One Youth Dance Uncovered #YouthDance #Charity #review
One Youth Dance performance of Uncovered, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
2014 was an extraordinary year for One Youth Dance. Their Principal; Joanna Shaw, has done them – and herself – proud. It’s not just that the company has become a registered charity (a huge amount of work and achievement in itself, one which would be the single crown in any other person’s year) but that they also won a place at U.Dance; YDE’s festival in Nottingham, performed all over the UK, established themselves in a lovely venue thanks to the generous people at Platform, and have so many successful graduates (as an annual occurrence rather than a one-off which makes the company even more special) that I don’t quite understand why Joanna isn’t being offered jobs by other hungry organisations. Maybe she is, if the offers expected her to leave One Youth Dance she’d turn them down without hesitation.
One Youth Dance performance of Uncovered, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
I’ve been covering the company near enough since its inception and even though my involvement is peripheral I love watching the individual members grow. As you’d expect, some dancers have caught my eye already and I expect they’ll do well, should they decide to stay in the world of dance (or elsewhere – the dedication and discipline needed to become a good dancer are transferrable skills).
One Youth Dance performance of Uncovered, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
I went to shoot their show Uncovered at Platform on 20th December. Didn’t write this post before because of my normal dodgy health and because getting their images processed for them to use was my priority. Jo’s decision in turning the choreographic development over to the company members (plus one graduate) was an exciting thing to do, and turned out so well that one number produced shivers down my spine and I found myself fighting tears in another.
One Youth Dance performance of Uncovered, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
I’m looking forward to seeing what this extraordinary youth dance company achieves in 2015.
One Youth Dance rehearsals for Uncovered, (c) Carole Edrich 2014