National Youth Dance Company 2023-24
Guest Artistic Director
Oona Doherty
Image: Gigi Giannella
“I’m super excited to work with NYDC. To have a big cast like this of young people from across England is daunting and cool at the same time. Can’t wait to get going and share ideas together.”
Oona Doherty
Neil Fleming-Brown
Assistant to the Choreographer
Odette Hughes
Assistant to the Choreographer
Louis McMiller
Assistant to the Choreographer
Catarina Carvalho
Assistant to the Choreographer
Rebecca Bassett-Graham
Assistant to the Choreographer
Winnie Asawkanjanakit
Assistant to the Choreographer
Meet the 34 dancers from across England that are part of National Youth Dance Company 2022/23
Matthew, Durham
Matthew started dancing with Tin Arts in Durham when he was 17. Tess, his teacher, introduced him to ballet. jazz, country, Bollywood, and more. He dances and performs with a mixed ability group of contemporary dancers.
Matthew has Down's syndrome and wants to show the world people with disabilities can follow their dreams.
Matthew, Lanchester
Milly, Brighton
Milly started ballet and contemporary at age eleven in Cape Town, South Africa. Milly is studying BTEC dance at Varndean Sixth Form College and has been a member of the Ceyda Tanc Youth Dance Company for two years. Milly thanks her dance teacher, Chess, for constantly supporting and pushing her to where she is now.
Milly, Brighton
Krish, Bristol
Krish started dancing at the age of 15 after stopping 11 years of gymnastics. He joined RISE Youth Dance and still is a member of their company. In college, studying at Bristol School of Acting and Dance he trains in Contemporary, Hip-hop, Ballet, Salsa, Soca Carnival and Commercial styles of dance.
Krish, Bristol
James, Nottingham
James started dancing when he was seven years old. He currently studies on the Centre for Advanced Dance Training programme at FABRIC East. He also trains regularly at Take 1 and Marshon Academy. This is his second year with NYDC.
James, Nottingham
Jayda, London
Jayda started her dance journey at the age of sixteen, taking online classes in her living room. Being predominantly self-taught, attends open classes in Hip-Hop and Contemporary Fusion styles. Jayda is currently studying for a foundation diploma in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins College.
Jayda, London
Samuel, Durham
Samuel started contemporary dance at TIN Arts in Durham when he was 3, and has continued dancing with TIN Arts since then. He started ballet when he was 12, and attends ballet classes at Durham Dance dance school. Samuel is currently studying 4 A Levels at Durham Johnston Sixth Form.
Samuel, Durham
Gabriel, London
Gabriel started dancing when he was 12 at Forest Hill School through a Step Into Dance programme. He has mainly done breaking and has been taught by Simon “Mid Air” Lee, former member of breaking crew, Soul Mavericks whilst also doing some other hip hop styles with the Step Into Dance Street Company from 2016-2019. He now trains breaking at home whilst also exploring/mixing it with contemporary.
Gabriel, London
Alyssa, Brighton
After training in a range of styles when she was younger, Alyssa now trains predominantly in ballet and contemporary at Smikle dance studios, Alta dance and The Place’s CAT scheme. Currently she is in her final year of A-levels studying dance, psychology and philosophy.
Alyssa, Brighton
Aimee, Brighton
Aimee started dancing when she was three years old and has since trained in a range of styles. Aimee is a member of the Ceyda Tanc Youth Dance Company, which combines contemporary with Turkish dance. She is currently studying Dance A Level at BHASVIC and has attended the Trinity Laban CAT scheme for the last four years. This is Aimee’s second year with NYDC.
Aimee, Brighton
Freya, Newcastle upon Tyne
Freya has been dancing since she was 9 starting with ballroom, tap and ballet. She then started her training at Dance city CAT in 2018 and has been involved with Phoenix dance theatre as well as studying A level dance at sacred heart Sixth Form.
Freya,
Newcastle upon Tyne
Corlee, Coventry
Corlee started dancing from as soon as they could walk, being taken to their mum’s dance classes at Tracy Porter School of Dance. They trained in street dance, disco freestyle, jazz, ballet, tap and contemporary dance and are currently completing a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Performing Arts at Birmingham Ormiston Academy.
Corlee, Coventry
Jocelyn, Derby
Jocelyn, Derby
Alex, London
Alex started dance when he was 6 years old at zoonation academy of dance. He has done ballet at the RAD and danced with the hip hop company Boy Blue. Now Alex has progressed to Zoonation youth company where he trains every week and since this year is taking part in a training programme with Birdgang.
Alex, London
Ali, Cambridge
Ali started dancing at age 4, doing ballet, tap and modern at King Slocombe school of dance. She joined the DanceEast CAT programme at age 12 where she continues to train today in contemporary, ballet, creative and hip hop. She is currently studying A-levels alongside NYDC.
Ali, Cambridge
Lucas, Brighton
Lucas trained as a GB gymnast for 4 years, claiming European titles, before dedicating his time to dance. He started dancing at GCSE and now is with Ceyda Tanc Youth Dance company and does a CAT scheme at The Place.
Lucas, Brighton
Jewels, Lake District
Jewels started dancing at age 6 in his home town of Appleby, Cumbria. He has trained in Contemporary, Ballet, and a number of commercial styles such as breaking and popping. He is currently on the Lowry CAT scheme and is hoping to have a place at Northern School of Contemporary Dance in September '23.
Jewels, Lake District
Charly, Leamington Spa
Charly started dancing aged three at Susan Taylor Dance Academy. She has trained at Leamington and Warwick Gymnastics Club for multiple years and her passion for gymnastics and contemporary dance combined in her training with Motionhouse Youth Dance Company who specialise in dance-circus. It is her dream to continue her training after sixth form pursue a career in the performing arts.
Charly,
Leamington Spa
Nic, Manchester
Nic started dancing at age 13 as a self taught dancer. They then went on to join Company Chameleons senior youth dance company where they performed in multiple high profile pieces. Nic then went on to perform for the royal family in the queens platinum jubilee pageant. Their most recent endeavour is a student with the Lowry CAT program.
Nic, Manchester
Josie, Brighton
Josie has danced at Harlequin Studios from the age of three. Her styles include ballet, tap, jazz, ballroom, latin, street, disco and contemporary . Josie is currently studying Dance A-Level at BHASVIC after achieving an A* in GCSE Dance. This is Josie's second year with NYDC.
Josie, Brighton
Renee, London
Renee started the CAT program at The Place aged 13 and joined AYD a year later. She was in last year’s NYDC Cohort with Alesandra Seutin. She is current studying dance at the Brit school and is training with Boy Blue.
Renee, London
Meg, Bristol
Meg started ballet when she was 4 and contemporary when she was 6. Performing and taking part in numerous youth groups, she is now a member of National Dance Company Wales Associates and Ballet Cymru Associates. She is excited to be Starting at NSCD in September.
Meg, Bristol
Phoebe, Winchester
Phoebe started dancing at four and half at Stagecoach, Winchester and joined Intregr8 three years later. She is now training with Hampshire Youth Dance Company and CAT at The Place. She loves all styles of dance and most experience in Contemporary, Street and Commercial. More recently she has been working on her ballet skills.
Phoebe, Winchester
Kitty, Haslemere
Kitty started dancing when she was 7 years old, taking part in after school classes of Modern and Tap at her local dance school Red Shoes School of Dance. Later she began ballet and auditioned for the CAT Programme, at The Place London, attaining a place in 2020. She continues to train at both Red Shoes School of Dance and The Place alongside studying English Literature, History of Art and Fine Art at Godalming Sixth Form College.
Kitty, Haslemere
Blaise, London
Blaise started dancing at 12 years old in Ballet and Contemporary. He then started exploring different styles such as Hip-hop, House, Tap, Commercial, and Popping. Blaise is currently studying Musical Theatre at The BRIT School and is a member of Company Jinks, Rambert Pre-Voc, and Khronos Agoria
Blaise, London
Ace, Hertfordshire
Ace has been dancing since the age of 3. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary and has a keen interest in pole dancing. She currently trains at Forte dance and performing arts studio and is a company member of @28dancecompany.
Ace, Hertfordshire
Beth, Manchester
Beth started dancing when she was 17, taught by Ray Bulpitt. She has competed internationally in ballroom and latin dance, and she also has experience in contemporary dance. Beth is currently studying medicine at Newcastle University.
Beth, Manchester
Aoibh, Manchester
Aoibh started dancing at the age of 3, learning both ballet and modern dance. Aged 13, she joined the CAT scheme at the Lowry and began studying contemporary dance. Aoibh also did Dance GCSE at her school, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.
Aoibh, Manchester
Lila, Falmouth
Lila began with ballet when they were 3 before discovering contemporary and instantly falling in love with the freedom and expression offered by improvisation. They continue to train with Grace Murdock at Falmouth University's AMATA and also enjoy training and performing in aerial silks with Naomi Lewis at AirFish circus. Lila is currently studying A-levels and applying for contemporary dance schools; they are aiming to specialise in choreography.
Lila, Falmouth
Venus, London
Venus began dancing at 6 years old with their primary school. Upon reaching secondary, they began dancing with The Place where they currently train with the CAT programme and performs with Shift youth dance company. They have received training in contemporary, ballet, commercial, jazz and tap and plan to pursue contemporary dance.
Venus, London
Emma, Brighton
Emma started dancing at the age of 13 where she did GCSE Dance and trained in many styles including: Ballet, Tap, Street, Jazz and Contemporary. Since then, focussing more on Contemporary, she became a member of Smikle Youth Dance (SYD:B Creative Academy & BATCH program) working with Lee Smikle and has completed her Dance BTEC course at Varndean College achieving a Distinction Star.
Emma, Brighton
Judd, Nottingham
Judd found his love of movement through contemporary dance. He is currently training at Nottingham’s Centre for Advanced Training and undertaking a B-Tec in Dance at Studio79, Leicester, where he is gaining an insight to a wider variety of dance styles.
Judd, Nottingham
Lydia, London
Lydia is a 17-year-old dancer from Southeast London. She started dancing in Trinity Laban’s children’s classes and is currently on their Centre for Advanced Training programme. She is mainly a contemporary dancer but also trains in ballet and hip-hop
Lydia, London
Perry, London
Perry started dance at the age of 4 with ballet. He has done street dance (with Karl Morgan) tap and modern as well contemporary more recently, taught by many teachers both locally and on various programmes including the CAT scheme, Central School of Ballet (with Juan Rodriguez and James Muller/ Emily Powell) and ENBYouthCo (lead by Richard Bermange). Currently, Perry is in full time education however dances regularly with Rambert Pre-Voc and ENBYouthCo; and is exploring new styles such as hip hop.
Perry, London
Maddy, Penryn
Maddy started contemporary dance at age 8, doing an improvisation class. They have studied BTEC and A-Level and they are currently on a Gap year. They are part of Propeller - a youth dance company at AMATA, Falmouth where they take contemporary technique class. They also assist teaching an improvisation class for children age 5-7.
Maddy, Penryn