Scarlett harvey and luc foskett stand in 4th position either side of a banner advertising the young dance festival in seoul

Graduates perform at Young Dance Festival in Korea

Two of our 2022 graduates, Luc Foskett and Scarlett Harvey, performed in Korea last week as part of the Young Dance Festival, at the invitation of the World Dance Alliance Korea.

This was the second Young Dance Festival, with the first being held last year. 500 dancers from 20 schools were chosen to perform at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts in Seoul, South Korea, across two performances. The venue is prestigious and hosts many of the biggest companies from around the world, including The Royal Ballet, with an auditorium that seats 4000 people.

The slogan of the event was ‘We are one.’ President of the World Dance Alliance Korea, Professor Geung Soo Kim, said:

The purpose of the event is to discover and nurture outstanding dance talents by providing the young dancers, who will become the leaders of the next generation of dance, a high-quality stage to perform on. In particular, this year, Luc Foskett and Scarlett Harvey of The Royal Ballet School in the UK will participate, creating a forum for world cultural exchange. Furthermore, by strengthening the organic relationship between domestic dance students and foreign dancers, we will continue to support Korean dance arts, like K-Pop, to stand tall in the world.

The two performances combined traditional Korean dance, classical ballet and modern and contemporary pieces in two inspiring programmes. The schools chosen to perform took immense pride in their involvement and displayed an incredibly high standard of work. Foskett and Harvey performed the Bluebird pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty and the pas de deux from Raymonda Act III at both performances. Following their graduation from the School in July this year, they have both joined The Royal Ballet as Aud Jebsen Young Dancers for the 2022/23 season.

Iain Mackay, The Royal Ballet School’s International Artistic Manager, said:

It was a great honour for the Royal Ballet School to be involved in such a special festival celebrating talented young dancers from all over Korea and the world. The level of performance and commitment was truly inspiring to watch. With such passion and quality, we should be hugely excited for the future of dance and create as many more opportunities as we can for their talents to shine.

The School is delighted that we have been invited back to perform again at next year’s festival, and we thank the World Dance Alliance Korea and all who are involved in staging this incredibly special event.Â