Published: 12 December, 2013
By OSCAR DONOVAN

MOBO and Mercury Prize winner Ms Dynamite was on hand to celebrate 35 years of fun, talent and success thanks to Hampstead’s charitable talent school WAC Arts on Sunday evening.

Ms Dynamite, whose real name is Niomi Mclean Daley, described how WAC Arts was “one of two constants” for her during a “tough” child­hood, cited in her 2002 hit single Di-Na-Mi-Tee.

Looking back on her teen years living alone in Queen’s Crescent, she told the New Journal that she was “lonely, isolated and just angry”, but took solace and strength from WAC’s weekend classes.

“They were like a second family, and they didn’t judge me,” Ms Dynamite said. “First they helped me find my confidence, and then they gave me the taste of the magic in performing.”

This is the same case for many of the 1,200 children aged 5 to 25, an overwhelming proportion of whom have disabilities or come from underprivileged backgrounds, that can now take part in the array of classes organised by WAC every week. These range from music, dance and theatrical classes for youngsters, to degree equivalent professional arts training.

Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste – who joined WAC aged 15 before studying at RADA – sent a video message of congratulations from Holly­wood which opened the show.

On the night, 120 children and young adults from these classes and courses performed in an eclectic 90-minute revue. 

Saxo­phonist Kinquaid Malik-White said WAC Arts means: “seeing my friends, progressing, having fun and doing what we want to.”

The original “Class of ’78” also enjoyed a reunion watching the current students perform, and had the honour of cutting the birthday cake.

Perry Douglin had come to WAC with a passion for dance and went on to perform on the West End before setting up his own events company. He’s baffled by the cuts to the art sector in times of austerity.

“A lot of people don’t feel it’s relevant, but it is. Organisations like WAC generate the passion and the talent without which we wouldn’t have the entertainment that is enjoyed every day on television and elsewhere,” he said.

His thoughts were echoed by WAC chief executive Celia Greenwood, who had taught Perry drama at school before setting up WAC Arts in 1978 with the help of co-founder and fellow teacher Teresa Noble. Although Ms Green­wood insisted that the party was “a celebration, not a fundraiser,” she quite rightly couldn’t resist the opportunity to highlight why organi­sations such as WAC Arts must persevere despite a harsh economic climate that saw the Arts Council withdraw its grant three years ago.

“I’m certain, that at least in my lifetime we will not be able to rely on government funding again,” she said. “Without the continuing support of the likes of the Andrew Lloyd Webber foundation we couldn’t continue to make amazing things happen.”

But it would be another ex-WAC student, Camden-based actor, playwright, director and teacher Ché Walker, who would champion the organisation and others like it in the most impressive and unequivocal terms during his video speech.

He remembered WAC as “a volcano of talent and inspiration” and rejected “this obscene ideology that tells us we have to choose between a kidney dialysis machine and drama classes”. For him, it is an imperative: “We can either invest in young people, or we can invest in prisons.”