Grand Latino Dance Party
- Apr 19, 2018
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 22, 2018
On April 14th, St Paul's Church hosted a huge party to help build a sense of community for the 7% of Weston's population who aren't British.
This is the fourth event the church has run with the aim of tackling the extreme loneliness some foreign residents feel living in such a minority. It featured performances by Flamenco Loco alongside dance instruction by Jose Bobadilla and Ben Hazell and authentic Spanish cuisine.
“When people come from another country they can feel like they don't belong anywhere. [Events like this] show them that it's ok for nationalities to mix.” Mia Nicolaides - Event organiser.
Over 250 people, originating from Spain, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, France, Taiwan, Britain (obviously..!) and many other countries, attended the evening.
A Culture of Inclusion
Other similar events run by the church have included a hog roast, tapas evening and another latin dance party. Each of these has consistently seen hundreds attend from outside of the church's regular congregation which, by itself, is already remarkable for its own diversity. According to the church staff, on a Sunday it isn't unusual to see police officers sat in the same row as convicted criminals, all coming together as one family.
This certainly seems to have been the case with the latin dance party, branded a huge success by the organisers due to having people from many different nationalities, who don't often cross paths, smiling, dancing and having a great evening out together. Let's hope some of the new found friendships stick!
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