Alesandra Seutin / National Youth Dance Company Bring QUARTIER PARADIS to Sadler's Wells This September

Following the success of their 2021 production Speak Volumes, National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) once again collaborates with internationally renowned choreographer Alesandra Seutin.

Premiered in DanceCity in Newcastle in April, NYDC's Quartier Paradis comes to Sadler's Wells on Saturday 3 September. This performance will close the company's summer tour after it visited six venues across England in Falmouth, Ipswich, London (Peckham), Leeds and Birmingham.

32 outstanding young dancers from across England present a new contemporary work, exploring the relationship between movement, voice and music. Quartier Paradis dives into parallel universes where there is no clear endgame, a place built on the fantasy of greed for a power that continuously shifts. Where ritual, memories and ancestral heritage will keep you standing; revealing the alarming reality of a society locked in a cycle of tyranny.

Quartier Paradis is part of Well Seasoned, designed by Sadler's Wells' Artistic Director and Chief Executive Alistair Spalding and Breakin' Convention's Artistic Director Jonzi D and Director Michelle Norton. This programme is bringing exceptional and relevant shows by Black artists to the stage, celebrating Black dance.

With choreography by Alesandra Seutin assisted by Nandi Bhebhe, Jo Leahy and Akeim Toussaint Buck. Lighting by Adam Carrée, Costume Design by Ryan Dawson Laight and music composed by Randolph Matthews, the production is set to be an exciting show of young talent and creativity.

Alesandra Seutin is an award-winning multidisciplinary performance artist and creator. Seutin works internationally between Senegal, Belgium and the UK, where she artistically and creatively leads two international touring dance performance companies. Alesandra founded Alesandra Seutin | Vocab Dance in 2007 and she is also Co-Artistic Director of the famed Ecole des Sables in Senegal.

Seutin is also an artistic advisor for Sadler's Wells, for work from Africa and its diaspora, as part of the expansion of the Sadler's Wells artistic programme. This includes a diversity of voices and influences on programming.

NYDC has begun its search for the next intake of 30 young dancers to join the company. This is a bumper year for the company, with additional engagement activities planned around the country next summer. The next intake of young dancers will work with NYDC 2022/23 Guest Artistic Director Wayne McGregor CBE to create the new commission from October 2022. NYDC Workshops are taking place across England in July and August to find the next cohort.

NYDC has established a reputation for producing high-quality, critically-acclaimed productions by leading choreographers, including Russell Maliphant, Botis Seva, Sharon Eyal, Damien Jalet, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan and Jasmin Vardimon.

NYDC brings together the brightest talent from across England, immersing the members fully in the process of creating, performing and touring new work, giving them a unique insight into the dance profession. The company works with young people aged 16-18 or up to the age of 24 for d/Deaf or disabled dancers. The dancers come from across the country and from a range of different backgrounds and dance styles.

NYDC has a track record of putting young people on paths to successful dance careers, with over 80% of NYDC members going onto further dance training or professional work. Graduates have since danced with Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, Rambert, Hofesh Shechter Company and Jasmin Vardimon Company. NYDC 2014-2016 Graduate John William Watson is also part of Sadler's Wells' Young Associates programme. The winner of BBC Young Dancer 2022, Adhya Shastry is in the current company.

Guest Artistic Director Alesandra Seutin said, "It is exciting to be Guest Artistic Director of NYDC for a second year, and to be a part of the company's tenth cohort. Working with NYDC is always a wonderful experience, the young people are inspiring, they are full of potential, joy, life and struggle all at the same time. It has inspired me to be a better human and artist, and to inspire these young people with the work and my team is always a joy."

Hannah Kirkpatrick, Head of NYDC, said: "We are really looking forward to our audiences seeing this incredible work by our 10th cohort of dancers and Alesandra Seutin. Following two disrupted years of Covid it feels brilliant to be doing a full tour to share the work with as many people as possible. We are so proud of this group, who have grown as individuals and artists over the year, and we can't wait to see what the future has in store for them. This is the second year that Alesandra has led NYDC and it has been inspiring to see how she and her team have challenged and supported the dancers to make this unique and powerful work."

A short dance film of last year's successful Speak Volumes by NYDC is available on Sadler's Wells Digital Stage as part of Well Seasoned. You can find this here:
https://www.sadlerswells.com/well-seasoned-celebrating-black-dance/national-youth-dance-company-speak-volumes

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