A year ago, I decided almost at the last minute to go down to the Thames Festival on the South Bank in London, which turned out to be a fantastic event and one I thoroughly enjoyed. So this year, I decided to pop down again, but this time I had another agenda.
It’s often hard to pinpoint things that inspire you, less when it seems a coincidence of events can lead you to do something you never imagined you’d do. Some people might call it fate. But in most cases when some opportunities present themselves to you, you have to have a go. As I’ve mentioned in many posts previously, my first encounter with swing dance was at last year’s Thames Festival. There I spotted a Chinese girl dancing amongst the crowd, which appeared odd, since it’s not quite a thing you’d see a Chinese girl at! Anyway, I thought nothing of it then until I actually met the girl, Karen, a couple of months later at the birthday party of one of my best friends, Paloma. An invitation to another swing dance event and the rest is history.
Well, a year on, I thought, why not? If I could create karma myself, and repay all those who have inspired (or do I mean conspired) to get me dancing, I should. So I joined in with the swing dancing at the Tate Modern for an hour. I’m not sure if I managed to inspire anyone to come along to swing another time. If anything is to go by, George and Chercher didn’t seem eager to want to get into it even after seeing me when they popped by for a few minutes! But maybe I did for some others. But in the end, I feel I’ve done my bit. So I’ll just keep on swinging.
The rest of the Thames Festival was interesting. It’s an amazing sight seeing so many people enjoying the activities and goings-on on a September afternoon. Annie joined me after my dancing feet got tired and we walked along the South Bank towards the London Eye. Some of the more memorable things we saw was an art installation near the Oxo Tower, where artist Susan Baker had created a lifesized model of her – out of bread. And she then invited the crowd to "Eat Me", but only after she started the feast herself by biting off her nose!
Also by Oxo Tower were a few bands. There was one Mancunian band who played (I will try to find out the name!) an acoustic set, with the crowd sitting on the grass sipping Pimms and Champagne. A blissful sight and some beautiful music. A few of the crowd were also energetic and started their own dances (not me, I’d done enough earlier in the day!)
By late afternoon, Annie and I had walked our legs off and didn’t stay for the night carnival and fireworks, which I hear were fantastic. But it was a fun-packed day. I look forward to next year’s carnival.
Happy Birthday, Shen Lei
Last year, also in a post after my Thames Festival exploits, I wished Shen Lei a happy birthday although not because he a Manchester United fan! Well, my condolences this year, as my beloved Arsenal won against United on the weekend. But happy birthday anyway for a couple of days ago as we shared a drink down at the Coq d’Argent.
Tagged: Random London