Older people with little or no previous dancing experience are being invited to take part in a project around the spectacular Tall Ships Festival coming to Royal Greenwich in September.

The project is being developed out of weekly performance classes being held at Greenwich Theatre in Crooms Hill with partners from the Montage Theatre Arts charity based at The Albany in Deptford.

“We saw it advertised and decided we’d love to get involved,” said Montage’s Anna Brown, who runs the classes. “We went for funding and the great news is that we have just had it confirmed. We’re calling it ‘One Sea, Many Seascapes’ and we’ve already come up with a few ideas at the group I run on Thursday afternoons.

“We’ve got some dances in the making about what the sea and the seaside mean to us and we’re looking to get lots of older people, as many as 50, involved in creating dances to perform during the Tall Ships event.”

Royal Greenwich is planning five days of activities based around the regatta from September 5-9 when up to 50 majestic ships will arrive for the festival. The dances will be featured at three or four pop-up performances at sites along the river and hopefully in Greenwich Park.

“People can be involved in one, two or all of them,” said Anna. “We should have about 15 in our group already so they will make up the core of the team. There will be an introductory workshop on Friday, September 5, on the stage at Greenwich Theatre, then two more rehearsals over the weekend.

“It’s about trying to do something creative together and really enjoying the experience. The Tall Ships are fabulous so it’s all really exciting.”

James Haddrell, Greenwich Theatre’s artistic and executive director, said: “The festival will be a fantastic celebration of Royal Greenwich’s iconic position on the Thames and we are set to play our part.

“Older people who get involved in the free dance workshops don’t need any experience, just a willingness to get involved, meet new friends and enjoy being part of a performance. We recommend 55+ but it's open to anyone who considers themselves to be an older person.”

For more information or to sign up to take part in the free project, contact Montage Theatre Arts on 020 8692 7007 or email office@montagetheatre.com. For more information about the festival programme go to www.royalgreenwich.gov/tallships.