A challenging and generous space to dance.
Going to a dance class can be scary! Unscary Saturdays are inclusive classes open to all ages and abilities, from professional dancers to untrained enthusiastic movers. The aim is to dismantle the unhelpful pressures and sense of intimidation that can often be felt in dance spaces.
This is a chance to try out dance styles that you’ve always wanted to give a go but felt too scared OR that you did long ago but feel out of practice with now. Come with a keenness to explore movement and an openness to try stuff. Children 12 years and under must be accompanied by a participating adult.
This workshop, Lindy Hop with Cookie and her Black Mambas, will be an introduction to Lindy Hop, an African-American partner dance originating in the late 1920s Jazz Era. For the most part, it was developed in ballrooms across the USA – most notably The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York. The dance’s popularity peaked in the mid-1940s and was featured often as a speciality act in many Hollywood movies such as Hellzapoppin’. Original dancers Al Minns, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller seeded the resurgence in the late 1980’s. The Lindy Hop continues to be enjoyed worldwide.
We’ll be celebrating the anniversary of The Savoy Ballroom! Infamously run by African-American businessman and civic leader Charles Buchanan. Buchanan, who was born in the British West Indies, sought to run a “luxury ballroom to accommodate the many thousands who wished to dance in an atmosphere of tasteful refinement, rather than in the small stuffy halls and the foul smelling, smoke laden cellar nightclubs”.
Please wear comfortable clothing and suitable footwear.
In the Roof Studio
Tickets
Pay what you choose
£10 / £13 / £15
Free tickets for under 16s
Free tickets for support Workers, Carers and PAs
This event will be BSL interpreted.
About THE COOKIE (ANGELA ANDREW) AND HER BLACK MAMBAS
Cookie and her Black Mambas (@blackmambasjazz) •
Angela Andrew is a performer, educator and producer. Her work is informed by layers of theory and practice: street dance, partner-dancing, youth and community education and music.
Angela was born and raised in Hackney, which is core to her identity and has informed her practice over the years. The combination of her musical family background, classical music training, love for jazz and her passion for dance made for a natural progression to search for the roots of street-dance, the Lindy Hop.
Angela ‘discovered’ Lindy Hop in 1991, she soon after began travelling the international Lindy Hop scene. She is renowned for her contribution to the development of the community – including mentoring new teachers and pioneering out-of-the box events – and her unique yet grounded teaching style. Her passion drives her to continue to spread and develop the Lindy Hop; her emphasis on the soul and roots of the dance. Her aim is for the Lindy Hop to be recognised for its duality: as a contemporary dance art form and as a popular Street / Club dance.
ACCESS AND AMENITIES AT SDS
Siobhan Davies Studios is mostly accessible, with lifts to all floors. There are two accessible parking spaces available on site which can be booked in advance. Blue Badge parking is also available nearby on West Square and Garden Row (for a full map visit the Southwark Council website). Our main door is power assisted.
Amenities include:
- Changing facilities*
- Communal showers*
- Toilets / wheelchair accessible toilets
- Kitchen: tea and coffee making, fridge, and microwave
- Snack Bar: We have a small selection of bars, drinks and food available to buy from the front desk.
- Shops: The closest shop is Superway Supermarket on Garden Row (4 min walk), the closest supermarket is Sainsbury’s on New Kent Road (7 min walk). We also recommend the Art Cafe which serves sandwiches, jacket potatoes and meals (3 min walk).
* Our changing facilities and showers are not fully accessible. Our closest publicly available and fully accessible changing facility is at The Castle Centre, a leisure centre 0.3 miles away from the studios. You can find full details of their features here.