Chichester dance company offering great opportunities for the stars of the future

Artistic directors Chay Burrows and Christopher Reynolds are expecting strong interest in their new apprenticeship scheme, for which auditions will run on May 22 at The Point in Eastleigh where Udifydance are associate artists.

But first they need public support.

The more people vote for the company, the more likely Udifydance are to get the extra funding which will enable them to offer an enhanced scheme with greater opportunities still for the apprentices they take on.

Show your support by clicking on http://www.co-operative.coop/join-the-revolution/udifydance-company/

and voting for Udifydance.

Your support will enable Chay and Christopher to maximise their scheme’s potential, an exciting next step for a company clearly going places.

Udifydance grew out of the pair’s third year at the University of Chichester, Chay explains: “We went on tour with the undergraduate company that the university has, and we just thought ‘Let’s try to make a go of this ourselves’. We set up the company in January 2008 and then graduated in May/June.”

Initially the aim was education, but as Christopher explains, the performance took over. In the past they’ve worked with female dancers; now they are enjoying the unique selling point that they are the only all-male dance company funded by the Arts Council in the south-east.

“Personally we really prefer working all-male,” Christopher said. “It’s really strong physically, and when we have been touring to different venues, the audience feedback has been that it has been beautiful to watch four men on stage.”

For their tour next year, appropriately entitled SIX, they will be expanding the company to six dancers, Chay and Christopher included.

But for the moment, the focus is on the apprenticeship scheme, for which Chay and Christopher are looking for two recent male graduates.

Chay said they were less concerned with where the graduates have trained than with the experience they have gained and their keenness to learn new things: “We want that sparkle.”

Christopher added: “We are looking for people that are creative rather than just technicians.”

Within a couple of weeks, the chosen dancers will be touring with a duet at a number of festivals and venues including The Hawth in Crawley and The Point in Eastleigh.

More details on www.udifydance.com or 07712 172721.