‘I love to party,’ says Yvonne Taylor as she hugs each of her friends in turn. ‘I just want to enjoy life’. Cool and laidback, Yvonne isn’t your typical pushy promoter, even though she has been organising Sunday Happy Day (SHD) for 7 years now.
LGBT London’s hottest happening, the SHD club night is known for its zany showgirls, flamboyant pole dancers, and irresistible house and soul music. Yvonne describes SHD’s home, the warehouse-like Soho Theatre Bar, as her ‘church … I always feel like I’ve found a great party [when I come here].’
SHD’s punters are an eclectic bunch. Alongside the Londoners busting their moves, you’ll find Americans, Egyptians, Spaniards and Bahamians having a blast too. Yvonne works hard to create a chilled-out atmosphere that welcomes everyone, whoever they are, wherever they’re from. For Yvonne a good party should not be ‘defined by issues like sexuality, gender and race. Just because I’m a gay woman, I don’t want to be defined by my sexuality. Many of the people that come to my events define themselves as gay, but they also bring their straight sister, brother or cousin.’
You might be surprised by Yvonne’s background. Born and brought up in Nottingham, she joined the British Army aged just 18 and started putting on events after being promoted to the rank of corporal. ‘I was being punished,’ she laughs, ‘and was sent off to some empty barracks where we decided to create our own club.’ A record collector from the earliest age, the then-Corporal Taylor had no problem enticing her colleagues onto the dancefloor.
Having a good time is ‘in my DNA’, she claims, and she’d be right. Her father was nicknamed “Party” in his younger days and her mother was a New York It Girl back in the 1970s.
Returning to civvy street in the early eighties, Yvonne carried on doing what she loved most: giving people a fantastic night out. ‘When I first came to London,’ she recalls, ‘it was a segregated community. You could only go to certain places if you were this colour or that sexuality. I wanted to change that.’ And she did, firstly as a successful DJ and now as one of the capital’s best-loved promoters.
SHD’s next party is this Sunday and promises to be Yvonne’s best bash yet!
Source – www.colourfulpink.com
