BBC Young Dancer

Lore & Background

In 2022, the competition adopted a new format open to all dance styles, replacing category finals with in-person auditions in Shoreditch, London. Successful finalists attended a week-long dance residency at Dartington Hall in Devon, preparing new works for the grand final at London's Roundhouse. The winner was crowned by judges Prince Credell, Arthur Pita, Subathra Subramaniam, and Ryoichi Hirano.

Reader's Guide

BBC Young Dancer provided a national platform for emerging amateur dancers in ballet, contemporary, hip hop, and South Asian dance, mirroring the model of BBC Young Musician of the Year. Over its four editions (2015, 2017, 2019, 2022), it showcased young talent across the UK, with category finals held in Newport, Salford, and later replaced by auditions in London. The competition's significance lies in its celebration of diverse dance styles and its role in launching the careers of winners such as Connor Scott, Nafisah Baba, and Max Revell. By featuring prominent judges and choreographers—including Matthew Bourne, Wayne McGregor, and Tamara Rojo—it connected young dancers with leading figures in the dance world. The 2022 format shift to a residency at Dartington Hall and a final at the Roundhouse reflected an evolution toward immersive training and performance. Though the competition ended in 2022, its legacy endures as a benchmark for youth dance excellence in the UK.

Did You Know?

• Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta served as the competition's ambassador.
• The 2015 grand final was judged by a panel including Matthew Bourne, Wayne McGregor, and Tamara Rojo.

Origins & Design Philosophy

BBC Young Dancer emerged from the BBC's desire to extend the model of its celebrated biennial BBC Young Musician of the Year competition into the world of dance. Director-General Tony Hall officially launched the show in October 2014, embedding it within BBC Four's broader Year of Song and Dance programming initiative. The competition was conceived specifically for British amateur dancers aged sixteen to twenty, giving young performers across ballet, contemporary, hip hop, and South Asian dance a national televised platform. Cuban-born ballet performer Carlos Acosta was appointed as the competition's ambassador, lending international gravitas to a distinctly British project. The show found its home on BBC Four and BBC Two, with its run spanning from 2015 through 2022. By restricting entry to amateurs within a narrow age band, the format ensured that the stage belonged to emerging talent rather than established professionals, creating a genuine launchpad for the next generation of British dance.

The Inaugural Series and Early Editions

The first edition of BBC Young Dancer premiered in May 2015, with the grand final broadcast live from London's Sadler's Wells Theatre on BBC Two. Ballet dancer and Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell was named co-presenter and dance expert for that landmark evening, joined by co-hosts Zoe Ball and Clemency Burton-Hill. The category finals for each dance style had been filmed earlier at the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport and aired weekly on BBC Four. A distinguished panel of six dance experts — Matthew Bourne, Mavin Khoo, Wayne McGregor, Tamara Rojo, Kenrick Sandy, and Alistair Spalding — served as judges for the grand final. Contemporary dancer Connor Scott was crowned the inaugural winner on 9 May 2015. The competition returned in 2017, with category finals relocated to The Lowry in Salford while the grand final stayed at Sadler's Wells. Contemporary dancer Nafisah Baba claimed the overall title on 22 April, with a new judging panel including Kevin O'Hare, Jasmin Vardimon, Marc Brew, Kate Prince, Kenneth Tharp, and Nahid Siddiqui.

The 2019 Edition and Birmingham

The 2019 edition of BBC Young Dancer marked a shift in both venue and winner profile. The grand final was staged at the Birmingham Hippodrome on 18 May, bringing the competition's spotlight to the Midlands for the first time. Street dancer Max Revell emerged as the overall winner, underscoring the show's commitment to showcasing hip hop and urban dance alongside more traditional forms. The judging panel for that year brought together a diverse group of dance professionals: Wayne McGregor returned from the inaugural series, joined by Shobana Jeyasingh, Emma Gladstone, Christopher Hampson, Junior Bosila Banya, and Chitra Sundaram. This rotating approach to judging meant that each edition of the competition offered a fresh critical perspective, with different experts evaluating the finalists' performances. The 2019 series continued the biennial rhythm established in 2015 and 2017, reinforcing the show's identity as a periodic national event rather than a continuous annual fixture.

The 2022 Format Overhaul

The 2022 edition of BBC Young Dancer represented the most significant structural transformation in the show's history. The previous category-based system, which had separated ballet, contemporary, hip hop, and South Asian dance into distinct tracks, was abandoned in favour of a format open to all dance styles. In place of the former Salford-based category finals, the series introduced in-person auditions in Shoreditch, London, where contestants performed before a panel of professional judges. Those who progressed to the final ten then attended a week-long dance residency at Dartington Hall in Devon, an intensive creative period designed to deepen their artistic development. Across a four-episode televised series, the finalists were challenged by leading choreographers to prepare entirely new works for the grand final. The culminating event took place at London's Roundhouse, where a panel comprising Kate Prince, Arthur Pita, Subathra Subramaniam, and Ryoichi Hirano crowned the winner. This overhaul signalled the BBC's ambition to present dance as a unified, cross-disciplinary art form.