Glamour in Streatham

Posted on July 2, 2013

“The Glamour Days” is the theme for the 2013 Streatham Festival, with events from tea dancing and tango-inspired aerial performance to a 1940s-themed Blitz party. Running from July 11 to 14, the festival celebrates the London borough’s people, architecture, arts and heritage.

The flagship event, held on July 13, is the “Uncommon Afternoon” on Streatham Common. It includes the Ragroof Players’ Shall We Dance? Encore! a stylish dance show inspired by memories of the dancehall era, followed by a community tea dance. Wired Aerial Theatre perform the tango-inspired Rosa’s Bar, mixing dancing and acrobatic trickery.

There will also be a vintage fair, workshops, children’s activities and gourmet food. In the evening, Swing Patrol will host a South London Blitz Party, with swing dance classes, vintage stalls and a hairdresser on site to help you with the perfect 1940s hairdo. See www.streathamfestival.com for details.

Picture: Ragroof Players. Photograph: Matthew Andrews

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.