On Tuesday evening we celebrated the official opening of our wonderful new home, the Talent House. It was a chance to celebrate the spectacular space that UD share with East London Dance, a one-of-its kind creative hub on Sugar House Island, Stratford, London. The Talent House brings both organisations together under one roof to support and inspire outstanding music and dance talent.
The night began with DJ Digital Mozart soundtracking everyone’s arrival as they were offered drinks and canapés whilst looking around our stunning building.
Once everyone had arrived and the room was full, our very own Flames Collective took to the stage to perform, with local legend Ghetts and the Mayor of London in the front row to watch. The collective blew everyone away with a beautiful acapella cover of RAY BLK ‘My Hood’. After the performance, Ghetts said he “loved the way their voices gelled together” and was impressed by both the Talent House – and talent in it.
Next up the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, gave a powerful speech after being given a tour of the Talent House. He said, “It’s wonderful to see two organisations working together to be that springboard so these young people can aim for and reach the stars”. After the speech, it was time for drinks and networking whilst the Mayor of London had photos taken with UD and East London Dance.
Everyone gathered back inside as East London Dance’s Chair, Moira Sinclair OBE, began her speech, thanking all that had helped make this possible, “It’s important that we thank those funders as they invested time, energy and support and have been alongside us the whole way through”. This was followed by UD’s Chair Lord Adebowale CBE who also thanked UD’s important funders “There’s far too many people to thank in a couple of speeches” he said, whilst giving an inspiring talk on the future of the Talent House.
The next performance of the evening was from East London Dance. Their Choreographer Kloe Dean said a few words on stage and performed an amazing piece with her dance crew. After an almighty round of applause one of UD’s founding fathers, DJ Pogo, jumped behind the decks to maintain the energy and set the tone for the rest of the evening. Naturally, this was followed by more networking and drinks outside in the sunshine after an evening of excitement, inspiration and pure talent in our magnificent new home.
Our doors are now open – we look forward to welcoming you.
Words: Maria Hanlon
