The 15th Carbon Neutral Dance took place on the 6th December 2011 to raise money for reforestation projects in our Paradise Farm project in Sri Lanka. It was set in a beautiful venue with Cuban artwork on the walls along with a great atmosphere. Entry was £15, which is the actual costs of planting and maintaining an organically grown rubber tree for 35 years, with environmental, social and economic benefits in mitigating climate change, and also creating sustainable livelihoods for poor local communities in Sri Lanka. VIDEO
This dance was even more special as it celebrated the UN International Year of Forests 2011. According to the World Bank, forests support the livelihoods for 1.6 billion people. The Carbon Neutral Dance has taken place in many other countries around the world for various global projects such as New York, Sao Paulo, Geneva and Itacare, to name a few.
We had a packed night of music and dance, started off by Mariano Ortiz and his band from Latinos in London which was then followed by a great performance from our carbon neutral artist, Milli Moonstone, who was very excited to play at the event. Viktorita Wilton from Inspiration 2 Dance gave us a short cha cha cha lesson with her partner, Maxim Pitirimov. After our lesson, we settled down to watch a wonderful film about forests; "Of Forests and Men" - by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. This was followed by a Third Sector Edge Award winning short film project made by students at Shooters Hill School about the Carbon Neutral Dance and a short film about our Paradise Farm Project. It was great and inspiring for those attending to able to see Paradise Farm on film and the work that is done there.
To end the evening, we were given a performance by Viktoriya and her partner, in a Charleston Dance, which ended the evening perfectly. It was a lovely evening with dance and music, where all guest got to take home a packet of green tea directly from Paradise Farm Project.
We hope to do more of the Carbon Neutral Dance in the near future, and for it to take off globally. It would be great if events were organized in cities all around the world to raise money for local projects and local communities. We are already planning another event in London in November and a Carbon Neutral Dance is to be organized in Mexico for December.
