Episode 8 Going Back Giving Back

One of the things I love about us Brits

-is our spirit of generosity.

-If I can give back to somebody

who had a similar struggle to my own,

then that's what I'd like to do.

Last year, nearly three-quarters of us gave to charity.

But what if you had the chance

to go back and relive moments from your past...

I wish I was 18 again.

I'm expecting Mum and Dad to walk out now

-and say hello, you know?

-Yeah.

'..moments which would inspire you to want to help someone today...'

I want to give back to those people that are going through that

that I went through in the beginning.

If I can give something to somebody that would change their lives,

-I would really love to.

-Fantastic.

'..someone who had no idea this life-changing windfall was coming?'

I have got, potentially, her dream in my hand.

-How are you feeling?

-Nervous.

-SHE LAUGHS

'There'll be surprises...'

-How are you?

-I'm good.

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

'..with acts of generosity that will change people's lives...'

We're all crying.

Do you need a hug, as well?

Yeah. Thanks.

'..forever.'

-Like that.

-Wahey!

Somebody that just does that for people,

it's just amazing, it really is.

This is Going Back Giving Back.

Today, we're going back to Manchester in the 1980s.

It's the story of a boy who loved to dance,

a real-life Billy Elliot,

and today he wants to change somebody else's life.

How did this man find the courage to rise above everything

to dance his way to success?

If I could go back to that little eight-year-old boy now,

and tell him, "This is what you're going to do,"

-I would've gone, "Get out of town."

-"Whatever."

-"Whatever.

"That's never going to happen."

What is inspiring him to want

to give something back to someone today?

It did save my life.

It not only saved my life, it gave me an amazing quality of life.

Can he help a struggling young dancer achieve her dream?

Dance, for me, is a way to express myself.

-It's like a release, in a way.

-Yeah.

'And there's nervous anticipation as we prepare for the big surprise...'

-How are you feeling?

-I'm feeling good.

-Looking forward to speaking with her.

-I'm a bit nervous.

-Are you?

-Yeah! I always get nervous at this point.

'..with a gift that will transform her life.'

There's nothing better than being given

what you genuinely have been asking for.

Today, I've come to Greater Manchester to find out

how dance helped a young man avoid a life of crime

and gave him hope.

The man I'm about to meet trained

at some of the most prestigious dance schools in the country

before travelling the world as a professional dancer,

a far cry from his humble beginnings

on a tough council estate in Manchester.

I'm looking forward to hearing his story.

'On the outskirts of Manchester, in the town of Stockport, lives

'34-year-old Kevin, who's recently married and has a two-year-old son.

'He now runs a successful dance company,

'but his story begins when he was just eight years old.'

-Hello.

-Hey, how are you?

-Very well.

-Good to see you. Please come in.

Thank you.

-Take a seat.

-Thanks, mate. Got the teas in, as well!

Lovely. So, go on, then, what's driving you

-to give something back today?

-I suppose it's got a lot to do

with my history, actually.

When I was very, very young, my parents split,

when I was about eight years old.

So obviously you can imagine

the kind of issues and problems that surrounded that.

So, when they split, we actually moved

from this very lovely middle-class area

to a very tough council estate in Manchester.

Kevin, his mum, brother and two sisters ended up

on the Partington council estate in south Manchester,

one of the most deprived in the area,

with high levels of crime and unemployment.

It was a massive culture shock for a young lad.

-How scary was it?

-It was really scary moving there.

There was drugs, there was gangs. I lived a sheltered life

to that point, and I was exposed to all that.

It must have been frightening.

Oh, my goodness, it was quite frightening. The first day

that I went into school, I walked into my class

and my teacher was like, "Welcome," and next thing I know,

a guy jumped on the table, threw a chair at the teacher.

Another guy started fighting. I was like, "What have I walked into?"

Ironically, if Kevin hadn't moved to this tough area,

he'd never have found dance.

He'd only been at his primary school for a few weeks

when a local dance company held a workshop for the students.

Kevin's dance moves blew the two instructors away

and they invited him to join their youth dance group,

even though it was for kids aged from 11

and he was only eight years old.

This changed everything for Kevin.

So, through those two people,

they opened a whole new world to me of understanding myself,

understanding other people, being able to give me the tools

to be able to express my internal world.

I was a very angry, frustrated, upset little boy,

obviously with everything that had happened to me personally.

-Understandably.

-But dance gave me the perfect vessel to be able to

channel that energy into something that was positive and constructive.

Dance was the making of Kevin.

He went on to train as a professional contemporary dancer,

toured the UK and the world, before setting up his dance company.

Every single thing in my life that I can trace that I value

-comes from dance.

-So, in a way, that's what's motivating you

to want to help somebody else today.

Without a shadow of a doubt. When you live in a community where

there's so much drugs and you live in a community

where people look up to the drug dealers,

there's this force that's always pulling you to the dark side,

as it were. I wouldn't certainly be doing what I'm doing now,

that's for sure.

It's thanks to dance that Kevin was able to deal with his emotional past

and escape a troubled life.

Well, listen, in order for you to give something back, I reckon

we need to go back first on a little journey. Are you up for that?

-Totally up for that.

-Let's do it right now. Come on.

-Great. Let's go.

We're taking Kevin back in time to where it all really started for him,

and we're hoping that by reminding him of where it all began

and what he's achieved against the odds,

it will make him even more determined to help someone today.

-So, any ideas where we're going?

-I have no idea at all, actually.

I'm actually really curious to see where you're going to take me.

A little bit of a trip down memory lane,

-that's all I'll say at the moment.

-I'm looking forward to it,

you know, I'm sure it's going to bring me back some flashbacks,

some memories of back in the day. Should be fun.

Memories are bound to be stirred up.

As a teenager on his tough Mancunian council estate,

he became known as the Billy Elliot of the neighbourhood.

What did kids of a similar age make of it, then?

Hostility, really. I'd say that would be the key word,

because people just thought straight away

that dance is what girls do. That is what girls do.

-And I've had that all throughout my childhood.

-Right.

So I basically walked around with a target on my back.

But I wasn't going to allow anybody to tell me what I can and cannot do.

And I think these kinds of things really build up your resilience.

Of course they do.

Kevin was a natural. He was only 15

when he was accepted onto a degree course

at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds.

But it was also at a time when he'd started hanging around

with the wrong crowd.

I started getting into, you know, things that I should not necessarily

have gotten into, doing things that I shouldn't have done

and things that I'm not necessarily that proud of.

And I could see... My mother could see that I was kind of going

towards the dark side.

And it wasn't until my mum saying,

"You want to dance, this is your dream,

"you've got into a dance school, one of the best

"dance schools in the country - why are you kind of throwing

"all this down the toilet?" - all of a sudden my head just went,

"Whoa, wait a minute, I need to..."

you know, let go of those people I was associating myself with,

leave that stuff behind and focus on

-where

-I

-wanted to go and what my future was.

Dance had once again brought Kevin back from the brink.

And it was while he was doing his degree that he was spotted

by the Rambert Dance School, one of the most prestigious

and oldest dance companies in the world.

It was originally opened in 1920

in London's Kensington by ballet dancer Marie Rambert

after she fled Poland at the outbreak of the First World War.

It's credited with being the dance company

that gave birth to British ballet.

It was therefore a huge coup for Kevin

to take classes with Rambert, and he even got to perform with them.

I got a phone call about three or four weeks later from my principal

saying, "Rambert have asked you to come back to the company

"and actually perform with the company."

I hadn't graduated at this point.

-How did you feel?

-Oh, my goodness!

That was a massive confidence boost for me.

Nobody in the history of my entire conservatoire

had ever danced with the company in that way.

So that was kind of like, "Wow, no way!

"No-one from my school has ever done that."

Kevin had a talent that was unstoppable.

After graduating in 2002 with first-class honours,

he toured all over the UK and the world

as a professional dancer and teacher.

Then in 2007, he co-founded Company Chameleon,

a Manchester-based dance company, which now has a youth section

for disadvantaged children.

His life has come full circle, and we're heading

back to the school where Kevin first learned to dance

with his youth group in the '90s.

-I think I know where we're going now.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

Where do you think we're going?

I think we're going to the first school that I danced at

with my youth group, Trafford Youth Dance Theatre.

-When was the last time you were down here?

-Ooh...

-Er, well over 15 years ago.

-Wow.

We've arrived at Wellington School in the leafy town of Altrincham,

just south of Manchester.

This is where, as an eight-year-old lad from a tough council estate,

Kevin found his dancing feet when he joined

the Trafford Youth Dance Theatre for rehearsals at this school.

So, this is bringing back memories, I bet?

Oh, aye, yeah, this is bringing back some memories.

I haven't been here for a very, very, very long time.

This is where the magic started.

It is, yeah. It was the crucible of it all,

without a shadow of a doubt. When I look back at this, I think one of

the main things that I remember is that it was

a very creative space and it was the first time

-I felt that actually my ideas mattered.

-Right.

-You know?

-Yeah.

-I was able to throw my ideas into the mix

and make my own movements up, and it really made me feel valued.

-You were only eight years old!

-I know, I know!

-Bless your heart.

I was a little whippersnapper, but, you know,

there was a lot of people older than me, and a lot of people

in this building, a lot of people nurtured me and guided me

and fed me and inspired me and opened my mind to the world

-and what's in it.

-OK.

I keep imagining you, you know, as an eight-year-old

-on that sort of tough estate.

-Oh, yeah.

You were a dancer and loved dance and you come here and you fly.

It really was like that, honestly.

It was like my heart was just opened. My mind was

-just bursting. It was like freedom.

-Yeah.

-Really felt like freedom.

-Yeah. Fantastic.

-If I could go

back to that little eight-year-old boy now and tell him,

"This is what you're going to do,

"these are the companies you're going to dance for,

"the places you're going to go and then you're going to

"set your own thing up and it's going to be a success,"

I would have gone, "Get out."

-"Whatever."

-"Whatever! That's never going to happen!"

And as an eight-year-old, what was your favourite move?

What was my favourite move at eight years old?

I think it would have to be the classic barrel jump.

What's a barrel jump?

-Like that.

-Wahey! That was brilliant! I thought you were taking

-my head off!

-Sorry, mate. That's a barrel jump.

-OK.

-That was one of my first jumps that I learned here.

-Was it?

-Yeah.

-That's brilliant. Shall we get back in the car?

-Yeah. Cheers, pal.

For our next stop on Kevin's trip down memory lane, we're heading into

the heart of Manchester, to Oxford Road, which is

also known as the city's cultural corridor.

Now, you're probably wondering why I've brought you

-to this part of Manchester.

-I am a bit curious.

I know the Dancehouse is around the corner

and I've done a couple of shows there.

The Dancehouse IS around the corner.

-There might be a little surprise there for you.

-All right, cool!

The Dancehouse is precisely where we're heading.

This Art Deco venue originally opened its doors in 1930

as the world's first twin cinema.

It became a multiplex in the '70s, when cinema was thriving,

but then, with the introduction of videos,

cinemagoers preferred to stay at home, and it closed in 1986.

The building fell into disrepair but was resurrected ten years later.

The curtain was raised by the Dancehouse Theatre Company.

And it's where Kevin shone on stage as a teenager in the '90s.

Whoa, I tell you what, as a dancer, you're fitter than I am.

-Those stairs have killed me.

-There's a lot of stairs in this building.

-It's a labyrinth, isn't it?

-Really is. So many studios, so many rooms.

Coming up, the team have been on the hunt for a struggling young dancer

who has the will and determination that will resonate with Kevin.

And we think we've found them.

She's a young woman who's had a tough life

but has dance as her focus. She just needs a break.

She thinks we're making a programme about aspiring dancers.

She has no idea of the real reason behind Kevin's visit

and that she could be in for a life-changing gift.

Kevin's star appearances on stage here at the Dancehouse

were thanks to one very significant person in his young life.

Kevin doesn't know it, but we've got a little surprise for him.

Well, we're going down to Studio 5 just here.

I'm quite curious to find out what's going to be in here.

You can find out now.

-Do you recognise that lady?

-Yeah, of course I do!

Hiya, Linda, you all right? Lovely to see you.

Lovely to see you.

-You all right?

-Look at you. You're almost as red as me now.

I know, yeah!

Linda was Kevin's mentor. She was the dance instructor who spotted him

at primary school and invited him

to join the Trafford Youth Dance Theatre that transformed his life.

So, you obviously know this man very well.

-Oh, yes, yes, since he was a baby.

-Eight years old.

Yeah. It was eight, wasn't it? I seem to remember

when I was doing a teacher inset there

and I saw these lovely children dancing around and then suddenly...

-The Kevin arrives!

-What was "The Kevin" like?

Oh, well, you know, I can't find a title, really, except The Kevin.

You knew he was in the room as soon as he entered. He had something

-about him already.

-Really?

-Yeah. He had the whole package,

really, because you had the passion to dance,

and, although the technique wasn't quite there yet...

-Wasn't there at all.

-Well... Yeah, yeah.

You forgive a lot when you've got what you've got.

And the jump was there, and what impressed me the most

was the fact that you had dance memory already.

-And it takes some dancers years to acquire that.

-Yeah.

And you'd already got it. As a teacher, I couldn't ignore

what he'd got. He hurled himself in every direction,

but with the right amount of energy and passion.

He was definitely cheeky,

but then I find the best dancers usually are.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah, they have the energy and they have the cheek

and they have just the nerve to try things.

'Linda wasn't just Kevin's dance instructor.

'She went beyond her teaching duties

'to nurture the disadvantaged little boy.'

I always remember, especially at the very beginning, like, you know,

Linda had to pick me up from my home cos I was still quite young,

and you always used to give me my tea on the way to rehearsals

-and stuff like that.

-Cheese and onion, yeah. Always.

-Where would you be without this woman?

-I have no idea.

I probably... I would not be involved in dance, that's for sure.

I could have been locked up, you know.

So... I'm actually blushing hearing Linda say this, because, you know,

straightaway I feel myself going back to being a student.

Honestly, Linda, you have given me so much.

'There's no doubt Linda's been

'a huge influence in Kevin's life and he has a lot to thank her for.

'She's been his inspiration, and it's down to her

'that he appeared in around ten productions

'for the youth dance theatre.'

-I can see you've got some photos there. Are these of...?

-Kevin.

-As you see, in the centre as usual.

-Is that you?

-That's me, yeah!

-Your hair's really long!

Yeah, I had really long hair back in the day.

-And snazzy shorts, mate!

-I know, I know. It was all about the shorts.

-That was the thing.

-God, look at the concentration on your face.

-I took it so seriously. Honestly, so seriously.

-Good job.

But we had no choice but to take it seriously. She created a space where

everybody would feel comfortable and everybody felt that they were

-able to do their best, and everybody WANTED to do their best.

-Right.

-You know? We actually did this at the Dancehouse.

-That's right.

Oh, it was incredible, that production. I loved it so much.

Honestly, looking at these pictures, it takes me back, like, wow.

I actually remember every single one of these images. I remember

the productions, I remember the build-up to it, and Linda ran it

like it was a professional company.

But you can tell, with your focus, you're completely in the zone,

-aren't you?

-110%. We were completed committed

to what we did and there was such a sense of family.

'It was at the youth theatre that Kevin first learnt

'to express himself in his dance moves.'

Do you remember any of the choreography?

I remember the first dance that we did with Linda.

It was a surfing dance. We started on the floor like this and we had to

lift our backs up like this and we had to jump straight up like this.

Then we had to do two eights of our own movement,

jumping around, making shapes, looking over the sea,

pretending that we were surfing. Absolutely loved it.

He's quite good, isn't he? Look at him. He's just, like, completely calm.

Being on this trip down memory lane and meeting Linda again,

has it reinforced that feeling that you want to give something back?

Oh, God, without a shadow of a doubt.

It makes me really think about those key people

who were there for me in my life and in my art,

who helped develop me not only as a dancer and an artist

but as a person, as well.

And I personally feel like it's my responsibility

-for the next generation.

-Fantastic. Well, listen,

I know you've both got loads to catch up on,

so I'll leave you to it.

Very nice to meet you. Thanks for not making me dance.

-I'll catch up with you soon, OK?

-Take care.

-Take care.

-Thanks.

The journey back to where eight-year-old Kevin found

his calling in life has been quite inspiring.

-My heart was just open, my mind was bursting. It was like freedom.

-Yeah.

Really like freedom.

But most importantly, it's helped focus his mind.

I personally feel like it's my responsibility

for the next generation.

So professional dancer Kevin has done it all,

but being able to bring him back to where it all began and meeting up

with the teacher who nurtured his talent and changed his life

has really inspired Kevin to want to give something back today.

Of course, there are so many people who could benefit from his expertise

and life experiences, but we think we've found somebody whose story

will hopefully resonate with him.

20-year-old Yandas lives in Manchester

and, like Kevin, dancing is in her blood.

Yandas has an exceptional raw talent and passion for dance,

something which is bound to resonate with Kevin.

Dance, for me, is like waking up and like sleeping, eating,

dreaming. It's everything.

But that's not just where the similarity ends. Like Kevin,

as a young girl Yandas suddenly found herself living in a tough area

of Manchester, after moving from Zimbabwe as a 12-year-old.

But just like Kevin, dance rescued her, and she's embraced

her experiences to create her own style.

My technique is African and Western-based freestyle.

I very much use the popping,

the locking, the African, South African, Zimbabwean vibe

to really just get my voice out.

Yandas is largely self-taught.

She's doing a degree in dance and performance

but struggles to get student finances.

This is stopping her from getting the contemporary-dance training

she desperately wants to ultimately follow the same path as Kevin.

With so much in common,

we've arranged for Kevin and Yandas to meet.

I hear that she has quite an interesting story and that she uses

those experiences in her life in her work. So, you know,

contemporary dance is such a broad field, I'm really curious to

find out how she does that and what she's passionate about.

I hear she's very passionate

and I always engage and like working with passionate people.

This meeting is extremely important and could make

a huge difference to Yandas. Kevin is big on the Manchester dance scene

so Yandas knows exactly who he is.

His dance company is widely acclaimed

for its original dance theatre productions that tour the UK and internationally.

It's also known for nurturing its young dancers,

so no wonder Yandas is very excited to meet Kevin.

He's going to meet her where she's rehearsing

for a youth theatre production. Let's hope they hit it off.

-Hello.

-Hello! How you doing? I'm good.

-Kevin.

-Hello.

-I'm a hugger.

-So come here, give me a hug. What's your name?

-I'm Yandas.

Nice to meet you, Yandas. Really nice to meet you.

-Sorry for interrupting your warm-up.

-No, it's sweet, it's all right.

Yandas thinks we're making a programme about aspiring dancers.

She has absolutely no idea she could be in for a life-changing gift.

-What's your family back home?

-I'm from Zimbabwe in South Africa.

-Nice.

-Kind of grew up there. Been here for, like, eight years now.

I've never been to Zimbabwe, but I've been lucky enough

-to go to South Africa a couple of times.

-Yeah.

One thing that I found was this vibrancy. Like, people were either

singing or dancing or...

It's just like everybody's just vibing all the time!

You cannot walk down the street and get to a corner

without seeing someone dancing.

Even when they're walking down the street,

-someone's whistling a proper tune.

-Is that how you started dancing?

Yeah! Cos I was surrounded a lot by people

who were just...by music and by dancing.

So I just dabbled quite a lot, and,

even at parties, I was the kid who was known for dancing and stuff.

Sadly, while the streets may have been filled with dancing, since

the year 2000 Zimbabwe has been in political and economic turmoil,

with many families struggling to feed themselves.

Yandas's mother was already living in Manchester,

earning money to support her family back home, when she sent for

her 12-year-old daughter to escape the poverty.

She wanted a better life for me. She wanted better opportunities for me.

At the time, obviously, Zimbabwe was getting more and more bad.

Your mum wanted to bring you over to kind of give you a new life.

And kind of to be with her, innit? Like, yeah!

Yandas came to live with her mum.

But coming from a hot, dry African country, it was a complete shock

for a young girl who barely spoke any English.

That must have been hard, though, with English and then school.

-Yeah.

-And then it's a totally different culture.

You don't walk down the street in Manchester and see people dancing,

-cos it's raining.

-Trust me!

-Do you know what I mean?

So that must have been, like, "What's going on?"

Yo, I was so confused about a lot of things.

Yandas struggled to fit in. She felt completely isolated.

She was bullied and moved schools, where she discovered

new and exciting opportunities.

That's when I got more involved in the performing arts. Then all

the teachers kind of started knowing a little bit about me and started

realising that I'm more into art and stuff, so they started pushing me

towards drama lessons and...you know what I mean? And stuff like that.

It's all that kind of creativity, passion inside of you, that kind of

-helps support you to do that.

-Yeah, because that's

when everyone is like, "That's this little African girl

"we've been seeing around," and people started talking to me more,

-so I kind of realised it was my way in.

-That was your way in?

-Yeah.

-That's what made you feel good?

-Yeah.

Like Kevin as a young lad, dance was the making of Yandas.

It forged her identity as well as allowed her to express herself.

-So, in a way, all that kind of frustration that you had...

-Yeah.

..in terms of not being able to kind of communicate what's going on

with you, did you put any of that energy into your dance,

-do you think?

-Of course I did! Of course I did.

Like, dance, for me, is a way to express myself. It's a way for me

to, like, not hit a wall and not go sick at anyone.

You know what I mean? It's a way of me saying, "OK, cool,

"I've got this little bit of whatever is in my head.

"I can listen to a song." And, obviously, music and dance go

-so hand-in-hand. Music makes me happy anyway.

-Yeah.

-So when I listen

to a song and I just go and sit for a little bit, I'm like, "OK, cool.

"Now I'm cool. What was that about before? I don't know any more."

-It's like a release, isn't it?

-Yeah!

-I know what you're talking about.

I know when I was younger, I was a very angry young boy.

When I first started dancing, I was around about eight years old.

My mum and dad had just divorced, so for me, like,

there was a lot of turmoil. I moved from one part of Manchester

-to the next.

-Yeah.

-And I was like, "Whoa, what's going on?"

-Yeah.

-All that kind of frustration. And to be able to put that

into something positive... And I don't know... I'm guessing

-it's the same for you...

-Do you know what? Like...

-It's like your art

can be such a...

-A way out.

-A way out. Yeah. A way out, yeah.

-It is.

Yandas and Kevin clearly have a meeting of the minds.

Now he wants to nail down what he could do to help her.

What's your ultimate dream? What's your ultimate ambition?

What I know now is I love performing. I know I like

the teaching side. I'm really getting into the teaching side.

And I want to carry on performing, and if possible I want to perform

-for the rest of my life.

-What do you think is going to help you...

get to that place?

-More training.

-More training.

-Definitely. Like...

I think you can't learn enough. I feel as if I don't actually know

-techniques, because I am self-taught.

-Yeah.

-So, in terms of,

like, the academic side, I think, at the moment, it's more training.

-More classes and stuff like that, like...

-So, immersing...immersing

-yourself in lots of different methods...

-Yeah!

-..different approaches.

-Getting lessons from different...

Lessons from different people.

-Seeing different work.

-Yeah.

-This kind of stuff?

-Yeah. Definitely.

Yandas's passion and her ability to overcome hardship and use it

to inspire her dance has clearly got to Kevin.

Yandas has the drive and commitment Kevin was looking for,

but she wants more guidance and professional experience

to allow her to grow as a performer.

From what you've been telling me and from what my understanding is,

you've got quite an original and unique style, because you're

self-taught, which is fantastic. Now, would you be open to the idea

-of showing me a bit of your dance?

-Erm, yeah. Yeah, sure.

Oh, fantastic. I can't wait.

Of course, Yandas doesn't know it,

but this is effectively the audition of a lifetime.

-Yes, Yandas. That was beautiful. I loved it.

-Thank you.

Wow, so much rawness. So much intensity. So much power.

I loved how you incorporated popping and locking and krumping.

But it's got that African flavour in there, too. Some nice footwork.

-It was really lovely to see you dance.

-A bit of me,

-isn't it?

-Yeah, that's it. It's you, isn't it?

"This is what I'm about. This is my dance." And I loved it.

It's been an absolute pleasure meeting you, getting to hear

a little bit about your story, about your past.

It's just been amazing, so thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, come on, give us a hug. Come on. Shall we go?

-Yeah.

-Come on.

There is no doubt this has been

a powerful and moving meeting for Kevin.

Meeting Yandas today really reminded me of me, actually,

a good few years ago now. I can see that she's this

powderkeg of creativity and passion, and she really wants to kind of

achieve and develop herself as an artist, and I can really see

that there are some parallels between my story and her story.

I love the rawness in her movement. She has so much potential.

I think she's fantastic. I love her passion.

The synergy between Kevin and Yandas is so uncanny.

They both have a raw talent for dance

which transformed their young lives

and a mutual passion and energy to create powerful performances.

But being 100% sure Yandas is the one he should help is a big ask,

so Kevin is seeking advice from one person who was there to support

and guide him all along -

his mum, Avis.

-So, I've been on this journey, Mum...

-Mm-hm.

..going back, and it was...

It's been really lovely, actually. We went back to

-Wellington High School.

-Not been there for a long time.

-It's been

-years, actually.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Absolutely years. It just brought

back so many different memories for me about how I felt

stepping into that dance space and just basically opened a whole

new world of art and creativity for me, so all these stories came

flooding back. And after that, we went over to the Dancehouse,

-and Linda was there.

-Wow.

-Linda...

-I've not seen Linda for ages.

-How's she doing?

-She's doing really well, Mum. She's doing really well.

It was great to see her. And it was really nice to kind of think about

where I was then and where I am now.

And if you'd said to that eight-year-old boy,

I wouldn't have believed it.

But you always had that faith in me, Mum.

-Always had that faith in you, darling.

-Thanks, Mum.

I met this really wonderful, interesting young artist.

-Her name's Yandas.

-Mm-hm.

-And she reminds me so much

of myself, you know, when I was her age, like this big bag, a bundle of

energy, you know? She's just got so many creative ideas, and she's just

got so much passion and enthusiasm for what she wants to do.

-I was really inspired by her today.

-I think that's lovely, that you have

been dancing for so long and you can still be inspired by somebody else,

cos that's what it means,

because it brings back what YOU wanted to dance for.

And I was trying to get, like, to understand a little bit about

where she's from and what's her background and how that is linked

to the dance that she does. And I think she's overcome quite a lot of

-challenges, cos she moved here when she was 12.

-Right.

-She didn't speak

English at all. And I think that was a difficult transition for her.

Imagine the culture shock, Mum. She went from a place where people were

singing, dancing on street corners, to rainy Manchester. Do you know

what I mean? You know, we have that fire inside us but it's not quite

-the same, is it?

-I know what you mean.

-It was just hearing about

what she had to say about her life and talking about where she wants

to go and what her dreams and ambitions are.

I really feel that there's things that I can do

to maybe help support her on her journey a little bit.

She's got a lot of ambitions, things that she wants to achieve.

I really feel like I'm in a place to help her, help guide her.

Linda did that for me and I kind of feel like it's my responsibility

-and my duty to do that for someone else.

-You wouldn't have achieved

what you achieved if somebody hadn't come in to help you,

so, therefore, if somebody was kind enough to help you along the way,

then it's only right that therefore you can pass that on and help them

and give them your experience. So I think that'll be awesome.

-I think that's really brilliant.

-You're totally right, Mum.

-That's fantastic, Mum. Thank you so much. I love you.

-Love you, darling.

Getting Mum Avis's blessing is so important to Kevin.

Now it's time for him to work out

exactly how he can transform Yandas's life.

So, I'm on my way to catch up with Kevin, who I know,

since we've last met has spent some time with the lovely Yandas.

They're like kindred spirits when it comes to their love of dance.

The only difference, I suppose, is Kevin gets to make it his passion,

his livelihood. I wonder if he can see a way to help Yandas

do the same. Let's go and find out, shall we?

Kevin is waiting for me close to where Yandas is in rehearsals for

a youth production, so it's time to discover what Kevin

has got planned to help Yandas make it in the dance world.

-Hey, Kevin.

-Hi, Aled.

-Nice to see you.

-Good to see you, too, pal.

-How's it going?

-Yeah, very well, very well. How about yourself?

-Good.

-So, you've met up with Yandas. How did it go?

-It went really well.

It was really lovely to meet her. She's such an interesting and unique

individual and she's just a little bundle of energy and enthusiasm.

She's just got that desire to want to go out and better herself.

-It was really lovely to meet her.

-How do you think you could help her?

I think there's a few ways I can help Yandas. One of the things

that I found out when I spoke to her is that she's really interested in

performing and making, so... I recognise how important it was

for me in my development to have mentors, so I think the first thing

is to be a mentor, to have some time where we meet up and I can be

a sounding board for her, she can run ideas past me, I can watch

her choreography, watch her performances, she can talk to me

about where she wants to go, what's important to her and then I can help

her shape and steer her and create a strategy for her in order to reach

-some of those development goals.

-OK.

-The second thing is

I'd like to give her a paid opportunity to teach the company,

Company Chameleon, the company I founded and I'm part of.

Well, that's going to be huge.

Yeah, and I think what my role is in that situation is to see

how she teaches and give her things to think about in order to push

her unique style. The third thing that I think we can help with is

to give her some time with the company in order to do some research

for her to develop some of her choreographic ideas.

And then the last thing is to give her a £500 gift

and during these mentoring sessions

identify what kind of classes she wants to do.

Is there a certain choreographer she wants to go and spend time with?

Is there an international dance festival she wants to go

-and take workshops and watch performances?

-OK.

'The value of what Kevin is offering Yandas would amount to £1,500.'

It's amazing, because I can just see that you're opening up the whole of

the dance world, the whole possibility of dance to her.

-Well, I'm trying to, yeah.

-That's going to be amazing.

-Oh, thanks, man.

-But it really is,

because you know that she's got the passion to do it,

so you're now giving her the opportunity to prove

how passionate she is.

Well, listen, that's brilliant. Have you put all your thoughts

-down in a letter, by the way?

-I have.

I know for a fact that she's dancing at the moment in an arts centre

-literally 500 yards away.

-Right, cool.

-Shall we go and surprise her?

-Yeah, yeah. That'll be great.

-Let's go.

-Thanks, man.

'The big moment has come - coming clean to Yandas and revealing

'that she's going to get the biggest opportunity of a lifetime.'

-So, she's in the arts centre just ahead, practising.

-Oh, fantastic.

-She has no idea we're coming.

-Doesn't she?

-No.

-Oh, great.

-That'll be a nice surprise.

-Big surprise. I hope so.

-How are you feeling?

-I'm feeling good. Looking forward

-to speaking with her.

-I'm a bit nervous.

-Are you?

Yeah! I always get nervous at this point.

'Yandas and her friends are deep into final rehearsals for their

'opening night, which is just a few hours away.'

Five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four, five...

Hello!

-Hi!

-Hiya.

-Yandas, how are you?

-I'm good, good.

-I'm Aled Jones

-from the BBC.

-Hello.

-Hi, guys. How are you?

-Hello, everyone.

Now, listen, you thought we were making a programme about

-aspiring dancers. Is that right?

-Yeah.

-It's not the whole truth,

-is it, Kev?

-It's not entirely the truth, Yandas.

It's been really wonderful getting to know you, and I find you

and your story really, really inspiring, so I have a letter here

for you and I'd like you to have a little read of it, if that's OK.

-Will you read it out loud, as well, for us?

-Yeah.

-You look a little bit shocked.

-"Dear Yandas, it's been a real

"pleasure meeting you and having the opportunity

"to find out about you, your life and your art.

"In life, it is special when you come across somebody who has

"overcome challenges that life has thrown at them and...

"..and used those experiences to fuel their art.

"I think this is an area we have in common..."

-TEARFULLY:

-Sorry.

"I've had the..."

-It's OK.

-Take your time.

-Just take your time, love.

It's all right.

"I've had the great fortune in my life to have had the guidance, love,

"support and encouragement from some wonderful mentors, artists

"and people. If I did not have these wonderful mentors in my life,

"there's a good chance my career would not have happened and my life

"would be in a very different place. I know you are searching for

"some professional development, so I'd like to help you with that.

"I would like to offer you my time to you as a mentor."

"..be..." Sorry.

-It's OK! It's OK.

-It's all right.

"..be a sounding board for you, a person to run things by,

"bounce ideas off as well as help guide your professional development

"and define some of your future..."

My God!

"I would like to give you a paid opportunity to have some teaching

"experience and help you develop your unique choreographic practice.

"The last thing I would love to offer you is a gift of £500

"to help support your professional development, whether that is

"taking classes, workshops, watching performances or attending

"international dance and performance festivals.

"I hope that you see what I see in you, Yandas.

"You are unique, and you have something special to offer.

"Talent opens doors, passion makes opportunity,

"hard work makes it happen. I look forward to working with you.

"Warm regards, Kevin Edward Turner."

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-You all right? Does that make you happy?

-Yeah! Yeah!

-How do you feel?

Buzzing, mate. Like, I am buzzing.

-Wow!

-What difference do you think that will make to you?

Bro, like...

Ohhh! I don't know. Like, everything, man!

Like, that is actually what I have been asking for, innit?

And there's nothing better than being given what you genuinely

-have been asking for, do you know what I mean?

-It's a dream come true.

Innit? It genuinely, actually is. Literally, like...

I'm buzzing for your work. Ask him.

I was watching your videos all yesterday. Honestly.

Ohhh!

-Sorry.

-There's nothing to be sorry about. Nothing to be sorry about

at all. It's great to know you, Yandas. It's great to meet somebody

with so much talent and so much passion and so much enthusiasm.

You remind me a lot of myself, and now what we need to do is

take all that energy, take all those ideas, shape and guide it and

-push it where you need to go.

-Yeah.

-Listen, I'm so pleased things have

worked out this way for you, because, as Kevin said,

-the world's your oyster now.

-It is.

-It really is.

-There you go.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, as well.

-Thanks a lot, Aled.

-Cheers, mate. Thanks a lot.

-Cheers, guys.

-Come on, then, Kev. Let's head off.

-Take care, mate.

-Take care, guys.

See you!

Beautiful.

I can't express it, I literally can't express it.

I keep thinking back to those nights where I was like,

"Is it actually going to get better?"...

and when my friends were there saying, "Just keep fighting."

Got you crying, though, hasn't it?

Wow, man...!

'Her reaction says it all.'

It shows how important it is to her and how much she wants to succeed.

A hell of a nice moment. That was insane.

She deserves it. Out of us all, she deserves it.

Being able to choreograph and teach others

and spread her dance vibe round is just incredible.

She's going to be amazing.

It's that break, isn't it? This is her break and now she has, like,

an opportunity to do this thing she absolutely loves properly.

I've had an absolutely fantastic time on this journey.

I'm buzzing, I'm actually buzzing.

It's an honour and privilege to make sure

that I give back to the next generation.

I can't wait. I just want to get in the dance studio now and just dance.

Wasn't Yandas's reaction just wonderful? You could tell how much

Kevin's generosity meant, too. Dancing's always been her passion,

her hobby. Now she has the opportunity of making it her life.