Being 'Rooted': highlights from our June Tea Dance

01 Jul 2022

Being ‘Rooted’: highlights from our June Tea Dance

“Today was better than anything my doctor could have prescribed.”
Member

Rooted

On 14 June 2022, we had another joyous 21st Century Tea Dance bringing together members across our programmes, artists and volunteers. We called this Tea Dance Rooted with the dual meaning to celebrate nature, plants and the environment, as well as our heritage and interconnectivity as communities.

Dancing around the tree

Christopher Green with the Spitz

We took over the George Green Hall at Goldsmith’s Community Centre and danced around a gorgeous tree put together by our talented artists and were joined by our favourite host, Christopher Green with live music by the amazing Spitz. But of course, the focus was all on our communities! Members from the Poetry group, the Meet Me Choir, Glorious Age and the Ambient Jam Collective delighted us with poetry, singing and dancing in what was a magical sharing of creativity, stories and improvised moments. We were also so happy to welcome our friends from Greenvale School in Lewisham who worked with us on the Greenvale Moon project.

The Ambient Jam Collective

Christine (volunteer) and Philip (member) reading poems

More poems with Jeanie (member) and Sophie (Meet Me Producer)

The Meet Me Choir

Between the dancing and singing, we the took a moment to remember and celebrate Rosie Wheatland, an artist/member who sadly passed away recently, by sharing some of her wonderful poems. You can read one of them here.

Favourite moments and feedback

“I was very proud of the choir! It was their first big performance since lockdown and they were so focused and impressively undeterred by nerves; they just ‘got on the horse!’” Rachel Bennett (artist)

The Choir

“Irena loved the time (dressed in her sequins!) and her support worker mentioned that the new space was good…Much easier for parking and the light in the room was great.. I loved the light too and the way it meant that people on the fringes (as for instance Ambient Jam members often are) were visible and ‘seen’ as part of the shebang.” Gill Moore (artist)

Irena (member)

Ambient Jamming

“It was so good to be together at the Tea Dance. For me, that glorious sunny day proved that we are all so rooted as a gang, that even in a new venue newcomers felt the connection, love, support and joy that the Tea Dances always provide.” Christopher Green (host)

A ‘quick thought‘ by Christine Bone (volunteer):

“I’ve always loved Entelechy’s tea dances, in the past I’ve brought my son and husband when they could attend and they also enjoyed it. All previous Tea dances are full of local talent, smoothly in a relaxed fashion tied together with smiles and lots of free dancing that’s unpressurised and welcoming. However this last tea dance was my favourite […] The feel created was a total family connection with new and familiar faces that Entelechy Arts specialise in – this is no easy feat and takes years of experience, especially when done so smoothly and what seems from the outside like it was effortless.” Charlene Low (artist)

Charlene… and her cake!

“I love moments like singing happy birthday to Dahlia. Who could possibly been one of the oldest in the room. […] It was also lovely to see Sheila and Gwen. Sheila was looking particularly sparkly and dressed up as she had been looking forward to coming. And Gwen and I had a our usual bit of banter ‘can’t dance won’t dance banter.’ Whereby I point my feet near her feet so she could pretend to step on my feet while she was sitting down. She knows how much I love to dance. I know she doesn’t like dancing. But we make it a fun interaction about resistance. It’s little moments like that makes a tea dance for me.” Wei Yee Cheung (artist)

Sheila and Gwen (members)