National Youth Dance Company, Speak Volumes, Sadler's Wells

Every year a group of some two dozen aspiring dancers take to the stage at Sadler's Wells with the kind of energy, gusto and professionalism that would put some seasoned professionals to shame. They are the members of the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), a project set up nine years ago by Sadler's Wells to give dance students from across the UK the chance to work for one year with a dedicated director and gain experience of professional dance.

The young dancers, aged mostly 16 to 18, but with a higher age ceiling for those with a disability, stay with NYDC for a maximum of two years. This year's cohort of 29 consists of 21 newcomers joining eight returning dancers from last year's group.

Past NYDC guest directors have included Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Botis Seva, Russell Maliphant and Michael Keegan-Dolan. This year's cohort have been working with the Zimbabwean-born, London-trained director and choreographer Alesandra Seutin on a piece called Speak Volumes.

Seutin is keen that her work should always carry a contemporary message, and Speak Volumes celebrates young people overcoming stereotypes and being able to speak their minds free of judgement. The work explores the impact of the media and societal pressures on young people, and asks adults to take responsibility for how young people are treated.

Inspired by African dance and hip-hop, and including the spoken word written by company members, Speak Volumes is billed as carrying 'buoyant physicality', and if past experience is anything to go by, the energy the dancers will bring to the performance will transcend the stage and communicate itself to the audience.

NYDC is a hugely successful programme: 80% of all its former dancers are now either in further dance studies, in vocational training or working professionally. Among the companies that NYDC alumni have joined are Hofesh Shechter Company, BalletBoyz, Mathew Bourne's New Adventures and Rambert2, to mention but a few.