Principal Dancer and BBC Young Dancer 2017 presenter, says: "I have been delighted to be involved with BBC Young Dancer again this year, and it is fantastic that the competition showcases some of the brightest rising stars on the British dance scene, which - as anyone who watched the Grand Final will know - is thriving!"

BBC Young Dancer 2015 winner Connor Scott returned for a special performance - bE, a small extract from his new work Brave Echo. Connor has enjoyed fantastic success since winning the competition, and is currently studying at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Several of the previous finalists have gone on to have flourishing dance careers - including South Asian category winner Vidya Patel, who was nominated for two National Dance Awards and has been touring with the Richard Alston Dance Company and Contemporary category winner Jacob O’Connell, who was selected to join Rambert.

The Grand Final marks the concluding stage of a journey which started over six months ago, with 20 dancers aged 16-21 selected as category finalists for the competition. These talented young performers received coaching and mentoring from a host of dance industry greats, ranging from former Royal Ballet Principal Ballerina Viviana Durante, to Hip Hop DJ and Dancer DJ Renegade. Their behind-the-scenes preparations for the four category finals, and subsequent performances, were documented in four episodes on BBC Four in March and April, providing an insight into what it takes to succeed in such a competitive and pressurised discipline.

The Grand Final and each performance from the category Final is available to watch in full at bbc.co.uk/youngdancer and available to catch up on iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.

Nafisah Baba

Nafisah started ballet at the age of three, and whilst she was growing up began to study various styles including contemporary, tap and jazz. She is currently a company member with Chrysalis, a post-graduate dance company based in London, and has quickly developed her passion for this style of contemporary in particular. Nafisah is also an associate with Ballet Black. Nafisah’s ambition is to be a part of a professional dance company and perform the works of established choreographers.

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, is documented in four programmes (each focusing on one of the dance forms) on BBC Four in the weeks running up to the Grand Final, which is 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.

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 five 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.