Three pubs, 150 dancers, and 16 Morris groups: the Croydon Night of the Dance, staged in Addiscombe yesterday, was described as a “tremendous success” by one of the organisers.
And it looked like a lot of fun, as LEE TOWNSEND’s photo essay shows
A summer evening, real ales and Morris dancers. What’s not to like?
The Oval Tavern was one of three pubs near East Croydon where dance groups performed during the evening
The event is estimated to have attracted nearly 500 people, including several curious observers as well as regular pub-goers. That’s nearly as many who turned out to watch the council’s cycle race – but this didn’t cost locals £100,000…
With the event raising thousands of pounds for charities, among the interested observers were Addiscombe councillor Patricia Hay-Justice and local figure John Cheetham, pictured above.
The event appealed to fans of music and dance of all ages, with local dance academies and clog dancing groups featuring among the array
As well as the music and dance, the event was above all colourful, with the various dance groups sporting the make-up and traditional costumes.
Some of the outfits are founded in medieval folklore, associated with Morris dancers, while others appear to owe to contemporary Goth tastes and seemed just… well, spooky, as the picture taken outside The Builders Arms, above shows.
And some of the masked dancers looked entirely other worldly
This annual Croydon event was in its 12th year last night, celebrating the feast day of St Arnold, the patron saint of beer (sort of).
The event was held in aid of the NSPCC and Bloodwise, a charity specialising in supporting people living with blood cancers.
Organiser, James Denny said, “Just when we thought the Croydon Night of Dance couldn’t get any better, it just did. It was great to see so many people of all ages and from all sectors of the community turn up at see that traditional and modern forms of dance are great fun both to watch and take part in.
“The Croydon Night of Dance is one of the biggest single day events in the country and I would like to thank our team of volunteers who worked so hard to make it happen.”
In all, it provided around five hours’ worth of performances from the biggest assembly of dancers you’ll ever likely to witness. And at the end of the evening, once all the dance groups had homed in on The Glamorgan on Cherry Orchard Road, there was ample refreshment to go round for the hard-working performers, above, on one of the warmest evenings of the year.
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