Dame Darcey Bussell, Strictly Come Dancing’s Aljaž Skorjanec and Janette Manrara, Boy Blue’s Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy, The Royal Ballet’s Steven McRae and West End star Layton Williams are confirmed in the line-up for U.Dance Digital 2020, One Dance UK’s youth dance festival this July.
There will be three days of digital dance masterclasses, industry information panels and dance showcases from 17–19 July,open to dancers aged 11–19 or up to 25 with a disability in a free-to-access event.
Participants will learn from dance companies including Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Scottish Dance Theatre, Stopgap, Boy Blue and Zoonation: The Kate Prince Company and from professionals who work with The Royal Ballet, NDCWales, Rambert, Sadler's Wells, Mary Poppins and Hamilton, leading dance scientists and many more.
The U.Dance Choreography Challenge will invite youth dance companies, schools and individuals to send videos of their work to be showcased and the U.Dance Writing Challenge offers young writers the chance to write a guest column in a national dance magazine and online, with selections made by Graham Watts, Chair of the Critics’ Circle Dance Section. Entries for both close on 3 July.
Each evening, there will be streams of the youth dance, including a screening of a work from Rambert’s second company of early-career dancers Rambert2.