ACE dance and music

ACE Youth is the youth section of ACE dance and music. Formed in 1998 they're a group of talented young people from in and around the Birmingham area, all between 11 and 21 years old. Trained under the artistic eye of Gail Parmel, our vision for ACE Youth is to promote confidence and understanding in young artists and communities through the appreciation of African and Caribbean culture, dance and music.

We encourage ACE Youth members to go off and study further. We offer members support and advice on running a dance company from administrative skills to marketing, web design, set design, technical skills, education and being touring dancer or education deliverer. We open our doors to those that have recently graduated for apprentice positions.

Two members of ACE Youth are currently studying with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Amayra Fuller of ACE Youth graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and is now a dance practitioner with ACE dance and music and Rudi Cole of ACE Youth has gone on to from the Northern to work for Company Thor in Belgium.

In 2009/10 ACE Youth performed at: the International Conference Centre, Charlecote Park for the National Trust, ArtsFest, Number 8 Community Arts Centre in Pershore, Put Your Foot Down, Youth Dance England, Dynamic Youth, Wolverhampton Arena Theatre, Youth Moves, Julidans Festival in Amsterdam, Norfolk Dance, Sarehole Mill and at the Birmingham bid for the U.K. City of Culture in Liverpool.

Current ACE youth performers are: Tyler Blair-Thompson, Mahalia Burkmar, Azizi Cole, Xhosa Cole, Gabrielle Cook, Rebecca Flitcroft, Gemma Pilgrim-Greaves, Chris Radford, Natasha Smith, Iona Waite, Cherelle Walters.

Arts Award:

we are very pleased to announce that 5 ACE Youth members have recently achieved their Arts Award Bronze Level. This is an important step in gaining recognition for all the amazing creative work that our young people do.

mac's Artistic Director Dorothy Wilson talks about the Changing Places performance:

“This show was a delight – a really powerful mix of two young companies showing passion and enthusiasm for dance and for communicating wholeheartedly with an audience. The response of a capacity house was terrific – respect for such achievements, enjoyment of the creativity of the young artists on stage, and a feeling of witnessing something quite special; all ingredients for a memorable evening. I’m so pleased mac was able to play a part in helping this to happen. We look forward to hosting more of both companies work”

"I was lucky enough to have seen ACE’s performance for schools showcasing the work of the young people you have been working with at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School on 29th April 2009. I really enjoyed the show on many levels. I enjoyed the mix of the show – the different styles and feel of each piece. The quality of the work by the young people was impressive. Their performances were not only energetic, but skilled, controlled and interpretative, doing full justice to the vision of the professional choreographers who worked with them. The professionalism of the young performers was a brilliant example for the appreciative youngsters in the audience. As an educational worker for over 30 years, I also appreciated your approach with the young audience, speaking directly to them without patronising them. Many will have absorbed at lot about the value of collaborative working and the importance of respecting the contribution of others –whatever their background in dance. Good luck in your future ventures. Can’t wait to see what you do next." Birmingham City Council Education Worker

"In dance we have a long history of professional artists working with young people to share practice and create new work for performance, benefiting both participants and artists alike. We encourage professional artists with a commitment to working with and for young people to engage with youth dance groups and I am so pleased that companies such as ACE Dance and Music invest their expertise, time and resources in their own youth dance group to achieve such high standards in performance and choreography. ACE Youth’s performance at the recent National Youth Dance Festival 2008 (5-13 July) in London was truly excellent, illustrating best practice in professional artists working with young people." Linda Jasper (Director of Youth Dance England) 18.7.08

"What an absolutely stunning, breathtaking, emotional experience it was. Words cannot express my reaction - England's equivalent of Alvin Ailey in their early days! It was a real privelege to watch such maturity of performance and incredible choreography. I would have paid twice the price of my ticket to some and see them!" Audience member, Youth Dance England summer 2008