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Three dance companies in the south west have been selected to perform at U.Dance 2015, the national festival that celebrates and showcases the very best youth dance work from across the country.

U.Dance will take place in Plymouth 22 to 25 July, the first time this important event has come to the south west.

The successful groups are Swindon Youth Dance Company (SYDCo), part of Arts Council National portfolio organisation Swindon Dance; Plymouth's Wheelfever Projects, a community dance group devising and delivering creative dance experiences for both disabled and non-disabled children and young people; and RISE Youth Dance, a Bristol-based organisation specialising in contemporary dance led by professional dancers.

Director of SYDCo, Emma Jones said: 'This is such an amazing achievement for SYDCo - to be chosen not only affirms their talent, technique and passion, but it also shows that they are training and achieving at a national level. Furthermore, they get to work with nationally-renowned artists and find new role-models, gain career insight and experience what it really means to be a professional dancer.'

Paula Hocking, Company Director of inclusive dance group, Wheelfever said: 'It's very exciting for Wheelfever dancers to be selected to perform at U.Dance 2015. They are a committed group of disabled and non-disabled dancers who enjoy creating dance and exploring how to move as a dance company. This opportunity acknowledges that they have developed their dance and performance skills to a significant level, which is a fabulous achievement. We're really pleased to be one of the Inclusive groups performing at the national festival and are very proud to be part of the dance community that challenges the stereotypical ideas of who can and cannot dance and thereby representing our diverse society.'

28 youth dance groups in total have been selected from a total of 240 to take part in this year's festival. This is the greatest number of applicants that U.Dance has ever seen - ten more than last year - and this will be built upon in years to come.

This growth is a reflection of the popularity of dance among younger people in England, but also a direct result of the festival's special focus this year on supporting dancers with disability. Over the three days, U.DANCE 2015 will be presenting the work of five inclusive dance groups (those groups made up of disabled and non-disabled dancers) from across the length and breadth of England, including Wheelfever from Plymouth and TINeke from Durham in the North East.  

The festival in July will be presented by Youth Dance England in partnership with Plymouth Dance and will feature an exciting programme of classes, workshops and performances in a range of dance styles including swing, hip-hop, street, ballroom, Argentine Tango and Latin dance, including a Mass Dance to take place in an iconic Plymouth location.

Over 1500 young people competed in 18 county and regional dance events to be one of the participating companies at the festival. Each group will have the opportunity of performing a new work and will be joined at selected performances by the National Youth Dance Company of England and National Youth Dance Wales. In addition to the festival programme, Plymouth Dance will present Dance PLYMOUTH Dance on Saturday evening 25 July, a celebration of local youth dance.

Director of Youth Dance England, Linda Jasper, said: 'We are so excited about viewing performances by some of the best youth dance groups from across the UK and we know that audiences will be inspired by the huge talent, commitment and creativity of the young performers.  We are especially looking forward to seeing work created by disabled and non-disabled young dancers working together to produce inspiring new works. Plymouth is home to impressive dance venues and beautiful locations that will be filled by hundreds of dancers promising to make U.Dance 2015 a truly remarkable festival. Join us for the first U.Dance by the sea.'

As part of U.Dance 2015 Plymouth Dance has commissioned Outside-Inside-Plymouth, a series of site specific films created by six youth groups in the city - each month in the lead up to the festival they will release a new film. The films promote Plymouth and the wonderful creative work the youth dance companies in the city do.

Phil Gibby, Area Director, South West, Arts Council England, said: 'We are very excited to be welcoming this national festival of dance to the south west for the first time. U.Dance 2015 boasts a strong, lively and diverse programme of events for people young and old to enjoy. The representation from the south west region is impressive and we are very pleased to see our National portfolio organisation Swindon Dance's youth group amongst the successful regional groups. Plymouth will be buzzing with dance this July.'

Find out more about U.Dance here