It’s the first of the month, which means one thing, it’s time to hear all about the #FriendsatSTH this June! We can’t wait to fill the building with music and continue supporting our community with our Local Lounge project. Keep reading to find out more.

Big Events in our Assembly Hall 

One-Drum Foundation: Festival of Highlife

1 June

One-Drum are back after a successful show last year! Featuring a line-up of talented musicians and soulful singers performing Afrobeat Highlife Jazz, alongside energetic dancers, Festival of Highlife is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the captivating sounds of Africa. Find out more by clicking here.

Town Hall Tea Dance

17 June

A Shoreditch Town Hall classic! Once a month we invite you to join us for a cuppa, a slice of cake and to relive those Tea Dance memories in our magnificent Assembly Hall. New dancers, group parties and all ages are welcome, and a Beginners’ Dance Class led by former world champion, Raymond Root takes place before every dance. You can book on our website by clicking here.

Supporting our local and artistic community

Local Lounge 

Until 28 June

This month we are continuing with our Local Lounge project where we open our Front Room space for FREE for the local community to use. The space can be used for meetings, social events, creative workshops, training sessions and more, and is open to grassroots, charities, not-for-profit organisations or creative individuals based in Hackney. So far, the space has been used for the East End Women’s Museum oral history workshops, Reason2Heal workshops, empowering black men over 50 in mental wellbeing and Museum of London Archaeology & Eyes4Positivity heritage engagement workshops. Due to the success of the pilot project, we have added additional dates in July! The deadline to register your interest is Monday 17 June. Find out more about our Local Lounge by clicking here.

BollySass R&D

17 – 21 June

Kaajel Patel joins us this month with her dance troupe, BollySass to develop a new work. Kaajel’s choreography seamlessly blends elements of Bollywood, cabaret, burlesque, and semi-classical Indian dance. Her creative vision is driven by themes of sensuality and ferocity. Through her work, she aims to facilitate liberation and narrate the stories of South Asian women, crafting contemporary mythology through the mediums of dance, poetry, and painting. You can find out more about BollySass by clicking here.

Artist Workspace

Ongoing

Our Made in Shoreditch: Artist Workspace initiative continues this month as we support artist development and the creation of new live performance. You can book a desk space for a day or week at a time, benefiting from a dedicated and safe communal working environment, interaction with other artists, and advice sessions with Town Hall staff. Find out more and book a desk by clicking here.

Want to hear more about opportunities for artists and creatives?

For first access to all of our artist-focused opportunities, such as discounted space hire, ticket offers, creative workshops and more you can sign up to our Artists’ Mailing List by clicking here

Workshops

Theatre RE: Monthly Training Class

9 June

Occurring monthly since September 2021 in partnership with Shoreditch Town Hall, Theatre Re‘s Sunday professional classes aim to support professional, semi-professional, recent graduates and performers-in-training in their regular practice with monthly day-long training sessions with a community of like-minded creatives – Led by Theatre Re Director Guillaume Pigé and other members of the company. Find out more and book on our website by clicking here.

Marawa’s Majorettes

Weekly

Marawa’s Majorettes make everyone fall in love with hooping! They’ve become a leading fitness team and international performance troupe, teaching the world to hoop as they go. Every week we support the Majorettes in giving them space to rehearse at Shoreditch Town Hall. Find out more about them by clicking here.

Supporting young people

Ministry of Stories: Speak Up

12 June

Speak Up is Ministry of Stories‘ long running speech writing project. Over 9 weeks, local Hackney Year 9 students work with Ministry of Stories facilitators to craft speeches to deliver in front of change makers, and they will hold the final event of this term at Shoreditch Town Hall. Each student gets to speak up on the subjects that matter to them to the people who can make real change. You can read more about the last Speak Up event they hosted at STH by clicking here, or find out more about Ministry of Stories by clicking here.

Tower Hamlets Arts + Music Education Service Events 

THAMES Celebration Concert

24 June

The THAMES Celebration Concert will feature a range of ensembles from across their annual programme of primary music making including various instrumental groups, their Children’s Choir and the THAMES Awards Orchestra. You can book tickets for this event by clicking here.

Songs That Move Us

25 June

Songs That Move Us takes dance as the central theme, exploring how the different rhythms and beats in songs inspire us to move as well as to sing. This sharing performance will feature around 250 children from Tower Hamlets primary schools performing English and Bengali songs and dances learned and created during the project. This project is a collaboration between THAMES, South Asian dance company Akademi, classical singer Jessica Summers and British/Bangladeshi singer Sohini Alam with members of her band Khiyo. Find out more by clicking here.

Exchanging Notes

25 June

This concert will feature young musicians from Tower Hamlets Youth Orchestra and Stepney All Saints Steel Pan Ensemble. It will also see the culmination of two partnership projects – Lights, Camera, Score in partnership with Little People Big Noise in which students have composed their own score to an animated film; and Exchanging Notes, in partnership with Grand Union Orchestra where 100 young musicians from Tower Hamlets secondary schools, THAMES Wind Band and Soundbox inclusive ensemble will premiere their newly devised piece inspired by the diverse musical cultures of Tower Hamlets. You can book tickets for this event by clicking here.