Saying Goodbye to Rachel
“BLINK you mean the world to me / helped me be the best I can be / We’ve been up and we’ve been down, / made magic all over this town”
We are saying a very sad goodbye to BLINK Co-Director, Rachel Gildea, as she steps down from her role for pastures new. Rachel joined us way back when we were working on our debut show, FOUR CORNERS, as an Artistic Enabler and Supporting Performer, and quickly became a core part of our growing company. In 2017, she joined the Co-Director team alongside founders Vicki, Delson, Francis and Kat, and there are no words to describe the impact she has made (although we’ve given it a try!).
Rachel and the BLINK Co-Founders on tour with FOUR CORNERS
The BLINK Co-Founders ask Rachel to become a Co-Director
“Rach is a passionate disruptor of unfair systems, masterful energiser (even on just a few hours sleep and only coffee for fuel), thoughtfulness personified and an uninhibited creative firefly. To say we will miss Rachel is an understatement, for some time we will feel like we have lost a huge part of us. But we are so grateful to have had her for a whole decade and the foundations she has built will have lasting impact to both those who have and haven’t met her.”
As a Director-Performer, Rachel co-created our shows GIRL MEETS BOY, ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS and BEAT-FLYS whilst also producing the tours, liaising with venues and bringing our disabled-led work to new audiences across the country. She balanced this creative work with her role of overseeing our finances and fundraising, playing a central role in our joining the Arts Council England National Portfolio in 2023 and receiving multi-year funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
“Rachel is amazing to work with as a BLINK Dance Theatre Co-director. She is cool and fun and kind and I will miss Rachel lots as she let me stay at her house! I wish her the best with her family and projects.”
The BLINK Co-Founders, Vicki, Delson, Francis and Kat, played ‘Memory Charades’, while Rachel guessed what part of her time at BLINK they were acting out.
Co-Director Delson Weekes shared a dance, which led to an impromptu duet, to Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ to say thank you to Rachel at our Summer Picnic.
Our staff team, freelancers, Board members and volunteers came together to say thank you to Rachel at our Summer picnic in July, celebrating our time together with memories, games and songs, including a rap Rachel wrote about what BLINK means to her. While she’s no longer part of our core team, Rachel joins our family of BLINK supporters cheering us on from the sidelines.
Thank you Rachel for everything you have done for BLINK over the past decade! Your lasting legacy will continue to inspire us, drive us to be the best we can, and encourage us to bring joy and creativity into everything we do.
“BLINK has got so much to share, / Shows to make, new ways to care / I’m excited for what the future will hold, / I’ll treasure our memories like precious gold!”
