Tonight, on the 3rd September 2022 I attended Sadlers Wells in London to see the National Youth Dance Company perform Quartier Paradis. Going in to this one, I really had no idea what it was I was going to see. The tickets were well priced and bought in a spree of booking many Dance Performances. I purposefully don’t do much research into each Performance before I attend as I like to go in with an open mind, so I can come to an opinion on what I see first hand without taking on any ideologies.

I arrived around 19:10 after the DLR then Tube to Angel and a 10 minute or so walk to the theatre. It’s been a warm day, I bought a coke with ice when I arrived and then it was pretty much time to head into the house, which was already open. This is the third time at Sadlers Wells for me in 2022. This time I was sat at the end of Row N, Seat 1. (Yet another type of seat I no longer fit into, just like Tube seats and train seats (though for leg room the train seats).

But I only had to get up twice or so to let folks in, and the view was pretty good. I was further forward than I was the first time I attended, but further back than I was the second time. When I return again.. I will aim for further forward in the Stalls, although, it has to be said, it’s not always possible.

So the show started just on 19:30 with a short film. A film introducing some of the 32 dancers who would be on the stage this evening. As the film was going on, I found myself thinking.. ‘hang on, have I paid all this money to watch a film in Sadlers Wells.. But thankfully this was not the case… Not that the film was boring.. Unusual for a Dance Performance to pre-announce itself rather than just start, but a good way of getting past the typical-of-dance-companies loose relationship with a ‘start time’.

After the film, the performance started. Let me just say this first… The National Youth Dance Company is considered to not be ‘professional’ dancers… It is basically a course, from the looks of it and from the information I got from the film prior to the performance. But I am sorry… as far as I am concerned, if you can get up on a stage and move with the elegance, grace and poise that this outstanding collection of 32 dancers did last night, then you are a Professional Dancer in my book. – I know there are people who would disagree with me, but none of them are here.

Dancers age 16-24 (or 15 in some cases) are free to apply to join the NYD Company and course for a total of around £600 per year of study. While on this course these students will graduate with a wide range of skills that will set them up for additional training routes and pathways in both Dance or a related speciality. The NYD is run by Sadlers Wells and has been designed to remove some of the financial boundaries that prevent young talent from entering the world of Dance. The brightest talent from across England has an opportunity to work intensively together with Sadlers Wells Associate Artists and visiting companies, in order to create a wide range of challenging, high quality work produced by open-minded, curious and brave Dancers.

Dancers from a diverse range of backgrounds and dance styles come together with able and differently abled dancers, providing real life experience and additional resources / support wherever possible. The NYC’s underpinning is that their work respects the belief in the high skill level that young people as a collective can achieve if inspired and supported.

Back to the performance in question… Quartier Paradis dives into a parallel universe where there is no defined endgame. A place built on fantasy of greed for a power that continuously shifts. Rituals and memories about keep you guessing about the alarming reality of a society locked away behind a cycle of tyranny. Who will rise? Who will fall.

The Sadlers Wells performance was the finale of a seven-date run for Quartier Paradis and what a performance it was. Personally I might have not included the film as an introduction to the performance, but they did it the way they wanted to do it, and man did these dancers put on a performance. The energy and passion… Just from seeing some of the ‘students’ on the film prior to the show… Seeing the progress they had made since the film was shot. Amazing.

It perhaps wasn’t the most ground-breaking choreography. I believe I might have seen better original choreography via other companies I have seen at Sadlers Wells and other venues in the past, and as a conceptual piece.. I feel the ‘power struggle’ story has been done over and over by Dance Companies throughout 2022, but it’s a good story and it makes for a good subject matter. The musical composition, original for this project was awesome and really drove home the narrative. I will endeavour to see if this soundtrack is available, as I would like to listen to it again.

Nevertheless, a brilliant reason to visit Sadlers Wells.