Half Term WAIT Workshop
Lancaster Gate, London W2
18th February 2008

On 18th February 2008, twenty-two WAIT members gathered from all over London to attend a one day workshop organised by Marshall de Souza.  The aim of the workshop was to re-inspire the members and to give them an opportunity to practice together and create new material for future performances. 

Some members practiced their public speaking skills by giving reports on activities they had taken part in themselves, i.e. the WAIT Club in Dagenham, Junior WAIT in North London, Break Dance sessions in Central London. Farhad Nikayin led an interactive session based on “The Naked Truth” speech by American Lakita Garth. Marshall outlined a strategy for the year ahead to give the members a clearer understanding of WAIT’s goals and vision, with specific tasks being assigned to individuals who wished to take more responsibility. We also welcomed two new WAIT members: Dania and Solange.

Finally the groups presented their new dances for each other.  A lot of energy and effort went into the performances and it seemed everyone was impressed by what the others could come up with in such a short period of time! By a pleasant coincidence, we received a visitor towards the end of the workshop.
Andrew Boyd from Emmanuel Church, West Dulwich (where the WAIT team performed on World AIDS Day) appeared with his young son since he heard about the workshop. He expressed his desire for WAIT to collaborate with his church community in order to help educate youth in the area. 

We are very grateful to our “aunties” (Naomi Sato, Mena Lall, Annette Ormond and Keiko Shaw) for preparing a delicious lunch for us!  Below are some pictures that were taken on the day.