Join the Keep Fit Association Festival on 11 June 2022
Since the 1950’s the Keep Fit Association (KFA) have celebrated their sterling work of bringing Keep Fit movement and dance to participants across the country. Particularly important in the celebrations are our annual festivals. Originally, and right up to the turn of the century, these were held at the Royal Albert Hall in London where demonstrations of Keep Fit Laban Dance, skipping and National Dance attracted capacity audiences.
Throughout the years the Keep Fit Association have continued to hold national festivals bringing such variety of movement and dance from across the country, via the nine regional areas that make up the KFA and including many guest items from other dance organisations. In the early days, many of the items were performed to the accompaniment of a pianist long before the onset of CD players or now ipods and Bluetooth. Times have indeed changed.
What has not changed is the connectivity and community that these festivals bring to those attending Keep Fit classes across the country. Across the years, ordinary class members have joined together to form a team going to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a scary feeling to go along to that first rehearsal or even attending an audition (this is thankfully no longer the case) followed by the euphoria of being part of that team. Great friendships are forged, weekend adventures experienced and all through a tangible common purpose. Together creating something good, the confidence boost and improvements to self-esteem is enormous, with a lifetime of positive memories made. These events create a real sense of community and rapport within classes and the Keep Fit Family right across the country – a glue that brings people together and keeps them together.
Over the years items and displays have been numerous and varied – we have seen dancing with a whole array of apparatus such as clubs, hoops and materials, amazing shapes and designs created by utilising the wonderful large space afforded to us in the Royal Albert Hall. We’ve had quirky items involving great costumes such as clowns with balls or cats, mice and blackbirds along with guest items involving wheelchair dances, ballroom and square dancing. There have been some challenging items such as that demonstrated by the Southern Counties in 1986 using skipping ropes to skip and show rope work to the very dynamic music of the Montague’s and Capulet’s. The variety has been endless and every item exciting and a joy to watch. We have seen the young and the old dance together and this continues to this day with our last festival featuring one of our oldest dancers, while our youngest dancer on stage was just six.
Our Jubilee Festival at the Royal Albert Hall was in 1977, the same year as the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and in 2022 we are celebrating our 65th year in the same year as the Queen Celebrates her Platinum Anniversary. In 1977 Prince Philip wrote to the KFA congratulating us on our work across the country, as did the then Secretary of State for Education, Shirley Williams, and the leader of the opposition Margaret Thatcher. Both recognised the vital work that the Keep Fit Association with Shirley Williams acknowledging the “substantial contribution it has made to the physical and social wellbeing of women in this country and awareness of the needs of others particularly the elderly”.
Our organisation holds these truths dear to our continued mission today and, in our festivals, we celebrate such important objectives.
Our wonderful festivals continue to this day. Whilst we have moved from the Royal Albert Hall in London to the Symphony Hall in Birmingham our displays continue to show an array and variety of movement and dance.
So, bringing us bang up to date. We are delighted to host our first festival after the challenges of recent times on 11 June 2022 in the month of many official celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Anniversary and we want you to join us. This will be a celebration of the best of Laban Dance Fitness – The Magic of Dance – A Journey through Mystery, Fantasy and Dreams. Come along and find out more about this wonderful Association and see a great show to boot. We would love you to come and experience our work. Even better, we would love you to be inspired to teach it. With that in mind, anyone purchasing a ticket and attending the festival can then seek a discount of up to 50% off our next Laban Dance Fitness Course to stand at the front and experience the joy of being a Keep Fit Association teacher. To access this offer – that’s a reduction of £75 off the course – all you need to do is purchase a show ticket and get it validated at the event at the KFA desk. Come share the joy of movement with your Keep Fit Friends.
Ticket prices are:
Adult – £30 and £36 plus box office commission of £3 per ticket
Children under 16 – £13 – box office e commission does not apply
Ticket booking options:
Online at www.thsh.co.uk
Box Office Telephone at 0121 780 3333
In person at the box office which is in the ICC foyer
Get together with your friends / family and take advantage of the following group booking savings:
Group bookings for 10 tickets
£1 box office commission per ticket (not £3) giving you a saving of £20 on the booking
Group bookings for 11+ tickets
Ticket price discounted by £2
£1 box office commission per ticket (not £3) giving you a saving of £4 per ticket (£2 ticket price and £2 box office commission)
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the Symphony Hall Birmingham – come celebrate with the KFA.
