Remembering The Friday Tea Dance
Friday’s at Hamptons used to be special, there was a buzz about the place. It was the start of a weekend of social activities including the Friday Tea Dance, weekly social dances by the dance groups, and dinner dances and parties organised by the club. Now it’s a day that the Clarion Gate residents dread.
Tea Dancing For More Than 20 years
The Friday Tea Dance was a long established activity vital to a great many of the elderly residents and club members, and for some was their only real social contact every week.
For many in our community, especially those who are aged 60+, Hamptons/MASC was synonymous with dancing. The Tea Dances had been running for at least 20 years. The dance floor in the main hall is probably the largest and best sprung dance floor in Essex? Now it’s used for prayer on Fridays, and Saturday and Sunday by the madrassah.
The Health benefits Of Dancing
The Centre for Policy on Aging has published a report which reviews the international evidence for the health benefits of dancing for older people. Exercise programmes for older people commonly experience high drop-outrates. Dance, on the other hand, is an enjoyable and sociable form of exercise where participants report very high levels of motivation.
And you’ll no doubt remember that the Chelmsford Muslim Society promised us a venue that would focus on health and fitness, what we got was a mosque and madrassa, that offers little in the way of leisure activities for older residents.
The Friday Tea Dancers at Hamptons, strutting their stuff.
MESSED AROUNd THEN FORCED OUT
We first reported on our concerns about the dance groups being forced out in late 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, and here was Hamptons response.
So when the dance restrictions were lifted after the second Covid lockdowns in 2021, the Friday Tea Dancers were expecting to quickstep straight back in on a Friday.
But then the excuses started, like you can’t come back just yet, we need the main hall for the Summer School. Then it was you can’t come back as we need to use the main hall for prayer, as the “community rooms” aren’t finished. Then it was you can use the main hall after prayers finish, then maybe you’d like to move to another day. Friday Prayers take priority !!
In the end, the organisers cut their losses, and moved to the Millennium Centre, where they were welcomed , and looked after. The Jive Club, Bam Bam Boogies, The Modern Dance Section and Salsa never returned to Hamptons either.
The Friday Tea Dancers at the Millennium Centre
The ill fated Wednesday Tea Dance
Losing the Friday Tea Dance, not only cost Hamptons £30k a year in lost revenue, but it was a PR disaster for them. So they launched a rival Tea Dance on Wednesdays. But it was poorly attended, and not weekly, as Hamptons reserved the right to use the main hall for more lucrative bookings if any appeared. It lasted about 6 months.
The biggest and best sprung floor in Essex, now gets danced on for 2 hours a week: