Moving East – going with the flow

Moving East in Stoke Newington. Photograph: Jessica Loeb

Hackney can be loud, dynamic, hectic and lively. Sometimes it’s necessary to take a break from the world outside and go someplace where you can find respite from the daily grind.

In the heart of Stoke Newington lies Movingeast, a centre of dance and martial arts serving the professional and local community. Here is a place where residents and performers alike can nurture mind, body and soul.

The centre consists of a light and airy space with a state of the art dance floor. Professional dance artists and companies hire the studio during the day (from 9am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday and Sundays) and the rest of the time the space is open to the community.

Current classes include aikido (a modern, non-competitive martial art), judo, contact improvisation and a combination of aikido and the kenjutsu (sword technique) of Kashima no Tachi. Yoga classes will also be added to the programme soon.

In January of this year, Movingeast director Paul Douglas was awarded the aikido rank of 6th dan, placing him among the highest ranked instructors in the UK.

At Movingeast Paul teaches the popular Ken & Aikido class – a fusion of aikido and Kashima no Tachi, one of the oldest surviving schools of Japanese swordsmanship with a 500-year history. It sounds dangerous but fortunately, as it requires a great deal of practice and skill to use a real sword, the classes are taught in a controlled manner with students practising with wooden swords and leather-covered bamboo swords.

“A lot of Japanese sword schools have become very formalised and ceremonial and very prescriptively choreographed,” says Paul. But at Movingeast, the classes are about reviving the ancient sword school and making it more spontaneous.

The space has seen numerous famous dancers and performers pass through its doors, such as Hofesh Shechter (named “dance’s most explosive choreographer” by The Guardian) and dance phenomenon the BalletBoyz. But Movingeast opens its doors for all, says Paul.

“Beginners and newcomers are welcome. We have female and senior practitioners and quite a number of dancers who are also martial artists, which is quite unusual.”

When the centre first opened in 1999, Movingeast was one of the ‘pioneering groups’ in this area. Since then, a lot more community-based art organisations and projects have opened up in the area, particularly yoga and smaller dance spaces.

But it’s not just Hackney residents that come to Movingeast. “I have one student who comes all the way from Surrey and another from Richmond. But many people are also within walking distance,” says Paul.

Movingeast aims to help people achieve creative development and self-empowerment through reflection, inquiry, cooperation, respect and self-discipline. With a tranquil setting at St. Matthias Church hall and a dedication to somatic practices, it does just that.

Movingeast
St Matthias Church Hall
Wordsworth Road
(junction of Belgrade Road)
Stoke Newington
N16 8DD
020 7503 3101