Eurovision Young Dancers

Contents

Host

When produced in the UK:

Deborah Bull and Wayne McGregor (2001)

Co-hosts

UK commentators:

Humphrey Burton and Annette Page (1985)

Humphrey Burton and Monica Mason (1987)

Judith Mackrell and Richard Alston (1989)

not broadcast in UK (1991-97)

Deborah Bull (1999, 2003-5)

Broadcast

BBC2, 16 June 1985 - 1 July 2001

BBC Knowledge, 24 June 2001

BBC4, 5 July 2003 - 24 September 2005

Synopsis

Following the success of Eurovision Young Musicians, a parallel competition for young dancers was established in 1985. As with the music contest, some countries televise their national qualifiers.

The rules specified that all genres - classical, contemporary, jazz, hybrid, hip-hop - were allowed, with the exception of folk dance. The competition was open for solo performers and couples, with performances limited to seven minutes. All performers had to be 21 or younger. Novel choreographies were encouraged, and there was sometimes a prize for best new work. On two occasions, separate prizes were awarded for classical and contemporary pieces.

There was a week-long masterclass immediately before the contest, with the best twelve or so entrants progressing to the televised final. The winners were awarded prizes to benefit their future professional careers.

In the UK, the contest never enjoyed the kudos of Young Musician, and was often buried in a dark corner of the schedules. When the UK hosted the contest in 2001, the BBC was unable to transmit the programme live, and the 2005 competition was not broadcast until three months after it took place. Young Dancers was shelved from its scheduled 2007 edition, replaced it with a Eurovision Dance Contest; the prize was next awarded in 2011, and the BBC did not participate.

Trivia

The 1987 contest included an entry from a non-EBU member, Canada.

Champions

VenueDateChampionNationality
Reggio Emilia, Italy16 June 1985Arantxa ArgüellesSpain
Schwetzingen, Switzerland31 May 1987Rose Gad PoulsenDenmark
Paris, France28 June 1989Contemporary - Agnès Letestu
Classical - Tetsuya Kumakawa
France
UK
Helsinki, Finland5 June 1991Amaya IglesiasSpain
Stockholm, Sweden15 June 1993Zenaida YanowskySpain
Lausanne, Switzerland6 June 1995Jesus Pastor Sauquillo and Ruth Miro SalvadorSpain
Gdansk, Poland17 June 1997Antonio Carmena San JoséSpain
Lyon, France10 July, 1999Katja Wunsche
Yohan Stegli
Germany
France
(joint winners)
London, UK23 June 2001Dawid Kupinski and Marcin KupinskiPoland
Amsterdam, Netherlands4 July 2003Classical - Jerlin Ndudi
Modern - Kristina Oom and Sebastian Michanek
Ukraine
Sweden
Warsaw, Poland24 June 2005Milou NuyensNetherlands
Oslo, Norway24 June 2011Daniel SarrNorway
Gdansk, Poland14 June 2013Sedrig VerwoertNetherlands

See also

BBC Young Dancer, a domestic competition held in 2015.

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