Easter Dance

On 9th April, I went to an Easter Dance in Vauxhall, South East London, held at a venue called Hidden Club – yes, I wondered about that name, but it was literally tucked away and very difficult to find – so after asking a couple of cabbies, we were given the landmark we needed – Texaco petrol station – and the club was in a small street almost next to the station.

We arrived at 2am and when we drove down the street, my friends and I were shocked to see a very lengthy queue. Thankfully, we had our tickets but as we made an attempt to go in, we were kept waiting, due to a build up of people inside and a lack of security (well, that’s what we were told). Eventually, a security guy’s brain clicked into sensible mode and we were allowed to go in. The lengthy queue was still growing and I guess there were people there without tickets that would not be getting in.

Once inside, it was a fairly large club with two separate dance floors on the ground floor and a kind of mezzanine chill out/bar area upstairs, where we drank our first drinks and soaked up the crowd and atmosphere. I liked the crowd, sophisticated looking women/men. It was too crowded in one of the dance floors so we danced in the other one, near the entrance for more space/air.

Later we made a successful attempt to get into the other, more popular and crowded dance floor, which was playing ‘better’ music but not consistently and it was still too crowded and after one dance with a rather bulky guy who was already sweaty, I thought, intimate dancing was not a good idea!

We chilled out at the chill out area, discussing the night and came to the conclusion that this was not the best organised event considering it was supposed to be a grand Easter Dance. It was too crowded and the music was outdated, something I’ve noticed a lot when I go to dances these days. We agreed that they are old fashioned, still playing oldies 80’s & 90’s even though they are advertising all these supposedly up and coming DJs, all they do is play the same old tracks – DJ’s are not playing modern tracks. What’s that all about?

Having said all that, I was glad I went and we made the best of it. This was my first night out at a big dance for over a year...

…On 11th April, I wrote a poem:

Love to Dance

Moving in rhythm, in time
with my spirit, body and mind
allows those senses
those important vibes freedom of expression

Music beats, all around
above my head and on the ground
soothing my soul
releasing pure energy

Not just any old music though
it has to be conscious, roots
reggae or mindful R ‘n’ B
for me to get into the groove, to tune in

Space is needed, the right physical connection is crucial
preferably on an open Caribbean landscape
ideally near an ocean so the acoustics and the breeze
merge and dance with the moonlight

and the African drums’ messages are free
to travel above and underground.