Announcing the East London Youth Dance Company

An East London Dance and University of East London (UEL) partnership project.

After 2 days of auditions in October led by Lead Artist Sara dos Santos and Assistant Artist David Waker, we are thrilled to announce the brand new East London Youth Dance Company (ELYDC) as:

Tafote Akerejola
Natasha De-Graft
Kia Henry
Yasmin Kagabo
Khama Kamwenje
Adanna Lawrence
Eunice Neto
Lakisha Opoku
Jahanvi Patel
Tendai Phikiso
Lisandro Pinto
Manisha Shajan
Maria Tony
Mia Ward-Malcolm

These 14 exceptional young people are representative of the incredible talent in east London and we are excited to see their journey over the next year.

We were thrilled to have Renee Jackson (An East London Dance youth company member in 2012) on the panel, alongside Carla Trim Vamben (Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Dance: Urban Practice, UEL) and Natalia Barua (Programme Coordinator, East London Dance). We saw over 30 young people aged 14-18 across the two days and the decisions were not easy ones!

Training commenced on 10 November 2015 at UEL’s state of the art studios on the USS campus and the company will continue to meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays – with sessions focusing on technical and choreographic development as well as working towards performances.

“I’m super excited about this year’s ELYDC. We have selected a group of talented and diverse dancers with enormous potential, drive and personality. My vision and mission is to set a foundation and raise up a generation of artists who can deliver movement with confidence, integrity and passion. Offering an environment that encourages creative self-expression, inspires learning and artistic growth.” Sara Dos Santos. ELYDC Lead Artist

Watch this space for future developments and up coming performances of the Company and follow what they get up to on a weekly basis using the Twitter hash tag #ELYDC

Find out more about ELYDC here.