Local dancers Scarlett Wink and Charlie Ratcliffe have been selected for the National Youth Dance Company, the third year running that House of Wingz’ talent has made the cut.
Two Blackpool teenagers are heading to London to dance with one of the country’s most prestigious youth companies. Scarlett Wink and Charlie Ratcliffe, who have both trained at hip hop arts organisation House of Wingz, have been selected for the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) at Sadler’s Wells.
Based in Stratford, east London, NYDC brings together some of the brightest young dance talent in England to work with Sadler’s Wells’ associate artists and visiting companies. For Scarlett and Charlie, that could mean working with the acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter, whose highly physical contemporary pieces include Political Mother, Grand Finale and Double Murder.
It’s the third year in a row that House of Wingz’ dancers have earned places at Sadler’s Wells, a run founders Sam and Aish De Belle said they are “incredibly proud” of.
“We are delighted to be moving into our third year of celebrating our alumni joining a world-class dance company,” said Sam. “We will continue to strive to ensure that young people in all areas of our community have the opportunity to develop their skills through our arts provision, enabling them to forge forward in their careers in the creative arts industries.”
Both dancers came up through This Is HOW – the organisation’s youth leadership programme, where they developed advanced hip-hop techniques alongside interpersonal, leadership and employability skills. Both are now Young Leaders themselves.
Their work has already been seen around town. Charlie has performed hip-hop on the Comedy Carpet and
taken part in Style Assembly, also part of House BPL – the charity behind House of Wingz. Scarlett was part of Researching the Shore, a 2025 research project that informed the South Shore mural You Got Soul Boy, near Waterloo Road.
House of Wingz has been providing arts activities for young people and families in Blackpool since 2006. It began life as FY Westcoast before being shaped by ballroom culture and becoming the House of Wingz.
Today it offers street dance tuition for all ages, from beginner to advanced and including adults, plus a free-access skate park, a recording studio, a half-term creative programme and open spaces for anyone to use.
The collective also writes and produces its own hip-hop dance theatre and runs events including Rock the Coast dance battles to Cultivating Roots, a celebration of Black excellence.
Scarlett and Charlie are two of hundreds of young people who have come through the doors over the past two decades. Sam, Aish and the Young Leaders say they hope to shift the negative narrative about growing up in Blackpool by building aspiration through creative youth leadership.
