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ANITA RANI: BBC Young Dancer began last week with street dance. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
At the end of a closely contested Category Final... | 0:00:06 | 0:00:09 | |
Jodelle Douglas. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
..21-year-old popper Jodelle Douglas was named winner, | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
guaranteeing him a place in the Grand Final. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:17 | |
To actually win is just a bonus, you know, it's like the cherry on top. | 0:00:17 | 0:00:21 | |
So, yeah, very happy. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:22 | |
Tonight, we turn the spotlight on ballet. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:27 | |
It's the most demanding of professions, requiring | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
a high level of technical skill and artistry. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
For one of our five category finalists, | 0:00:33 | 0:00:35 | |
a place in the Grand Final | 0:00:35 | 0:00:37 | |
awaits and with it, | 0:00:37 | 0:00:38 | |
a chance to perform on this | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
iconic stage at Sadler's Wells. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
Welcome to the Ballet Final of BBC Young Dancer 2017. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:47 | |
Last summer, the UK's best young dancers aged 16 to 21 were | 0:01:17 | 0:01:21 | |
invited to enter the competition in four categories - Ballet, | 0:01:21 | 0:01:25 | |
Contemporary, South Asian, and Street Dance. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:28 | |
In November, following a DVD audition stage, | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
ten promising ballet dancers | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
were selected to compete in Round 2, held at DanceEast in Ipswich. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:44 | |
Their challenge, | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
to impress three leading figures from the world of ballet | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
in live performance. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:50 | |
Internationally-renowned choreographer Ashley Page... | 0:01:51 | 0:01:55 | |
I'm always a great believer in presenting yourself through | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
the work, then you will show both the choreography and yourself | 0:01:58 | 0:02:03 | |
in the right balance. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:05 | |
..Artistic Director of Ballet Black Cassa Pancho... | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
With classical ballet, there's either | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
a right way of executing a turn or you're not doing it properly. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
But then on top of that, you're really looking for | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
performance quality, something that really speaks to you in the | 0:02:18 | 0:02:21 | |
audience, that really tells the story of the dance they're doing. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:25 | |
..and founder of Ballet Cymru Darius James. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
One of my things that I look out for is personality. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
Either they can choreograph their own work or they work with | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
a choreographer who can bring out the best in them. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
All the dancers were asked to perform two solos. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
At stake - five places in the BBC Young Dancer Ballet Final. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:53 | |
With the people we've chosen, it should certainly be an | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
exciting evening and hopefully the encouragement of getting | 0:02:55 | 0:02:59 | |
through to the next stage of the competition will generate | 0:02:59 | 0:03:03 | |
confidence and make them raise their game. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:06 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:03:06 | 0:03:11 | |
The five dancers through to the ballet final are Ryan Felix, | 0:03:11 | 0:03:16 | |
a student at Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
I'm really looking forward to the experience of performing on | 0:03:18 | 0:03:21 | |
stage, in front of a lot of people. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:23 | |
Also from Elmhurst and in her final year, Jade Wallace. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
It's what I love to do, so it's going to be such good fun. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:30 | |
From the English National Ballet School, | 0:03:30 | 0:03:32 | |
Rhys Antoni Yeomans. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
When you're on stage it just feels so natural and the adrenaline | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
kicks in and it's just a beautiful feeling. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:39 | |
Training at Ballet West in Scotland, Uyu Hiromoto. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
I didn't expect to go through so I'm really grateful that I got | 0:03:42 | 0:03:47 | |
through and I'm really happy about it. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
And Oscar Ward, also at Ballet West. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
It was really great to hear how I've got through to the final. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
It was just... Yeah, I was really ecstatic. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
MUSIC: O Fortuna by Carl Orff | 0:04:04 | 0:04:10 | |
Ballet can grab your attention and suck you in | 0:04:10 | 0:04:13 | |
and you'll love it forever. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
Graceful, dramatic, magical and athletic, | 0:04:15 | 0:04:21 | |
ballet continues to captivate audiences around the world. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
To an audience that has never seen ballet before, I would say, | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
"Come and give it one chance. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:32 | |
"At worst, you will be surprised. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
"And at best, your life will be changed forever." | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
Classical ballet is based on a series of formal positions | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
and gestures, and it takes years of training to achieve the | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
technique required to perform at the highest level. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
What's distinctive about ballet as an art form is the extreme | 0:04:51 | 0:04:56 | |
physicality, so, it's really the only form of dance where you | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
will see the women en pointe, where you will see these extreme jumps. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:04 | |
In classical ballets there are a lot of rules, there are a lot of | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
things that you have to get right before you can start dancing really. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:11 | |
Your speed, your flexibility, your strength, | 0:05:11 | 0:05:13 | |
all of those things are, you know, you're working all the time. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
What it takes to be a ballerina is not perhaps the glamour or | 0:05:16 | 0:05:20 | |
femininity or physique, | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
I think that's all very important but I think what would supersede | 0:05:22 | 0:05:26 | |
that is dedication and drive and never-ending quest to do better. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:32 | |
For me what makes ballet powerful is when all of that is | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
harnessed to communicate a story or an emotion to an audience. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:44 | |
The technique on its own is not enough. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
As well as demonstrating their abilities in two solos, | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
each of the finalists must also perform a pas de deux, a duet, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
which is at the heart of the ballet repertoire. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
For the young female dancer, | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
really the most important thing is to be very reliable and she | 0:06:03 | 0:06:07 | |
should be predictable in where her balance will be. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:10 | |
And if she is a very good and competent dancer, | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
she should be easy to partner. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:14 | |
The challenge is to look after your lady, really, | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
to make sure she feels comfortable and secure. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
She's out there, she's the sort of face of the two of you for | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
a lot of it. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:25 | |
But it's also hearing the music together, breathing together, | 0:06:25 | 0:06:30 | |
just finding a connection in those moments. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
In the 21st century, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
ballet is still pushing the boundaries both physically | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
and artistically, constantly looking for new ways of reinventing itself. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:45 | |
All the companies in the UK and across the world are now | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
having these wonderful contemporary choreographers coming | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
and crossing over and working | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
with the classical ballet companies and creating amazing work. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:58 | |
With contemporary ballet in particular, you can't just let go of | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
your classical technique and think, "Oh, I'm just going to be free." | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
It looks free but it actually is not, you need to have a really | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
strong classical base in order to be able to take it somewhere else. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
But it always comes back to having your technique together. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
It's early January and to prepare for their appearance in the | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
Ballet Final, all five finalists are invited to | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
a workshop at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:33 | |
It's their first chance to meet their mentors. | 0:07:33 | 0:07:37 | |
Jade and Uyu will work with former Principal of The Royal Ballet | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
and one of the leading ballerinas of her generation Viviana Durante. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
It's not about doing a variation better than somebody else. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
Don't think of it like that at all. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
You just do your best for what you love. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
Don't forget, it's what you're passionate about. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
You have to work really hard to achieve certain things. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:59 | |
It's about the practising. It's about the hours you put in. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
You have to be devoted. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
And the three boys will be mentored by Artistic Director | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
of Northern Ballet David Nixon. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
Once you get to your performance, you need to be kind of, almost | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
cold about it in a certain sense, not getting emotionally involved. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:17 | |
I'm here to support them. We have a lot of criticism in dance. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:22 | |
It's basically how we function. | 0:08:22 | 0:08:24 | |
I say to the dancers sometimes, "It's just a note and you can use it | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
"or you can embrace it and really go for it." | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
First to the studio is 16-year-old Ryan. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
David is keen to take a look at RIVE, | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
a dance that Ryan has choreographed himself. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
Next, it's a little bit more, until you get to that final one | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
that's huge. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:47 | |
I said to him, "So, what's this solo about?" | 0:08:47 | 0:08:49 | |
And he mentioned these four words which were - velocity, | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
elevation, resistance and impact. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
You've given yourself a hard prep there, young man. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:56 | |
Then all of a sudden what I'd seen started to make sense, | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
but that he hadn't taken his own words and understood how | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
he had choreographed it with the intention of those words. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:07 | |
This isn't talking. Stand up here. | 0:09:07 | 0:09:09 | |
He knows how to, kind of, get you motivated | 0:09:09 | 0:09:12 | |
and to make you work harder, | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
but making you feel comfortable at the same time. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
I just really enjoyed it, to be honest. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
In another studio, 19-year-old Jade is rehearsing under the | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
watchful eye of Viviana. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:26 | |
She's very musical. She's a very quick mover which is wonderful. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
She just needs to push herself a little bit more. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
Keep on that plie, on our supporting leg cos... | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
'Viviana was so encouraging.' | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
I felt like she could really see my strengths and she was really | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
good at picking out what I could improve on. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
'We worked a little bit on her posture.' | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
She has this very strong technique, beautiful jump. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:50 | |
It's just allowing herself to go further. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
..before the big jete... | 0:09:52 | 0:09:54 | |
'She made me feel quite confident really. Made me feel...' | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
..special as the dancer I am, you know, | 0:09:56 | 0:09:58 | |
because we're all so different. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:00 | |
Good. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:04 | |
Rhys is keen to work with David on his portrayal of Puck from | 0:10:06 | 0:10:10 | |
A Midsummer Night's Dream. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
Quiet, shush! | 0:10:12 | 0:10:14 | |
You're not shushing on the second one, you're posing. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
It allowed us to engage more in a conversation about dynamics | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
and musicality and personality. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
Just slap me. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:23 | |
That's not a slap. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
More. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:26 | |
More. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
There! | 0:10:28 | 0:10:29 | |
The most interesting thing was when he would tell me and do the movement | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
I could see it and then he'd show me the movement and he didn't do it. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
I'm getting mischievous - "funny" - | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
rather than mischievous - "I can also do naughty". | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
He just gave me more of a way of thinking, the choreography, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
of like, the story, how I tell it, like, what I'm doing, is it working? | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
Is it not working? | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
There you go! That's it! | 0:10:48 | 0:10:49 | |
So it's good feedback to get from someone who's done it | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
in his own career. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:55 | |
Uyu is working with Viviana on the Summer Fairy Solo | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
from Frederick Ashton's version of Cinderella, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:03 | |
a production Viviana knows well from her time with The Royal Ballet. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:07 | |
We talked about how important it is for a dancer to listen to the music. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:11 | |
About how it would be like a script for an actor, so therefore, | 0:11:11 | 0:11:15 | |
you have to see the shades of the music and, you know, work on those. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
You know, really feel your forehead... | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
She told me to, like, imagine I'm in the summer and, like, | 0:11:22 | 0:11:26 | |
wiping off sweat, it's really, like, humid | 0:11:26 | 0:11:29 | |
and then it's like my arm's really heavy. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
It was interesting to see her, you know, progression, | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
even just in an hour, how much she was taking in. It was amazing. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:39 | |
Yes. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:40 | |
I was a bit nervous first but, like, | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
cos of her personality, I really enjoyed it. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:46 | |
In the final, Oscar will be performing the Act 3 Variation | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
from Sleeping Beauty, | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
and David is keen for him to stamp his own | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
authority on the dance. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
It's like, somebody changes their mind halfway through | 0:11:55 | 0:11:57 | |
-a sentence and you're like, "What were you talking about?" -Yeah. | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
That's what you did to the audience. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:01 | |
He gave me a lot of tips about certain things | 0:12:01 | 0:12:03 | |
that I'm not quite clear on. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:04 | |
One general thing he said is just have more confidence because | 0:12:04 | 0:12:07 | |
he didn't want me to look scared, like, a rabbit in the headlights. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:11 | |
I think he wanted me to just look cool and measured. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
Why so serious? | 0:12:14 | 0:12:16 | |
Are you depressed on your wedding day? | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
He's what I would call, as a dancer, quite loose still, | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
so things aren't necessarily connected all the time. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
But he's young, so he wouldn't be reaching that point yet. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:28 | |
But when you're coaching somebody, | 0:12:28 | 0:12:29 | |
you're trying to get them to understand a little bit more. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
I think it's nice to have a fresh pair of eyes, like David's, | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
because I've taken it away in a new perspective. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
With less than two weeks to go before the Ballet Final, the dancers | 0:12:42 | 0:12:46 | |
return to their schools to put the finishing touches to their dances. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:50 | |
I plan on focusing on the new aspects and the new insight I have | 0:12:53 | 0:12:58 | |
and making it more of a performance and less of a technical piece. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
It takes a lot of energy to try and make it look effortless. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
You can improve a line or a slight change of direction, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
there's so much tweaking that goes into it. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:12 | |
I want to keep perfecting the solo so that every time I can | 0:13:13 | 0:13:17 | |
perform it I won't have to worry about the nitty-gritty stuff. | 0:13:17 | 0:13:21 | |
I want it to be natural. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:23 | |
Working with Vivian Durante, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
she was telling me to have more confidence, | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
so I think if I could enjoy the performance I would be really happy. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:34 | |
I'll be thinking of all of David's corrections and I'll be | 0:13:35 | 0:13:38 | |
applying it to my rehearsals and make sure I'm mentally and | 0:13:38 | 0:13:42 | |
physically prepared for the final. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:44 | |
It's the end of January and after months of preparation, the day | 0:13:51 | 0:13:56 | |
of the Ballet Final has arrived. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
With only a few hours to go before they perform in front of the | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
judges, all five dancers go through their final rehearsals on the | 0:14:01 | 0:14:06 | |
stage at the Lowry Centre in Salford. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:08 | |
Keeping a close eye on the dancers, mentors David and Viviana. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:14 | |
They've improved so much and I can see they've been thinking | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
about all sorts of little details that I sort of suggested. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:23 | |
It's one of the hardest professions because you tend to rehearse | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
in one environment, like the studio, | 0:14:27 | 0:14:29 | |
and then you're going on stage, where all of a sudden you have these | 0:14:29 | 0:14:33 | |
lights coming from all directions and it's a challenge. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
You have mixed emotions before you go on stage. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
You know, it's exciting, it's terrifying, but you've just got | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
to try and have that calm to give yourself the best possible chance. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:47 | |
As soon as you step out there, that all goes away and you can | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
just enjoy it. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
I'm just really excited because it means quite a lot to me. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
Being here is really kind of amplifying that and just building up | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
the tension and I'm just really looking forward | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
to being able to perform. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:05 | |
I feel excited about this. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
It's such a great opportunity and it's always fun to perform on stage. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:12 | |
Now that I'm here, my belly is doing, like, back flips. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:19 | |
For me I find the pas de deux much more scary than the solo. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
Because if it goes wrong, the solo, I can cover it up, | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
but with the pas de deux, if she falls | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
-then I might have to fall with her! -HE CHUCKLES | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
I think the most nervous moment of all of it for me | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
is just when you're about to walk on stage but I get | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
a lot of adrenaline from it and it takes over you completely. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:42 | |
So for me it's important to just brush it aside and just breathe, | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
take a few deep breaths and walk on. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
They've worked on the technique so they don't have to think about it. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:51 | |
I think they can just throw it away almost and really indulge | 0:15:51 | 0:15:55 | |
themselves in what they're trying to portray through dance. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:58 | |
Each dancer will perform two contrasting solos | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
as well as a pas de deux. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
Deciding who will win this BBC Young Dancer Ballet Final, | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
three leading figures from the dance world. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
Deborah Bull is a leading figure in the arts world and | 0:16:19 | 0:16:22 | |
a former principal dancer at The Royal Ballet. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:26 | |
I think with dancers of this age, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
you want to see a finished technique, | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
a strong performance, but I think you also want to see potential. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:34 | |
Being able to test yourself in the public domain, out there on | 0:16:34 | 0:16:38 | |
the stage is always what you have to try to do. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:41 | |
And during your training, that doesn't happen so often, so this is, | 0:16:41 | 0:16:45 | |
if you like, a stepping stone on the way to their professional career. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:50 | |
Teacher and ballet master Matz Skoog is a former Artistic Director at | 0:16:50 | 0:16:55 | |
English National Ballet. | 0:16:55 | 0:16:57 | |
A winning performance requires a combination of things - | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
a solid and good technique, a flare of performance, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:04 | |
but also an indication of a potential future. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:09 | |
And judging across all four dance categories Shobana Jeyasingh, | 0:17:09 | 0:17:13 | |
internationally-renowned choreographer | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
and Artistic Director of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
The challenge, I think, in a technique like ballet is to | 0:17:18 | 0:17:23 | |
show qualities of grace, of power, of control. | 0:17:23 | 0:17:27 | |
So you've got to charm the audience and bring them to appreciate | 0:17:27 | 0:17:32 | |
your technique but also love you as a performer. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
First to dance in this Ballet Final, 16-year-old Ryan Felix. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:46 | |
I started dancing when I was two because I just really enjoyed | 0:17:56 | 0:18:00 | |
the movement of it. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
I also like to watch it and go to the theatre and, like, | 0:18:02 | 0:18:04 | |
seeing all the dancers and all the male roles and things. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:06 | |
It was just kind of real inspiring, | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
especially from quite a young age, to witness that. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
Ryan is now a full-time student at Elmhurst Valley School | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
in Birmingham. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:18 | |
I study English and dance for A levels. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
I find it quite easy to juggle the two because the majority of | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
our day is spent dancing and we have two hours a day of academics. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:30 | |
I try to keep my focus predominantly on dance because that's what | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
I want to do for a career. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
Ryan's progress as a dancer is being supervised by the Director of | 0:18:36 | 0:18:40 | |
the school and former principal dancer with the | 0:18:40 | 0:18:42 | |
Birmingham Royal Ballet, Robert Parker. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
He's working on his line, he's working on his footwork, | 0:18:45 | 0:18:47 | |
he's working on his fifth positions, all the detail and clarity, | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
but also that element of performance. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
He's got a great dynamic energy. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
Now he just needs to really hone everything he's got and | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
really deliver that to the audience. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:01 | |
Plie, one and two, phase three and four. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:04 | |
I decided to enter the BBC Young Dancer | 0:19:04 | 0:19:07 | |
because I was looking at ways | 0:19:07 | 0:19:09 | |
to challenge myself and to kind of gain performance experience, | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
being in the kind of environment where you're | 0:19:12 | 0:19:14 | |
under pressure and you have to perform. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
And I thought, well, | 0:19:16 | 0:19:18 | |
this would be something I could do that would give me that challenge. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
And I'm really excited to be a part of it. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:23 | |
It's exciting to be seen by people who are quite high up in the | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
dance world because it means quite a lot to | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
me that I've been able to get someone like this. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
So all the work that I've put in, I can show to other people. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:37 | |
My classical solo is the Paquita Male Variation | 0:19:38 | 0:19:42 | |
from the pas de deux. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:43 | |
It's set in Spain. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
It's a kind of marriage celebration so it's happy and it's all | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
about showing what you can do as the character. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:51 | |
PAS DE DEUX FROM PAQUITA PLAYS | 0:19:53 | 0:19:57 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
Ryan Felix opening the BBC Young Dancer Ballet Final. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
Next a pas de deux from the ballet Giselle, | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
choreographed by Peter Wright. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
I'll be performing the Peasant pas de deux from Giselle | 0:21:19 | 0:21:22 | |
with Chloe Jones. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:23 | |
And it's about two peasants dancing to entertain their friends in the | 0:21:23 | 0:21:28 | |
other villages and the aristocrats. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
They're happy, they're in love and it's about the kind of passion. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:33 | |
It's just quite a jolly piece. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:34 | |
PEASANT PAS DE DEUX FROM GISELLE PLAYS | 0:21:34 | 0:21:39 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:22:31 | 0:22:35 | |
To end his programme, Ryan is dancing RIVE, | 0:22:44 | 0:22:48 | |
a piece that he's choreographed himself. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
HIGH-TEMPO DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS | 0:22:50 | 0:22:54 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:24:04 | 0:24:08 | |
I enjoyed the ease that he brought to the stage. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:23 | |
I think is one to watch. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:24 | |
For such a young man, | 0:24:24 | 0:24:25 | |
a very masculine style of working which is attractive. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
I think he's going to do well. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
For me what stood out was his second solo. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
It was a real, sort of, | 0:24:34 | 0:24:35 | |
act of courage and I was really impressed by that. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:39 | |
After the first piece, the nerves were gone, | 0:24:39 | 0:24:41 | |
I was just really able to enjoy. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:42 | |
This is what all the work from the | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
past several months has been towards. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
So it's really great that it's finally come and I've just been | 0:24:46 | 0:24:48 | |
really happy with the experience. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:50 | |
Like Ryan, our second dancer in this ballet final | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
is a student at Elmhurst School of Ballet, | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
19-year-old Jade Wallace. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
Yeah, I love it at Elmhurst. The teachers there are so supportive. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
It's such a friendly environment. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
It's really exciting, being in my final year, | 0:25:12 | 0:25:14 | |
so I think we're all just making the most of the time | 0:25:14 | 0:25:17 | |
we have together now. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
It's just having good fun, really, | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
and training together and working towards a common goal. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
SWEEPING ORCHESTRAL SCORE | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
I love ballet so much just because what you put into it, | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
you can get out of it and it's just unpredictable | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
and keeps you on your toes - | 0:25:39 | 0:25:41 | |
pardon the pun! | 0:25:41 | 0:25:42 | |
Like all of tonight's finalists, | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
Jade's ambition is to join a professional ballet company. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
Now in her final year, | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
she's working with former Birmingham Royal Ballet soloist Lei Zhao. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
Jade has a very special artistic quality. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:59 | |
She also has very good technique, | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
in terms of using her feet and legs and turnout. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
Originally from Derbyshire, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
Jade's passion for dance was a pleasant surprise for her family. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
My mum and dad are so supportive. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
I mean, we've not had any dance in the family, so this is new for them. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:18 | |
We don't know where she gets her talent from at all, | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
cos your experience of dancing | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
is probably Friday and Saturday night | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
down the Pink Coconut in Derby, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:26 | |
dancing round your handbag | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
and I was brought up on punk rock, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:30 | |
so I can pogo a bit and that's about it. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
So no ballet. A bit of a mystery where it's come from, really. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:37 | |
Just before I go on stage, | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
my heart's absolutely beating out of my chest. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
It's that sort of fight-or-flight reaction | 0:26:44 | 0:26:47 | |
but you just take a deep breath, go out on stage. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
That's what's so special about it. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:53 | |
To open her programme, Jade dances Gamzatti's Variation | 0:26:53 | 0:26:57 | |
from La Bayadere, choreographed by Natalia Makarova. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
My pas de deux is grand pas de deux from the ballet Le Corsaire. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:51 | |
It's a fairly romantic pas de deux, | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
so it's nice and soft and slow and lyrical | 0:27:54 | 0:27:58 | |
and again it gives you a chance to be really lush with your movements | 0:27:58 | 0:28:01 | |
and to show the connection with your partner. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
My second solo I choreographed myself | 0:29:35 | 0:29:38 | |
and I'm actually portraying the character of a 1950s secretary, | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
so you'll see me wearing my glasses and my office dress | 0:29:42 | 0:29:46 | |
and it's supposed to be just a real cheeky, fun number. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:49 | |
It's still got some classical technique in there, | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
but it's a real fun piece. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
FAST-PACED ORCHESTRAL SCORE | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
TYPEWRITER CLACKS AND PINGS | 0:29:58 | 0:30:01 | |
For me, Jade was very strong in the Corsaire pas de deux, | 0:31:31 | 0:31:35 | |
gave a really confident performance. | 0:31:35 | 0:31:37 | |
She filled the stage, and then in the final piece, | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
she really came alive. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:43 | |
The item that stuck with me was her second solo, | 0:31:43 | 0:31:45 | |
taking a technique like ballet | 0:31:45 | 0:31:47 | |
and then using it to make this portrait | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
of a very contemporary character. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:51 | |
I think the highlight for me was the pas de deux. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
I felt like we created an atmosphere when we were on stage | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
and it was nice to have company out there, yeah. | 0:31:57 | 0:31:59 | |
Still to come in this ballet final, | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
two students from Ballet West in Scotland, | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
Oscar Ward and Uyu Hiromoto. | 0:32:08 | 0:32:11 | |
First, 18-year-old Rhys Antoni Yeomans. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
Training full-time at the English National Ballet School, | 0:32:23 | 0:32:26 | |
Rhys was inspired to take up ballet | 0:32:26 | 0:32:28 | |
after seeing the stage show Billy Elliot. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
Instantly, from watching the show, I fell in love with ballet, | 0:32:31 | 0:32:34 | |
so from there I started dancing and then a few months later, | 0:32:34 | 0:32:38 | |
I auditioned for the show | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
and was chosen to play the role. | 0:32:40 | 0:32:43 | |
I gained so much experience from performing | 0:32:43 | 0:32:45 | |
and just my passion for dance grew even more. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:48 | |
After starring as Billy Elliot for two years, | 0:32:48 | 0:32:51 | |
Rhys was determined to pursue a career in ballet. | 0:32:51 | 0:32:54 | |
He's now blossoming under the watchful eye | 0:32:54 | 0:32:56 | |
of the school's director of dance, Samira Saidi. | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
When Rhys arrived, I think probably because of the Billy Elliot aspect, | 0:32:59 | 0:33:03 | |
he was a little bit perhaps raw in his ability to refine his technique, | 0:33:03 | 0:33:10 | |
a certain elegance was missing | 0:33:10 | 0:33:12 | |
and I think they're the things we've really worked on, | 0:33:12 | 0:33:15 | |
because elegance and line is what singles out classical dancing | 0:33:15 | 0:33:20 | |
from other dancing, | 0:33:20 | 0:33:21 | |
so he's really beginning now to reap those benefits. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:25 | |
Over the Christmas period, | 0:33:28 | 0:33:29 | |
Rhys has his first taste of working with a professional ballet company, | 0:33:29 | 0:33:33 | |
with a small role in English National Ballet's Nutcracker | 0:33:33 | 0:33:37 | |
at the London Coliseum. | 0:33:37 | 0:33:38 | |
Being at the Coliseum, it's one of the most beautiful stages in London | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
and to be able to work with a professional company | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
like English National Ballet, it's such a dream come true. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:48 | |
It's a tough, intense few weeks of performing, but it gives me a taster | 0:33:48 | 0:33:53 | |
of what it's like to perform in a professional company. | 0:33:53 | 0:33:56 | |
So today I'm one of the rats in the piece | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
and this is quite exciting, | 0:34:01 | 0:34:02 | |
because not many students get the opportunity to perform other roles, | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 | |
so it's a good tester for me to be able to push myself | 0:34:05 | 0:34:09 | |
and see if I can do more types of characters and styles. | 0:34:09 | 0:34:13 | |
My classical piece is James from La Sylphide | 0:34:18 | 0:34:21 | |
and it's a very demanding solo. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
The character is very flirtatious and very confident | 0:34:25 | 0:34:29 | |
and he demands the stage. | 0:34:29 | 0:34:30 | |
Rhys Antoni Yeomans opening his programme | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
with the James Variation from La Sylphide. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:28 | |
Next, the Satanella pas de deux, | 0:35:28 | 0:35:30 | |
choreographed by Marius Petipa. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:32 | |
This pas de deux is really cheeky and playful | 0:35:32 | 0:35:36 | |
and just listen to the music. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:38 | |
It gives you a happy feeling inside | 0:35:38 | 0:35:41 | |
and I feel like it's a really good duet for the audience, | 0:35:41 | 0:35:45 | |
it's just amazing to watch and it's so technically challenging. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:49 | |
To end his programme, Rhys is performing a new dance | 0:37:00 | 0:37:04 | |
specially choreographed for him by Daniel Myers, | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
inspired by the character Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:10 | |
FLUTE AND PERCUSSION | 0:37:12 | 0:37:14 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
Former Billy Elliot star Rhys Antoni Yeomans. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
You can watch all of tonight's performances in full on our website. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:15 | |
Rhys is a strong character. | 0:39:18 | 0:39:20 | |
He has a broad range of styles that he can work in | 0:39:20 | 0:39:24 | |
and natural stage charm and presence. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:29 | |
Rhys had chosen his repertoire extremely well. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
The first solo, the James solo from La Sylphide, | 0:39:32 | 0:39:34 | |
suited him perfectly and he did it really beautifully. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:38 | |
I'd like to see him extend his range even more | 0:39:38 | 0:39:41 | |
to see what else he could do. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:42 | |
There's clearly so much talent there. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
The evening went amazing. | 0:39:45 | 0:39:46 | |
Just to perform and get out there | 0:39:46 | 0:39:49 | |
and do what I've been working so hard for | 0:39:49 | 0:39:51 | |
is just amazing, so I'm so happy with how it went. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
Just looking forward to hear about the results. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
Next to dance, 19-year-old Uyu Hiromoto. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:06 | |
BAGPIPE MUSIC | 0:40:11 | 0:40:12 | |
Now a student at the Ballet West school in the Scottish Highlands, | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
Uyu hails from Yokohama in Japan. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:21 | |
I always wanted to learn ballet in the UK, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
cos UK is one of the big ballet countries. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:30 | |
When I first came here, I could speak English, but barely, | 0:40:30 | 0:40:36 | |
so my friends around me helped me always and I'm really grateful | 0:40:36 | 0:40:40 | |
that I've got so many friends who helped me. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:44 | |
It takes a lot of courage, I think, to up and leave Japan | 0:40:46 | 0:40:50 | |
and come all the way to the Highlands of Scotland. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:52 | |
It's quite a contrast and since coming, she's just embraced | 0:40:52 | 0:40:56 | |
the whole culture here and she's just fitted in with everybody. | 0:40:56 | 0:41:00 | |
Her English is really quite good now. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:04 | |
I obviously miss home, | 0:41:04 | 0:41:06 | |
but at the same time, I like being here with friends. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:10 | |
Friends are like my second family. | 0:41:10 | 0:41:13 | |
The first three, nice, clean 90 | 0:41:17 | 0:41:19 | |
and then the last one you can go a little bit more. | 0:41:19 | 0:41:23 | |
Since Uyu started training with us, we've seen a big development in her. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
For Uyu, the BBC Young Dancer competition is going to give her | 0:41:27 | 0:41:31 | |
the experience of the competition world, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:34 | |
working with other dancers. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:35 | |
I think she has a very strong nerve, | 0:41:35 | 0:41:37 | |
so I don't think the pressure will be too much for her. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:40 | |
I think she's quite accustomed to that | 0:41:40 | 0:41:43 | |
and will be able to hold her own on that stage. | 0:41:43 | 0:41:46 | |
It's really great, | 0:41:48 | 0:41:50 | |
cos I've never done a competition like BBC Young Dancer, | 0:41:50 | 0:41:53 | |
I've never taken an interview like this before. | 0:41:53 | 0:41:56 | |
I think it's a really good opportunity for me to grow up | 0:41:58 | 0:42:03 | |
to the next level as a dancer as well. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:06 | |
I feel quite prepared for this, cos I've been practising for so long | 0:42:13 | 0:42:18 | |
and, yeah, I'm really excited today. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:21 | |
A bit nervous, but, yeah, really excited. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:23 | |
Uyu begins her programme with the Summer Fairy from Cinderella, | 0:42:26 | 0:42:30 | |
choreographed by Frederick Ashton. | 0:42:30 | 0:42:33 | |
It's kind of slow and calm music | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
and the dance is slow and calm as well. It's beautiful. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:40 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:44:46 | 0:44:48 | |
Uyu's partner for her pas de deux is Oscar, | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
the final competitor in this ballet final | 0:44:51 | 0:44:54 | |
and we'll see their performance later in the programme. | 0:44:54 | 0:44:57 | |
For her second solo, she's dancing a piece titled Sand, | 0:44:57 | 0:45:00 | |
which has been specially choreographed for her | 0:45:00 | 0:45:03 | |
by Yoshiki Noborisaka. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:04 | |
I'm going to do more sharp movements and more animalistic movements. | 0:45:04 | 0:45:11 | |
It's not scary, but it's kind of that idea. | 0:45:11 | 0:45:15 | |
HARD PERCUSSION | 0:45:18 | 0:45:20 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:46:29 | 0:46:32 | |
She had a lovely stage presence. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
She created this aura of grace and of femininity. | 0:46:48 | 0:46:52 | |
She really engaged with the audience and drew you in. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:57 | |
Her last piece in the black was extremely striking. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:00 | |
She's a very strong physical presence. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:02 | |
She's happy to look the audience in the eye | 0:47:02 | 0:47:04 | |
and she really took the chance to do that within the last solo. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:08 | |
I think I am quite happy how it went. | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
I don't mean like everything went really well, | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
but I really enjoyed the moments on stage | 0:47:13 | 0:47:15 | |
and, yeah, it was really good. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:17 | |
To end this ballet final, 18-year-old Oscar Ward, | 0:47:21 | 0:47:25 | |
also a student at Ballet West. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:26 | |
Originally from Nottingham, | 0:47:33 | 0:47:34 | |
dance has always been a major part of Oscar's life. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:37 | |
I think I was three years old | 0:47:39 | 0:47:41 | |
and my mum took me dancing because I couldn't stop fidgeting | 0:47:41 | 0:47:44 | |
and I think she wanted something to kind of tame that. | 0:47:44 | 0:47:48 | |
She asked me if I wanted to do dance classes and I was like, "Yeah!" | 0:47:48 | 0:47:52 | |
I was really up for it. | 0:47:52 | 0:47:53 | |
So I went along and it never really stopped, to be honest. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:57 | |
I think you get to a point when you want to carry on doing it always. | 0:47:57 | 0:48:01 | |
-ALL: -Hi! | 0:48:01 | 0:48:03 | |
One of Oscar's earliest dance teachers | 0:48:03 | 0:48:05 | |
was Helen Taylor at Leonard Dance School. | 0:48:05 | 0:48:08 | |
He was always so keen. | 0:48:08 | 0:48:10 | |
I've never had a child that was so keen | 0:48:10 | 0:48:13 | |
and he could talk about anything to do with ballet. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:16 | |
While he was talking, he was dancing. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
He literally danced the whole time. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:21 | |
He couldn't keep still and he's done just so well, I'm so proud of him. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:26 | |
Oscar is now in his final year at Ballet West | 0:48:31 | 0:48:34 | |
in the Scottish Highlands. | 0:48:34 | 0:48:36 | |
Up here, Ballet West is just another world. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:38 | |
I'm not sure if the countryside gives me an inspiration, | 0:48:38 | 0:48:41 | |
but I think the fact that you get close to everyone so quick, | 0:48:41 | 0:48:44 | |
because you're not in a city, | 0:48:44 | 0:48:45 | |
you get to know everyone and that keeps me inspired | 0:48:45 | 0:48:48 | |
and it just keep me, you know, going. | 0:48:48 | 0:48:50 | |
SWEEPING ORCHESTRAL SCORE | 0:48:52 | 0:48:54 | |
One of the pieces Oscar will be dancing in the final | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
was specially choreographed for him by Natasha Watson. | 0:48:57 | 0:49:01 | |
Natasha knows how I dance, | 0:49:01 | 0:49:02 | |
so she knows what my strengths are | 0:49:02 | 0:49:04 | |
and she's very skilled at choreographing, | 0:49:04 | 0:49:07 | |
so it was just lots of fun to make it. | 0:49:07 | 0:49:09 | |
She asked for my input, | 0:49:09 | 0:49:10 | |
I gave my response back, we invented things together, | 0:49:10 | 0:49:13 | |
it was really interesting. | 0:49:13 | 0:49:15 | |
I like the idea that the energy goes... | 0:49:15 | 0:49:18 | |
That love for the audience, to feel the intensity behind the piece, | 0:49:18 | 0:49:23 | |
so to go through, we like to break it down, each section, | 0:49:23 | 0:49:26 | |
really discuss why we're doing it, | 0:49:26 | 0:49:28 | |
give imagery, ideas into how to be moving. | 0:49:28 | 0:49:32 | |
And he's great - we come back the next day and it's much better. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:35 | |
I do take it seriously, | 0:49:38 | 0:49:39 | |
but I think people forget that we do dance because we love to do it. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:43 | |
It's not all serious all the time. | 0:49:43 | 0:49:45 | |
Yeah, there's fun with it too. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:46 | |
I'm a bit nervous. I'm very nervous. | 0:49:55 | 0:49:58 | |
I think nerves is always good, | 0:49:58 | 0:49:59 | |
but I think for me, I've just got to keep calm, relaxed, collected, | 0:49:59 | 0:50:03 | |
cos I tend to get quite worked up and I tend to get quite stressed. | 0:50:03 | 0:50:06 | |
My classical piece is The Sleeping Beauty, Act III, | 0:50:08 | 0:50:12 | |
so I'm embodying a prince, I've got to look smug, confident, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:15 | |
almost cocky. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:17 | |
It's a very full-on solo, but I've just got to own it, in a sense. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:20 | |
I've just got to take complete control and just go for it. | 0:50:20 | 0:50:24 | |
MUSIC: The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | 0:50:24 | 0:50:27 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:51:24 | 0:51:25 | |
Oscar's partner for his pas de deux is fellow finalist Uyu Hiromoto. | 0:51:36 | 0:51:40 | |
Both dancers are judged on this performance | 0:51:40 | 0:51:43 | |
of the Harlequinade pas de deux. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:45 | |
The idea behind it is that I'm a harlequin boy and Uyu, | 0:51:45 | 0:51:50 | |
she's a rich man's daughter, we're destined to be married, | 0:51:50 | 0:51:54 | |
against all the odds, kind of like a Romeo & Juliet, if you want, | 0:51:54 | 0:51:57 | |
but there's still an element of humour. | 0:51:57 | 0:52:00 | |
The difference working with a partner is, like, | 0:52:00 | 0:52:03 | |
you can't think about just yourself. | 0:52:03 | 0:52:07 | |
You need to think about the other | 0:52:07 | 0:52:09 | |
and you need to really communicate to each other. | 0:52:09 | 0:52:12 | |
GENTLE ORCHESTRAL SCORE | 0:52:15 | 0:52:17 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:53:19 | 0:53:22 | |
To end his programme and to close this ballet final, | 0:53:29 | 0:53:33 | |
Oscar will dance the piece choreographed for him | 0:53:33 | 0:53:35 | |
by Natasha Watson, Oblique. | 0:53:35 | 0:53:38 | |
DELICATE ORCHESTRAL SCORE | 0:53:42 | 0:53:46 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:54:40 | 0:54:42 | |
Oscar came into his own, | 0:54:55 | 0:54:57 | |
particularly in the last number he performed tonight. | 0:54:57 | 0:55:00 | |
He's got the potential to go a lot further with his technique. | 0:55:00 | 0:55:05 | |
He showed great clarity and precision, | 0:55:06 | 0:55:09 | |
with a great fluidity of the upper body | 0:55:09 | 0:55:12 | |
and seemed to have a real aptitude | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
for quite an unusual, distinctive style of movement. | 0:55:14 | 0:55:17 | |
It went well. There were no major hiccups. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:21 | |
In general, I'm more happy than disappointed. | 0:55:21 | 0:55:24 | |
It's nice, cos I can go home and say that I've done myself proud, so... | 0:55:24 | 0:55:28 | |
Oscar Ward bringing this BBC Young Dancer ballet final to a close. | 0:55:30 | 0:55:35 | |
If you want to watch tonight's performances in full, | 0:55:35 | 0:55:37 | |
then visit our website... | 0:55:37 | 0:55:39 | |
Before we find out the result, | 0:55:43 | 0:55:45 | |
a quick reminder of all tonight's finalists. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:48 | |
I was just really amazed and really impressed | 0:55:48 | 0:55:51 | |
by the degree of concentration | 0:55:51 | 0:55:53 | |
and care that these young dancers brought | 0:55:53 | 0:55:56 | |
to the stage this evening. | 0:55:56 | 0:55:58 | |
I thought the standard was very good and was very even. | 0:55:58 | 0:56:02 | |
One of the benefits of being part of any competition is to be seen | 0:56:02 | 0:56:06 | |
and perhaps this is the forum where they will be noticed. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:10 | |
Of course, there's always nerves in a live performance, | 0:56:10 | 0:56:12 | |
but actually, overall, you could tell | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
they were very carefully rehearsed, | 0:56:15 | 0:56:17 | |
they'd put in a lot of effort and it paid off. | 0:56:17 | 0:56:19 | |
To announce the winner and the dancer | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
going through to the grand final, Deborah Bull. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:28 | |
Each of the finalists we saw this evening | 0:56:28 | 0:56:30 | |
had something really distinctive to offer in their performance. | 0:56:30 | 0:56:34 | |
I am delighted to announce | 0:56:34 | 0:56:36 | |
that the winner of the BBC Young Dancer 2017 ballet final is... | 0:56:36 | 0:56:42 | |
..Rhys Antoni Yeomans. | 0:56:43 | 0:56:45 | |
CHEERING | 0:56:45 | 0:56:46 | |
Rhys was incredibly consistent throughout the evening. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
He has a very strong technique, which doesn't constrain him. | 0:57:11 | 0:57:15 | |
He plays with the musicality, he plays with the performance | 0:57:15 | 0:57:20 | |
and he had a really good night. | 0:57:20 | 0:57:22 | |
Rhys stood out as the overall winner, I think, | 0:57:23 | 0:57:26 | |
for putting a charming stage personality | 0:57:26 | 0:57:28 | |
together with a very capable technique. | 0:57:28 | 0:57:31 | |
Rhys was in command of his material. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:34 | |
He was able to show us himself as a performer | 0:57:34 | 0:57:37 | |
and an artist first and foremost. | 0:57:37 | 0:57:40 | |
FAMILY MEMBERS WHOOP | 0:57:40 | 0:57:41 | |
I can't believe it. | 0:57:41 | 0:57:43 | |
I just won the BBC Young Dancer ballet category final. | 0:57:43 | 0:57:46 | |
I'm just over the moon. I'm so shocked. | 0:57:46 | 0:57:49 | |
All the hard work, I feel like it paid off. | 0:57:52 | 0:57:55 | |
Well, it kind of did, | 0:57:55 | 0:57:56 | |
so I'm really happy. | 0:57:56 | 0:57:57 | |
Many congratulations to Rhys. | 0:58:00 | 0:58:02 | |
Next week, it's all about South Asian dance, | 0:58:02 | 0:58:05 | |
when five young dancers will be out to impress our jury | 0:58:05 | 0:58:08 | |
to win their place alongside Rhys | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
and street dancer Jodelle Douglas in the grand final | 0:58:10 | 0:58:14 | |
of BBC Young Dancer 2017. | 0:58:14 | 0:58:16 | |
What I'm looking for is their heart dancing with their body. | 0:58:18 | 0:58:21 | |
I always focus on vigorous aspects | 0:58:21 | 0:58:24 | |
such as double spins in the air, knee spins. | 0:58:24 | 0:58:27 | |
For me to get through to the grand finals would mean the world. | 0:58:27 | 0:58:30 | |
That is my aim. | 0:58:30 | 0:58:31 | |
I especially love storytelling. | 0:58:31 | 0:58:34 | |
You go on stage and you become whoever you want to be. | 0:58:34 | 0:58:38 | |
It's where I can come out the most | 0:58:38 | 0:58:40 | |
and express my inner feelings. | 0:58:40 | 0:58:42 | |
I've just never considered not dancing. | 0:58:42 | 0:58:45 | |
The winner of the BBC Young Dancer 2017 South Asian dance final is... | 0:58:45 | 0:58:52 |