With glitter on their young cheeks and smiles on their faces a group of Irish Traveller children from the London suburbs of Hackney and Haringey cartwheel across the screen.
It is one of the opening scenes of Getting Out, a short educational film produced by the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit, and in the dim light of the old Rio Cinema on Kingsland High Street the children's warmth, generosity and joy is as powerful as it is passionate.
The film, launched this week, is a celebration of the creative, artistic and performance abilities of the Traveller children who attend the LGTU's weekly Girls' Night and Boys' Night for youth groups. But it is also a training tool LGTU hopes will be used by funding bodies and voluntary agencies wishing to work with the Traveller community, which is often wary of approaching statutory agencies.
Frieda Schicker, LGTU's co-ordinator, says the film gives a voice to Travellers who would not otherwise have their views expressed in permanent form.
Travellers usually pass on their traditions and culture orally, but the challenge to the children to show people "what it's like for you", Ms Schicker says, was irresistible.
The film has an energy and positive attitude that is deeply rewarding to watch. Eileen, one of the teenage girls who attends the Girls' Night group bursts with youthful enthusiasm as she describes attending Circus Space, a circus skills school in east London.
"When I went to that," she says, "I felt that I could do anything."
And when she takes part in a circus act in front of family and friends after learning how to walk the tightrope, she can hardly contain her joy: "Usually I'm watching people on television and in the movies, but for one time they were watching me."
While the girls talk enthusiastically about their dreams to become singers or find time away from the halting sites to mix with their friends, the boys talk on the film about youth group activities, like going camping or playing football.
"We lost all our matches," says Shane, and with sharp comic timing he adds: "But we got a fair play award."
There are also a few insights in the film of the racism and discrimination often faced by Irish Travellers in Britain. One young man says it was hard for him and his brother to attend mainstream school because, he says, he was beaten up for being Irish and so they stopped going.
In providing a place for Traveller children to interact and challenge each other, the LGTU, formed 13 years ago and part-funded by a grant from the Irish Government's Dion Committee, is an essential front-line service. As well as youth work, the group has an advocacy service, which puts Travellers in touch with legal representatives who can help them to challenge eviction orders.
Simone Helleren, one of the LGTU's youth project workers, says Travellers in Britain - there are about 19,000 Irish Travellers living here, although there is no widespread monitoring of numbers - have been "burnt" by years of discrimination and racism.
It is still too often the case that when Travellers move into a new area, many shops and businesses still put up notices in their windows warning Travellers they can enter only by appointment and in some cases they are not welcome at all.
Part of the LGTU's work is about challenging Traveller stereotypes and encouraging exploration of Traveller identity through art, drama and performance. "A lot of it is about getting kids to talk about who they are and what they want and establishing that strong sense of identity," Ms Helleren explains.
"The Traveller culture is essentially oral and Travellers, like other teenagers, are not spending so much time with their parents, they are much more likely to be in front of the television and there's a danger that a lot of that culture will dissipate. It's not ethnographic, it's just about a rediscovery of a very colourful, strong, interesting historical background."
To help to preserve Traveller culture, LGTUyouth groups in Hackney and Haringey will soon embark upon a series of interviews with older Travellers and their memories and stories will be preserved as images in a mosaic. But the children's hopes for the future won't be forgotten and their dreams will be captured as images of a vibrant culture still not fully embraced by the rest of society.
Getting Out is ultimately about young people showing off.
It's a bunch of kids showing off their talents, their enthusiasm and just what is possible with a little encouragement.
London Gypsy and Traveller Unit can be contacted at 6 Westgate Street, Hackney, London, €8 3RN
rdonnelly@irish-times.ie