Harry Barnes through to the grand final of BBC Young Dancer – Winner of Hip Hop category
18 year-old dancer Harry Barnes, from the Wirral, has won the Hip Hop Category Final of the first ever BBC Young Dancer. He will join 5 other dancers who will perform on stage at Sadler’s Wells in the Grand Final on Saturday 9th May, broadcast on BBC Two.
The BBC Young Dancer Hip Hop Final was broadcast on BBC Four this evening (Friday 24th April 8 – 9pm) and will be available to view again on BBC iPlayer. The Hip Hop Finalists were: Jonadette Carpio (20), Abercwmboi; Jodelle Douglas (19), Bristol; Kieran Lai (18), Southend-on-Sea; Sharifa Tonkmor (20), London.
All of their solo performances, recorded in March at The Riverfront in Newport, will be available to view in full on the BBC Young Dancer website.
They performed in front of a judging panel of leading dance experts: DJ Renegade, Choreographer & Artistic Director of Indahouse Clara Bajado, and Kenneth Tharp, Chief Executive of The Place, who judged across all of the Category Finals.
Harry said “I’m made up to be in the Final: I’m looking forward to performing at Sadler’s Wells and the experience to be gained both on stage and back-stage. I just can’t wait to perform for everyone – hopefully the crowd will like everything I do. My dream is to make a living from dance and I’m hoping that after the show, within the next few years, I can make that happen for myself.”
Harry will join three other category winners from Ballet, Contemporary and South Asian dance along with two wildcard places at the Grand Final. They will perform in front of a panel of leading dance experts: Artistic Director of New Adventures, Choreographer and Director Matthew Bourne, Artistic Director of ZFin Malta Mavin Khoo, Choreographer and Director Wayne McGregor, English National Ballet Artistic DirectorTamara Rojo, Dancer and Choreographer Kenrick Sandy, and Alistair Spalding, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells.
The Grand Final will be broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday 9th May.
BBC Young Dancer is also part of Get Creative – a year-long BBC celebration of British arts, culture and creativity in partnership with What Next. To find out more ways of participating in the arts visit #bbcgetcreative