Kingston’s internationally acclaimed BalletBoyz are set to be the first ever dance company to release a feature length film.

The all-male dance company, based in Canbury Park Road, has made a movie about a group of young soldiers in the First World War. The cast are all members of BalletBoyz’s ten-strong company and are all largely just of conscription age.

Directed by BalletBoyz’s artistic directors Michael Nunn OBE and William Trevitt OBE, it was shot on location in northern France and features no words but instead relies on the setting and choreography to depict the devastation of a continent. Music comes from singer-songwriter Keaton Henson.

Commissioned by the BBC, a 60-minute version Young Men will premiere on BBC Two later this year ahead of the release of the full 72-minute feature. It was initially conceived as a stage show which got its world premiere at Sadler’s Wells, where it played to sold out houses, last year.

The BBC’s head of music TV commissioning Jan Younghusband said: “Mike and Billy are talented dancers and film-makers who bring a unique and entertaining perspective to dance and ballet.

“The BBC loves to work with artists to create original TV that puts them and their art-form centre stage, so I was delighted to commission their first full length feature film.  

“Young Men is an exciting new departure into dramatic story-telling in dance. Filmed entirely on location, it is a moving and harrowing insight into war, and the power of dance to express the world when words are not enough.” 

Go to youngmenmovie.com

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