News Posts
Casting for Welsh language kids tv show ‘Cyw’ with Boom Cymru on S4C. Jukebox Collective Agency supported in booking young people from our Academy to perform on the introduction idents.
This year we’ve brought in some special guests to lead workshops with our Academy students. Talk to Coco delivered a mental health workshop where students explored through creativity and conversation.
The students loved taking part in our playful photoshoot workshop. We covered styling and looks from the 80s, referencing hip hop icons.
DJ Willis joined us for a beginners workshop in mixing.
The first ever BBC Young Dancer was held in 2015. It followed a nine month search to find the UK’s most gifted and dedicated dancers aged 16-20 in four categories; Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop and South Asian Dance.
At the Final the winners from each category perform alongside two additional ‘wild cards’ for the overall title in front of a judging panel made up of some of the biggest names from the dance world. BBC Young Dancer, along with BBC Young Musician, is central to the BBC’s support of the arts and its commitment to the development of new talent.
Here, we take a look back at our journeys with BBC Young Dancer and the stories of our talent that made it to the finals.
In 2015, Sharifa Tonkmore made it to the final for the Hip Hop category with her unique freestyle performance. Artistic Director, Liara Barussi was the Hip Hop category mentor, providing Sharifa support and encouragement throughout the process.
You can watch Sharifa’s performance here
In 2017 and 2019, Kate Morris made it to the Street Dance final, impressing judges with her theatrical performance that captured her abstract style of movement.
Watch Kate’s performance here.
In 2017, Jodelle Douglas was the winner of the Street Dance category going on to perform in the finals at Sadler’s Wells theatre.
Watch Jodelle’s performance here
Bringing those behind the scenes to the spotlight, GUAP GALA will highlight the creative key individuals that are often overlooked by traditional award ceremonies. With a total of 21 awards, the night will celebrate categories including Content Creator of the year, Podcast of the Year, Actor To Watch, Musician To Watch, Creative Business of the year and Model of the Year. But categories we are really excited to see are the awards for creatives that rarely get publicly praised like Best in Glam, Stylist of the year and many more that contribute to the creative culture.
From food to entertainment to venue, the overall experience of the night will be a nod to different cultures and some of the best talent the UK has to offer.
“The GUAP GALA is going to be the jewel in the GUAP crown and fittingly the theme for the first year is around fairytales.”
For more information, visit guapgala.com to stay up to date and to find out how you can get involved.
We had a conversation with Jean Chan, our winner for the London Industry Insight Trip competition. She described her experience as “blessed, Inspiring and soul-stirring” at the Tate Modern Lubaina exhibition, Traplord at 180 Strand and Dazed workshop on Creative Writing & Journalism.
Jukebox: Tell us about yourself and why you entered our Industry Insight competition?
Jean: I have grown up surrounded by art and people who love art, so it was impossible for me not to go down the pathway of being an aspiring artist. I am now finishing up my second year studying BA(Hons) Photography and on my way to becoming a professional photographer, hopefully in the fashion and arts industry! I had seen Jukebox’s instagram post about the Industry Insight Day in London through my friend’s story and decided to enter and test my fortune; which turned out to be in my favour!
The LUBAINA HIMID exhibition at Tate Modern is a selected highlight from her influential career. Himid is known for her contributions to the British Black arts movement, making space for the expression and recognition of Black experience and women’s creativity.
Jukebox: During the trip, you visited The TATE MODERN – What was the most memorable artwork at the Lubaina Himid Exhibition?
Jean: The artwork that stuck out to me the most was A Fashionable Marriage. To put it extremely short, it was a political and harshly satirical piece on the immorality and corruption of the aristocrats and the wealthy in the 1700’s. After reading the contextual background of the installation, the more you observe the more little details you find hidden within the piece. Which then drew me further into it and I couldn’t pull myself away.
Making It Up As We Go Along is a programme by DAZED workshop on Creative Writing and Journalism to help young people break into the industry. With a focus on Journalism, the workshop covers anything from pitching your ideas to finessing your interviewing skills.
Jukebox: Did you learn something new at the DAZED Making It Up As We Go Along Workshop?
Jean: The Dazed Workshop was a great insight into Dazed as a whole and specifically journalism in beauty, music and fashion. The main speakers gave tips and tricks on how to pitch ideas and articles for certain magazines, how to conduct interviews and their personal experience getting into Dazed and their career timeline. They also had a talk about photographic campaigns and the key points that stuck in my head were to network, network and network. They said that you have 5 seconds to impress someone in terms of your online presence and to always pitch yourself to be kept in mind for future projects. Talk about the campaigns you’re interested in and show your work so that if opportunities come around, you’ll be the first to pop up in their heads. The main takeaway from the entire workshop was that it’s all about timing and to lean into your skills.
TRAPLORD is an immersive performance by Ivan Michael Blackstock, questioning the stereotypes of Black men in contemporary western society. Using dance, theatre and spoken word, TRAPLORD takes us on a new heroic journey to self-actualisation.
Jukebox: What did you take away from your experience at Traplord?
Jean: The only way I can even begin to explain what I witnessed, was that it was a truly out-of-body experience. The way the whole stage was set up made you truly immerse yourself into the performance, from the blackout room, to the lighting effects and surround sound. With the Black Lives Matter Movement still raw and real, the execution of their narrative on being unapologetically black was a loud distress call to awaken and build everyone’s compassion and aid towards black power and immoral experiences of being a black person. Accompanied by their awe-inspiring lyrics and strong performances in dance and the stage, there wasn’t a moment that I wanted to miss!
Jukebox: How was your experience at London Industry Insight Trip ?
Jean: I loved being able to travel to the busy city of London and being able to be part of such exclusive events while exploring the area for a whole day. I keep thinking back to it and can’t help but feel so moved to create something of myself. It was an amazing opportunity to have and I am beyond grateful for the entire experience, and it could’ve only been made possible because of Jukebox!
‘I want to push to create a space where my community, specifically young Black, Muslim girls can see themselves reflected in my images.’ – Ash Suudy in Santesdwynwen Magazine
Included in our Black Welsh Creatives: Ones to Watch list, Ash Suudy is a South Wales based photographer and creative. She has recently been commissioned by BBC Arts, Ffilm Cymru & the Arts Council of Wales to adapt her photographic project East in Colour into a short film.
East in Colour is a project created to show the beauty of the Welsh-Somali community and counteract harmful representations of Muslim women in the media. Contrasting against the backdrop of the streets of Butetown and Grangetown, women are captured dressed in the bright pinks, purples and greens of traditional Diracs.
The images represent a sense of warmth and pride, as Ash has created a space where Welsh-Somali women can be unapologetically themselves and celebrate the intersections of their culture. We love the tenderness of the images, their exaggerated warm tones, and we can’t wait to see what Ash does next!
Follow Ash on Instagram
For International Women’s Day 2022 we joined forces with Vans and Our Sisterhood as part of their new initiative – DESIGN THE FUTURE TOGETHER 🌍
Artistic Director Liara Barussi was invited to take part in a panel discussion; What does it take to build a Sisterhood, a community of like-minded people who are creating waves of change? And how do you create your own? The panel spotlighted organisations who are using creativity as a force for change. Liara shared her founder story and how Jukebox Collective is paving the way for the next generation.
Sisterhood is a social enterprise on a mission to use creativity as the vehicle for social change to positively impact every girl and their future.
Juice Menace, featured in our Music Artists list, is a rapper & creative putting Cardiff on the map. An up-and-coming artist, she’s received international recognition and been featured by the likes of GUAP, GRM Daily, Spotify & SBTV. A collaborator, Juice has built a network of young creatives in Cardiff & London which get involved in her music videos and tracks, recently collaborating with producers such as Flyo, Michelin Shin, SOS and Elevated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1jijdqFBic
Her latest releases, No Speaking, Sundown & Moneydance have pushed Juice further in her career, in what’s set to be her breakthrough year. We love to see a female rapper representing Cardiff and can’t wait to see what she does next.
Follow Juice Menace on Instagram
Casting for The National Library of Wales ‘Your Wales’ campaign featuring agency talent Jo-el Bertram.
The National Library of Wales is based in Aberystwyth and is home to 6.5 million books and periodicals. Their latest campaign showcases their incredible services and creative ambitions.
Casting for The National Library of Wales ‘Your Wales’ campaign featuring agency talent Jo-el Bertram.
The National Library of Wales is based in Aberystwyth and is home to 6.5 million books and periodicals. Their latest campaign showcases their incredible services and creative ambitions.
The campaign was a success, with us raising enough funds to continue working online during the pandemic and beyond, as well as managing to match-fund donations from generous supporters! Here’s what some of our tutors and students had to say about online classes:
“Online classes help me develop my skills and confidence a lot. I find it amazing how we can all still communicate while being apart.”
– Chase, Academy student
“I love online classes because it’s a safe space where you can interact with your friends. They keep us super healthy and have really helped me develop my performing and dancing skills. Jukebox is just one big family.”
– Leila, Academy student
“This platform allows people to find themselves, I can see how much it is appreciated by the students that come to my concept classes. That sense of belonging and having that community really does bring out the best in people.”
– Ramelle, Tutor
