150 young dancers from across the country took to the stage on Saturday 7th March in an evening celebrating young dance talent.
13 youth dance groups performed alongside the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland at Destinations 2020; a vibrant showcase of the best youth dance companies from across Scotland.
The event, this year held at Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling, is run annually by YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) – the award-winning national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland. Groups came from Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling, Alness and Paisley to perform after being selected through a competitive application process.
Audiences experienced an entertaining programme at Destinations which also included the premiere of the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland’s new piece, Beneath Words by choreographer Anna Kenrick and dramaturg Philippa Clark. The company will now embark on their 2020 tour.
YDance also partnered with industry body One Dance UK to offer four of the groups the chance to represent Scotland at U.Dance 2020 which this year takes place at Tramway, Glasgow from 17 – 19 July. The U.Dance National Festival celebrates the talent and creativity of the next generation of dancers and dance makers. Each year, the most exciting youth dance companies and groups from around the UK are selected to attend the festival for an inspiring weekend of dance. The selection was made at Destinations and will be announced in April.
Laura Nicholson, Head of Children and Young People’s Dance at One Dance UK said:
“Destinations 2020 was an incredible and vibrant evening of youth dance which plays testament to the creativity, talent and passion of young people from across Scotland and their teachers and group leaders. As a physical and creative activity, dance has the power to transform and improve young people’s lives. It is wonderful to see so many young participants from such diverse backgrounds coming together to share their love of dance.”
The groups who performed at Destinations 2020 were:
Abhinaya Dance Academy – Glasgow
Danscentre – Aberdeen
Eden Court Young Dance Company – Inverness
Fusion Youth Dance Company – Aberdeen
Horizons – Glasgow
Ihayami – Edinburgh
Leeanne Dobbie Dance – Glasgow
Lothian Youth Dance Company (LYDC) – Edinburgh
Macrobert Youth Dance Company – Stirling
Nova Dance Company – Alness
Overdrive Dance Company – Glasgow
RCS Junior Contemporary Dancers – Glasgow
Right2dance – Paisley
Take a look at performance highlights from the night in our Destinations multimedia gallery.
