Who will be 2024’s movers and shakers?

Published on 01 January 2024

I’m sitting on the back seat of the Austin Allegro, or the ‘All-agro’ as my parents labelled our family car, exacerbated by the regularity with which it would need mechanical attention, (not the finest example of British automotive engineering). It’s the Friday night shuffle between gymnastics class and Cub Scouts. I’m 8 years old and changing, as the car lurches along a country lane, from gym gear into my Scouts uniform. The car smells of fish and chips, the kind with malt vinegar and salt, wrapped in newspaper.

Mum was driving; she always did. She also sewed outfits for the King and I production I was in and took me to guitar lessons, between washing the gym and Scouts outfits. At the time I didn’t give much thought about who was running all these classes, clubs and performances. They just happened, didn’t they?

Of course, now I’m fully aware of the effort involved in making things ‘happen’. While those early experiences weren’t the only contributing factor, I feel they began preparing me for a life-long career of event-related work in the arts. Now, in my role facilitating hires at the Memorial Hall, I’m coming across many local characters with that same sense of drive to create, entertain and educate.

Firstly, there are the hosts of a range of weekly classes: Naomi from 5 Rhythms, John from Bellingen Drama Club, Francisa from Bellingen Fuji Karate and Hayley from Mother Song. Other long-term fixtures include Kim at Bellingen Theatre Troupe, Seton and Amy from Et Tu Theatre. Then there are the impresarios who create fleeting moments of communal magic, among others: Salvatore from Taranta Festival, Astara from Fae Parade, Jade from Rivers Dance, KaiYai from Tamba Theatre and Xanthe, who at 14, was the first person to direct a play in the newly built Studio. And let’s not forget the parents, the sequin sewers, the set builders, the children’s taxi service. Hopefully they have more reliable transport than I did!

A massive round of applause to all those who made art come alive at the hall in 2023. I can’t wait to welcome 2024’s movers and shakers into Bellingen’s cultural hub.