NAVADAL 2019

National South Asian Youth Dance Competition

In 2019, Akademi marked 40 years of nurturing excellence in South Asian dance. As part of these celebrations, Akademi partnered with One Dance UK, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) Yuva Gati to present NAVADAL at U.Dance 2019, the National Youth Dance Festival, at Southbank Centre.

Meaning “new shoots” in Hindi, NAVADAL is Akademi’s biennial National South Asian Youth Dance Competition. It is an opportunity for young dancers to be recognised at an early stage in their career and is a catalyst for them to find new pathways into the dance sector.

This fantastic event, an opportunity for young dancers to be recognised at an early stage in their career, saw 41 dance students, across solo and group categories, perform in the prestigious Clore Ballroom.

Thank you to all the participants who competed so breathtakingly, to One Dance UK and the whole U.Dance2019 team at Southbank Centre, to Raheem Mir our host for the day, to our team of expert judges (), to Meera Patel who worked with Akademi as the producer of NAVADAL and of course to our fantastic and enthusiastic audience.