Young dancers from Doncaster to perform at prestigious FRESH 2024 festival for 600 people

The festival will showcase work created by 21 youth dance groups who will perform live across a matinee and evening stage.

Organising the event is Ione Barton, Yorkshire Dance’s Youth and Community Manager, who explains: “Each year FRESH gives 300 young dancers the chance to celebrate their hard work and perform on a professional stage, in front of a live audience. FRESH showcases not only the variety of dance styles in the region, but also the amazing talent and unique creative perspective of young people from Yorkshire.”

Amongst those selected to perform at FRESH are Street Beat Elite and South Yorkshire Youth Dance from Doncaster. These groups will be performing and showing short dance films for an audience of 600 people.

FRESH is a regional qualifying festival for U.Dance. Each year two or three groups from Yorkshire are selected by a panel of dance experts to perform at the national U.Dance festival, which this year is held in Liverpool in July.

As well as performing in FRESH, the selected dancers take part in workshops throughout the day which this year include contemporary,

improvisation and creative choreography. The young dancers also learn a piece which is performed as a finale to the show. This year, the finales are choreographed by

Pierre Lafayette-Marsh for the matinee performance and Jemma Mae for the evening performance.

A previous participant explains “FRESH is energetic and shows the brilliant talent of young dancers as well as a collective spirit of support. It is a really uplifting evening.”

FRESH 2024 takes place at CAST theatre in Doncaster. Joining Street Beat Elite and South Yorkshire Youth Dance on stage will be:

Matinee stage: Bust-A-Move, Art of Palm Dance Dojo, Dance United Yorkshire, Emphasis Dance Company, GM Dance, Kick Off Boys, TEMPO

and York Youth Dance

Evening stage: CAPA Juniors, DAZL Excel: Inferno, Explosive: Leeds City College, Leeds Academy of Contemporary Dance, Momentum Dance,

Nova Arts, Phoenix Youth Academy: Seniors, Pragnya Indian Arts, RJC: Shahck Out Youth Dance, Rodillian Dance Academy and Stage 84: Juniors

Screendance: Maillot Rose School of Theatre and Dance and South Yorkshire Youth Dance - Sheffield

FRESH 2024 tickets can be booked on the CAST website: https://www.castindoncaster.com/whats-on/fresh-2024/

FRESH 2024 is supported by Arts Council England.