TAC Summer School

by Donna Weidenfeller (San Francisco Branch) and Harry Andrews (Edinburgh Branch)

“Astellargroup ofteachers

" at the TACSummer School. Left to right: FredDeMarse, Mervyn Short, Pat Houghton, BillZobelandEric Finley.

“Welcome to Summer School – this is your first time!” “Yes it is – how did you know?” It was a few days before we realised that our name badges had little rosettes with “1st” on them. The week of the 39th Teachers ' Association of Canada Summer School, held this year at Bishop ’ s University, Sherbrooke, Quebec, went by very quickly. Dance classes ranging from Basic to HE (High Energy) Advanced were taught by a stellar group of teachers, Pat Houghton, Fred DeMarse, Eric Finley, Mervyn Short and Bill Zobel . Each had a unique style of teaching, pushing us to our best standard of dancing along with good humour and fun. We all enjoyed the fabulous music provided by the music staff headed by Muriel Johnstone, accompanied by Elke Baker, David Cunningham, James Gray and Keith Smith. The social dances were special in that small groups of the musicians took turns playing together, giving the dancers an opportunity to experience differing music style and instrumentation. Two were designated as “theme ” dances. The first was “Beach Party ” ; surely your imagination will give you ideas as to the various styles of beachwear that were worn. The other was a “Black and White Social” . It was fun to see how many creative styles of black and white were worn, from a conservative black dress to a tee shirt with piano keys. At all the social dances, the dances were walked through, and dancers were invited to come to the top of the set if they were uncertain of the dance - a great encouragement to all levels of dancer to take part. Even after the evening social dances ended, the party continued in the hospitality room with impromptu dancing and music, often until the wee small hours. It wouldn 't be a SCD school without a ceilidh and this was one of the best, with acts ranging from a recorder duet (but only one of the performers was in the room) to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Snow White was six feet tall and hadn 't shaved his legs). But perhaps the highlight was the “Dance of the Little Swans ” from Swan Lake, danced by Jamie Berg (this year ' s recipient of the Bob Blackie Scholarship) and Lara Friedman-Shedlov, two lovely young dancers from Minneapolis, and, errm, teacher Eric Finley and musician James Gray (in skirts!). Unique to this year was a midweek concert. We had the privilege of listening to our musicians play for us at the university concert hall where the excellent acoustics gave us the full benefit of their glorious music. We heard solos, duets, and the full band playing quite a variety of music; traditional 17th and 18th century Scottish music, as well as original pieces written by the musicians. Eric Finley was the master of ceremonies who not only paid tribute to the musicians but added his unique style of humour. It seemed everyone on stage was having a fun time and gave the audience many laughs with their antics. The afternoon schedule provided optional classes and tours and naps. The classes offered included Highland and Highland steps for Scottish country dancing, ladies step, formation focus classes, old time dancing, deviser spotlights, personal critique, teacher seminars, party dances and ball reviews. Muriel, along with David and Elke, lead a music appreciation class where they spoke about and demonstrated, “What is the music really telling you ” . The grand finale of the week was the formal ball on Saturday night. Everyone was decked out in their finery and, after a wine/sherry reception and buffet dinner, we were led into the grand march by piper Ian Aitken. Having danced all the ball programme dances throughout the week, dancers seemed better able to socialise with each other, rather than focusing on their notes. The ball ended with The Montgomeries ' Rant, the energy was contagious as the dancers were caught up in a flurry of excitement. It was indeed a grand finale! Sunday was a combined teachers ' class day; many managed to get up in time for the last chance (until next year) to dance with friends, our teachers and musicians. Finally we would like to thank Jody Williams, TAC Summer School Director, and her committee for arranging such a memorable week.