There's a quality that defines this movement wherever you are in the world – it is the excitement and creativity that shines through our organisers. It was this thought that made me do it – after four long days of meetings at the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in Niue – we had reached the farewell cocktails and I just knew that it was time for 350.org to do something different and leave our mark on the 100 or so government/donor agency representatives, NGO participants and locals. The meeting had been important and productive to be at – albeit at times tedious. I was feeling like the meeting hadn't really grasped the excitement and need for building the 350 movement properly, so by the time of the cocktails, it was time for a different strategy: interpretive dance.
I suddenly found myself running into the middle of what was an open dancefloor, with people standing and seated all around. The sounds of Bob Marley were swaying in the background, and I began to move. It wasn't just any movement, but it was the movement like the energy and passion of a thousand organisers was thundering through my veins. I danced with the joy of what we have already achieved as a movement, and I danced fearlessly for the road that lies ahead, filled with the courage of our organisers across 188 countries.
After a time my breath fell short as I threw my body into many ridiculous and crowd-pleasing moves. Rounding the interpretive dance off with a freeze-position, I was then deafened with thundering applause, and chants of go 350.org! From that point on, everyone saw 350.org in a different light – we weren't just any old organisation anymore, but the cool kids who brought interpretive dance (and a ribbon-dance) to Niue. And that sums up the incredible movement that we have – it's creative, it's courageous and it's prepared to do things a little differently. We have to be able to dance in the face of this greatest of challenges – because it moves people. And with so much moving to be done, we must dance forward together.
So are you ready to move with us – because we'll be announcing how you can very soon!
Photo credit: Diane McFadzien