U.Dance
Offering high-quality dance experiences and opportunities to young people all around the UK
U.Dance is the national programme of events offering high quality dance opportunities to young people. Each year, our nation’s young dancers can experience the thrill and sense of achievement of performing!
One Dance UK works with partners to deliver and support events all over the country. Since its inception, the programme has reached over 200,000 young people. There are three strands to the U.Dance Programme: U.Dance National Festival, U.Dance Regional and U.Dance First. You find out more, and how to get involved, on these pages.
To register for updates on U.Dance events, please email u.dance@onedanceuk.org
The largest event of its kind, the U.Dance National Festival is a celebration of youth dance every summer. Groups from around the country perform on professional stages, take part in workshops with leading dance professionals, and are offered inspiring dance careers information.
The U.Dance National Festival 2025 is scheduled to be
held on 25-27 July 2025 in partnership with Sadler’s
Wells, at their fabulous new venue, Sadler’s Wells East in
London’s Olympic Park.
Groups who take part are normally selected via a U.Dance Regional Platform, held each spring across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
U.Dance Regional Platforms, which take place across the UK, offer exciting performance and workshop opportunities to thousands of young dancers each year. Regional Platforms are hosted by a network of partner organisations and take place each spring, showcasing the talents of the region’s young dancers.
Regional Platforms take place in the spring each year and form part of the selection process for the U.Dance National Festival. Groups and individual dancers of all dance styles are able to enter, aged 11-19, or up to 25 for disabled dancers. We can’t wait to see your incredible work next year!
U.Dance Regional Platforms 2024 took place earlier in 2024.
U.Dance Regional Platforms 2025 will take place from February-April 2025.
U.Dance First is a re-imagined and re-branded version of our U. Dance Local programme. U.Dance First platforms are performances presenting dance work featuring children and young people from more than one school or group aged 5-11, in communities up and down the UK.
This new strand places emphasis on providing performance opportunities for primary-aged children, helping to address the current lack of specific dance provision and high-quality non-competitive platforms for younger children. We are excited to be establishing several platforms across the 2024/25 academic year.
To find out more about your local U.Dance First platform, or to find out more about hosting a platform, email udance@onedanceuk.org.