London's Sadler's Wells hosts the grand final of BBC Young Dancer 2017, as five outstanding young performers compete for the overall title.
Presented by Anita Rani and Ore Oduba with legendary ballerina Darcey Bussell, the evening is a unique opportunity for these young dancers to perform in front many of the UK's leading dance figures. To reach the final, all of them have already won through three selection rounds in either ballet, contemporary, South Asian or street dance. Alongside the winners of those four categories, there is also a place for an additional wildcard.
Judging the final are a formidable panel of dance experts - Kevin O'Hare, director of The Royal Ballet, Jasmin Vardimon, choreographer and artistic director of the Jasmin Vardimon Company, Marc Brew, artistic director and choreographer, Kate Prince, choreographer and director of ZooNation, Kenneth Tharp, choreographer, director and former chief executive of The Place, and Nahid Siddiqui, one of the world's finest Kathak dancers and choreographers.
For the grand final, each of the dancers has been teamed up with a leading choreographer who has created a brand new solo for them for the occasion. They will also dance a solo from their repertoire and a duet or pas de deux. At the end of the final, one will be named BBC Young Dancer 2017. To date, only one person knows exactly how that feels and he is back to perform a new solo - BBC Young Dancer 2015 Connor Scott.
Special guests joining Anita and Darcey for the evening include artistic director of New Adventures, Matthew Bourne, Kenrick Sandy, artistic director of Boy Blue Entertainment, and Shobana Jeyasingh, artistic director of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, who was also the chair of the judging panels for the category finals. Show less