2025
Celebrating youth dance in the Midlands
Welcome to Applause Youth Dance Festival 2025.
The performances at this year's festival will include dance works from young dancers from across the Midlands.
Applause Youth Dance Festival is presented by FABRIC and is the Midlands regional platform for U.Dance. U.Dance brings together regional platforms across the country and is led by One Dance UK.
A panel of dance industry experts will select groups to be considered by One Dance UK to progress to U.Dance 2025 National Festival.
The largest event of its kind, the U.Dance National Festival is One Dance UK's flagship youth event. Groups from around the country perform on professional stages, take part in workshops with leading dance professionals, and are offered inspiring dance careers information.
The U.Dance National Festival 2025 will take place at Sadlers Wells East in London, Friday 25 July to Sunday 27 July.
A big thank you to all the dancers for their hard work and participation.
You can find out more about U.Dance includingthe National Festival at www.bit.ly/udancenational
APPLAUSE YOUTH DANCE FESTIVAL 2025
SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2025
MAYES ACADEMY TROUPE TEAM
Which Witch?
Choreographed by Zoe Chambers
Music: Which Witch by Florence and the Machine
Dancers: Amy Dolton, Anna A'Court, Brooke Varney, Cassie Hann, Ella Kerridge, Emmie Farrow, Eva Cooper, Eva Farrow, Evie Roberts, Gracie Pervin, Holly-Mae Sutton, Imogen Castledine-Smith, Imogen Liddell, Iris Mitchell, Lyla BrashStaines.
Which Witch is a captivating contemporary piece that tells the story of a witch accused of a terrible crime and put on trial by her community. The theme is powerfully conveyed through the thoughtful use of actions, space, dynamics, and relationships, creating an engaging and emotive performance. The witch's character is clearly distinguished through a unique costume and carefully planned formations that emphasise her central role in the piece. Throughout the creative process, Zoe, the choreographer, collaborated closely with the dancers, ensuring their involvement in shaping the choreography. They explored ideas together, particularly in the development of contact work, with the dancers eagerly contributing their own insights to help bring the piece to life.
RUSHEY MEAD ACADEMY
Sun Saathiya
Choreographed by Kiran Kaur
Music: Sun Saathiya by Divya Kumar and Priya Saraiya
Dancers: Kayani Parmar, Vrunda Patel, Rudraani Tacur, Vedika Bhatt, Diti Chotalia, Kiasha Hill.
The dancers actively participated in the composition of the piece with full creative involvement. As many of the group already had a passion for traditional Indian dance, Kathak, we decided to use this as a basis for the routine. We blended Kathak and Contemporary dance styles. This allowed the dancers to expand their existing skills and experiment with new movement. Dancers contributed to the piece by deciding formations, alterations in movement and facial expressions. This theme captures the core belief of the group who appreciate dance and self-expression as an art
form. They have helped to shape the dance by taking the movement and bringing in their own individuality by connecting with the movements and the song. Miss Kaur created this piece to the song Sun Saathiya. It depicts dance as a safe space to use as an outlet during difficult times. The aim is to explore the fusion.
HEREWARD COLLEGE
Faded Nazar
Choreographed by The Dancers
Music: Tangents by Simian Mobile Disco & Faded by ZHU
Dancers: Ebony Clarke, Emily Cottrell, Hannah Cullen, Isabel Darbyshire, Milly Evans, Imogen Hopkins, Elliott Humphries, Jamie Kendall, Tara Myatt, Josh Ranger, Phoenix Sherriff, Chloe Smith Nathaniel Stevens, Brody Turner, Emily Whittaker.
The group project has focused on the group working together to create a dance piece based on music that they would not usually listen to. With the music being a focus, the dancers have explored the relationship between music and movement and have created a 20-minute piece of dance around this. They have picked a section of this piece to perform in the show. The dancers have used a variety of choreographic methods and tasks to create their work, but they have sole been responsible for all the choreography. The intent of the movement through the music is a raw, aesthetically challenging atmosphere which dancers portray.
GEDLING BALLET SCHOOL SENIOR CONTEMPORARY
Where's
Me Jumper?!
Choreographed by Amy Daniels
Music: Where's Me Jumper/You Talk Too Much by Sultans of Ping F.C.
Dancers: Charlie Bursztyn, Sofia Daniels, Ophelia Flower, Mia Guthrie, Constance Harrison, Isabella Havalja, Lauren Howe, Neve Hudson, Freya Grace Ingham, Eve Jackson, Anna Moynihan-Case, Elizabeth Shaw, Ella Tebbs.
Where's Me Jumper?! is a playful, energetic piece in which the dancers get to showcase their favourite jumper! In the creation of this piece, Amy, the choreographer, wanted each dancer to feel like they could show off their own personalities, have fun whilst dancing with each other on stage, and tell a story inspired by the song. This is a lively piece, that we hope gets the audience smiling as they realise what is happening as the piece progresses.
NRG
All Goes Wrong
Choreographed by Kirstie Parker
Music: All Goes Wrong (Acoustic) by Tom Grennan & Chase and Status
Dancers: Tallulah Roberts, Isabell Higgs, Hannah Parrfit, Celine Hamchou, Anaya Harris, Charles Megan, North Georgie, Marshell Bella, Lynes Bea Weaver, Suzie Cooper, Ginger Lee, Casey Tong, Mikeala Murphy, Macie Orton, Amelie Jay, Lois Doonan, Ava Moore.
This is a contemporary fusion piece based on the struggles of life and how resilience and perseverance can support through many different challenges. The group is a performance company from Alderbrook School, working with Dancers from Year 9 to Year 12. They audition for their place in the company and travel over the West Midlands for different performance opportunities such as The Alexandra Theatre, The NEC and the Birmingham Hippodrome.
ME DANCE YOUTH COMPANY (DUO) Breakout
Choreographed by Neaveh and Erin Millard
Music: VVS Blue Steel By Nathan Rothschild
Dancers: Neaveh Millard and Erin Millard
Breakout is inspired by creepy dolls. This duet looks at breaking free from being the same as everyone else and trying to discover exactly who you are as an individual without being controlled. Through moments of control and conflict two twins try to find the balance between love, friendship and their own path in life. What would it be like to be a creepy doll who no one wanted to play or connect with because of the way it looked? This duet has been created by the dancers in their creative sessions and in their own time.
Mentored by their Artistic Director Marcia Edwards the two have continued to elevate their work and push the boundaries of mixing Contemporary Dance with grounded elements of body isolations to show that movement can be expressed in so many different ways to compliment the choreography. Musicality is also an important part of this piece as it creates the atmosphere not only for the audience but also for the twins to embody their characters. Neaveh and Erin plan to keep creating, questioning and exploring their work to see what else could happen in their story and how it can appeal to what's going on in our current society today.
ACE YOUTH
Echoes of Silence
Choreographed by Mthoko Mkhwanazi
Music: Sigra - Heldom and Skelfir – Heldom
Dancers: Ashley Powell, Ethan Spence, Hanna Puhachova, Jesca Newman, Lucca Masters, Mariia Poliienko, Mei-Shan Allen, Saffron McIntosh, T'Chae Wilson, Temiah Jones, Iyhana Griffiths, Janae Vito.
Inspired by the thousands of men and women from the Caribbean who fought for Britain in World War 2. ACE Youth present a haunting exploration of soldier's post war struggle, embodying the mental fragmentation, isolation and turmoil of trauma.
ACE Youth Company perform both nationally and internationally and have developed a recognised reputation for producing exciting and physical work, inspiring young people to have freedom of expression through dance and creating some of the very best professional artists of the future.
10 MINUTE INTERVAL
HALESOWEN COLLEGE
The Water Within Us
Choreographed by Ellen Thomas
Music: 05 Music for Weather Elements_ V. Thunders and lightnings by Ezio Bosso, Giacomo and Relja Lukic
Dancers: Emmy Bailey, Hannah Bishop, Eden Blayney, Grace Brookes, Ava Cooper, Kendra Guest, Samuel Nicholas, Ida Poniatowska, Melissa Robinson, Neven Shannon.
The Water Within Us is a piece of work that explores interpreted links between human emotions and the behaviour and characteristics of open sea water. The piece aims to physicalise human emotions as if they were water travelling through the body. The concept took form through a range of creative tasks with an example being movement inspired and created from visual stimuli that presented the ocean in different states of behaviour, thinking about how that can be reflected through raw movement in the body and then personally linking or relating to an emotion that we may experience or have experienced. The ocean has multiple factors that impact its behaviour; this may be the tide, current or swell, the size of the waves or how frequent the waves occur. Like the ocean, we experience many factors that impact our behaviour and our emotions, such as genetics, past experiences, trauma, physical health, societal norms and expectations.
Through the work, this is explored through the metaphorical imagery of those emotions physically being the water within us. Sometimes our waters are calm, other times, they may be rough or unsettled. Throughout the piece, you will observe different states of human emotions that are physicalised as if the water is moving through the body; an ocean within a human capsule.
NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL FOR BOYS
Fight or Flight
Choreographed by Elise Clinton and the Dancers
Music: Too Much by Sampha
Dancers: Jack Burrows, Noel Caesar, Ollie Church, Quaide KayRash, Kavish Raagavan, Charlie Reed, Dylan Walmsley.
The piece is based upon the physical and mental responses of young people who have volunteered to fight for their country. The group explored how combat stress triggers heightened emotional responses such as fear, guilt, shame and sadness along with physiological changes such as temporary immobilisation or the fight or flight response. This juxtaposes with patriotism and the courage to display a sense of duty and resolve.
All the students are in Key Stage 4, and they have always embraced dance as an extra-curricular activity. Led by Elise Clinton (a former sixth form student of the school) the boys work alongside her to build their confidence, creativity and technical skill in dance.
AJ SCHOOL OF DANCE
The Final Clue
Choreographed by Alice Marshall and Vicki Jones
Music: Discombobulate by Hans Zimmer & Army of Thieves by Hans Zimmer
Dancers: Evie Baker-Oates, Maisie Brady, Agatha Hall, Sorrel Harrison, Eleanor Heath, Emily Higgs, Evie Marsh, Lilli Napthine, Isabel Rowbotham, Elissa Schofield, Chloe Watkins.
The Final Clue is a thrilling contemporary dance piece that brings the iconic murder mystery board game, Cluedo, to life. Choreographed by Alice Marshall and Vicki Jones, in collaboration with the dancers, the performance unravels a web of intrigue, deception, and suspense. Through dynamic movement, striking formations, and sharp storytelling, the dancers embody the game’s characters, leading the audience through a visually captivating whodunit.
2FACED
OYA
Choreographed by John Robinson
Music: Oya - Ibeyi. Creator – Santigold
Dancers: Iia Birov, Molly Simmons, Miamai Skidmore, Hannah Davies, Ella Jennings, Seren Beales, Poppy Grundy, Alex Figg.
OYA was a piece created in collaboration with the dancers. Oya, from Yoruba religion, commands winds, storms, and lightning. She is the queen of the River Niger, a warrior and unbeatable. The piece therefore explores this sense of divine power. How can 8 dancers all have the same amount of status and coexist with each other on stage. This, coupled with the idea of being your own creator, defying expectations, breaking the rules, and carving out success through raw ambition and creativity. The dancers navigate this balance with each other.
BOA
Roxanne
Choreographed by Holly Wagstaff and Darcey Luscombe
Music: El Tango De Roxanne - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
Dancers: Lilly-Rose Burford, Ava Gutteridge, Imogen Rowe, Phoebe Byrne, Millie Holmes, Lola Walker, Tulip Mousell, Aiofe Jackson, Amelie Baker, Ashleigh Prince.
Roxanne is a contemporary piece with elements of Jazz, Latin and flamenco, performed by our Year 10 Dance Pathway students.
Year 10 dancers from Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) who take daily dance classes at school and also outside of school. Passion for dance and performing.
CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING
A dedicated part-time training programme for young people aged 11-18 and up to 23 for D/deaf or disabled people, supporting their dance learning and career development. Young dancers with talent and potential, regardless of their personal circumstances, receive world-class training in either Contemporary or South Asian styles, delivered on a part-time basis. We hold annual admissions workshops to enrol young people on to the programme.
Led by FABRIC (with Yuva Gati delivered in partnership with Sampad South Asian Arts and Heritage), the programme offers means-tested places funded by the Department for Education.
East and West Midlands
Contemporary strands
Admissions Workshops
West Midlands Contemporary Admissions Workshop
East Midlands Contemporary Admissions Workshop
Yuva Gati Admissions Workshop
Yuva Gati
South Asian national strand
Saturday 5 July
FABRIC, Birmingham Hippodrome, B5 4TB
Sunday 6 July
FABRIC, Space 2, Nottingham NG3 2AR
Saturday 12 July
FABRIC, Birmingham Hippodrome, B5 4TB
To find out more you can email catadmin@fabric.dance or visit www.fabric.dance/centre-for-advanced-training
Images by Kate Green
FABRIC, presenter of Applause Youth Dance Festival, is a strategic dance development organisation based in the Midlands with sites in Birmingham and Nottingham.
FABRIC's vision is to inspire people through dance transforming lives, communities and places.
FABRIC supports dance artists, performers and choreographers; runs an extensive outreach and education programme; leads the FABRIC Centre forAdvanced Training programmes(see previous page); and produces a range of community engagement projects.
Find out more about FABRIC and signup to our mailing lists at www.fabric.dance.
Image by Matt Cawrey