15 minute read
Dancing around the World
All branches and affiliated groups are invited to send in their news (maximum 200 words) to Caroline Brockbank caroline@ceilidhkids.com
Ashill Scottish dancers – Somerset Branch
At the Ashill Scottish dancers we enjoyed our 1st Birthday Party and dance on 11 January. We were well supported by other dancers in the area and we all had a wonderful evening with a bring and share supper, a special three-tiered celebration cake made by one of our members, and lots of dancing. The group is led by our teacher Anita Wilson, and we have up to three sets every week and are continuing to attract new members. We are all looking forward to another year of dancing and fun. Anita Wilson, RSCDS Somerset
Ashill’s First Birthday
BASCDancers, Buenos Aires
The last three months of 2019 were full of excitement for the BASCDancers. In October we held our third Scottish Halloween Party. We had two Scottish visitors, Jim Stott and Anne McArthur, and that allowed for an international jury for our fancy dress parade. Jim was kind enough to stop his holidays and teach us a couple of workshops on technique; he joined us in a beginners’ class in which he focused mainly on technique and we also had great fun dancing together. The more advanced dancers had a workshop where we not only polished technique, but tried a couple of newly devised dances as well. The dancing and rowing day at the Delta was a success, this year with a practically full house of 30 dancers! Preparations for the IB Buenos Aires workshop 2020 are on the way and so Michael Plumley and Jan Jones met us in December for meetings on organization and logistics. Michael and Jan are doing a great job and all BASCDancers are really thrilled with this event. We look forward to meeting some of you in September here in our city. Marcela Galve
Cheltenham Annual Ball
We are lucky in Cheltenham to have two magnificent venues with floors built for dancing. As the Pittville Pump Room was not available this year, we rediscovered the delights of dancing in the Town Hall. Pipe Major Sandy Walker welcomed the dancers and, accompanied by the band, heralded the start of the dancing. Dancers from across the South West and beyond danced with verve and enthusiasm to the inspirational music of Nicol MacLaren and the Glencraig Band. During the interval a light supper was served in the Pillar Room. We had a super programme, both accessible and full of much loved dances. It was social dancing at its best! Fiona Knee and Jennie Hawdon
Edinburgh St Andrew’s Day and Global Youth Week
We had a fun weekend of events to celebrate Scottish dancing in Edinburgh as part of St Andrew’s Day and Global Youth Week. Edinburgh Branch, working together with CeilidhKids, Edinburgh University New Scotland Country Dance Society and Dunedin Dancers aimed to get lots of people dancing, no matter what their age or ability. Friday evening was great fun at our easy dance with a good mix of ceilidh and country dances. We had fantastic music from Ewan Galloway and his Scottish dance band. Fortunately, the simple programme and great music kept everyone on the dance floor as the temperature in the hall was slightly chilly. The heating in the hall was no match for the coldest night of Autumn and Saturday morning dawned with a heavy frost. The children enjoying dancing at CeilidhKids were undaunted, but the Mums, Dads and Grandparents all kept their hats and coats on to dance! Next up were the slightly older children, too cool for dancing with Mum and Dad and enjoying meeting new friends and new experiences away from their regular class.
Our taster session for new beginners drew an international audience with a Japanese teacher and new dancers from Germany, China and South America as well as those more local to Edinburgh. They all quickly got the hang of our steps and learnt lots of ceilidh and simple dances ready to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. The workshops ended with our more advanced dancers enjoying a class with Deb Lees. The weekend culminated with The Dunedin Assembly. It was a great way to celebrate St Andrew’s Day with friends, good food and an evening of dancing to lively music from Dave Hall and his Scottish dance band. Elizabeth Harry
Falkirk Branch
Once again, the third week in January saw over 300 people from all over the UK arrive at Crieff Hydro for Falkirk Branch’s 27th Annual Weekend. With two country dances running at the same time (one called and one uncalled) and a ceilidh, there was something to suit everyone and the dancers enjoyed wonderful music from three top bands led by Gordon Shand, Marian Anderson and David Oswald. The dancers received expert guidance in classes during the day and at the called dances at night from the teachers, Janet Johnstone, Agnes Leighton, Angela Young and Sheila Bain. Among the many highlights was a concert on the Saturday afternoon given by Gordon and Ailsa Shand’s hugely talented children, Clelland, Inver and Blythe, with Stuart Oswald on drums. They played a lovely selection of tunes as well as providing the music for a demonstration dance, The Lea Rig. To see these young world-class musicians performing was hugely encouraging for all, but particularly rewarding for Falkirk Branch who had contributed £2,500 to enable Gordon to bring the world-class accordion teacher, Frederic Deschamps, to Scotland. He ran a one-week master class course in October 2018 for nine of our country’s most promising young accordionists. Another hugely successful weekend. George B Stevenson
Hamilton (Ontario) Branch
On 5 October, 40 enthusiastic dancers from Ontario and New York attended a Fall workshop in Hamilton, Ontario. The coordinator of the workshop was J’ina Middleton and classes were taught by Claire Collier of Lewiston, New York, and Robert McOwen from Boston, Massachusetts. Lively music was provided by Laird Brown and Dan MacDonald. Participants were divided into two classes for the morning sessions. They joined together for a delicious lunch and an afternoon class. More dancers came to enjoy the afternoon Tea Dance. A great day was had by all! Diana McKenzie
Leicester Branch
Leicester Branch held their Annual Charity Dance in February in aid of Medical Detection Dogs. MDD trains dogs to detect serious illnesses such as Cancer, Parkinson’s and Diabetes by smell. This enables people to be diagnosed much earlier and treatment can then start before it is too late. The dance was well supported; dancers were very generous buying raffle tickets and putting money in the charity boxes. Money was also collected at the Branch weekly classes. Chairman Keith Oughton met with Wendy Coley, the local representative of MDD, to present a cheque for £360. Neil McLaren
Keith Oughton and Wendy Coley
Moscow Branch
The Moscow Branch Spring School in Kazan in May 2019 became a really international event. Dancers from different cities of Russia, France and Germany enjoyed the classes taught by Gábor Tury, Ron Wallace, and Deryck Mitchelson and admired the music of Ian and Judith Muir. We expect the event to be even more international this year in St Petersburg, followed by Spring Fling and Fringe 2020. The SCD Festival and Highland Dance Competition are in the programme too. The traditional Burns virtual flash mob, first suggested by Saratov dancers two years ago, continued this year with The Lea Rig. Groups from Saratov, Yaroslavl, Novosibirsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Zheleznogorsk, Kirov, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Moscow, and the participants of Cheboksary Burns Festival posted their dances online. York Branch danced it as well, which brings us to an idea to make the event international next year. We plan to suggest the dance in the October Issue. Maria Tsvetoukhina
The Scottish Fest in Saratov in September
Ribble Valley Branch
Ribble Valley held their inaugural dance in August 1994, welcoming around 80 dancers to a packed Grimsargh Village Hall. In August 2019 we celebrated our 25th Anniversary with a Summer Ball at Plungington Community Centre, Preston, with over 70 dancers present. Ribble Valley Branch was the inspiration of Ken and Lavina Morris. They cut the 25th Anniversary celebratory cake along with founding members. The Ball programme had many dances from the inaugural dance programme with six dances written by Ribble Valley members including two published by the RSCDS and one written specifically for the occasion – Silver Celebration by Jill Burrows. Ribble Valley Branch is still thriving with over 70 members and new members still joining. Sandra Lloyd
Queensland Branch
Queensland Branch held its closing St Andrew’s Social on 23 November, planning to start again on 28 March after our hot summer months. The social, with Bruce and Bayden Mitchell playing, was a great success, with up to five sets on the floor, including a number of beginners given support by more experienced dancers. An innovation was the inclusion of a workshop for our Queensland Teachers’ Support Group (QTSG) before the St Andrew’s Social. This group has been operating for a number of years, providing guidance to teachers at the twenty clubs and classes within the state. However, the tyranny of distance (Queensland is more than seven times the area of the UK) resulted in sessions being poorly attended. Having this QTSG session before a significant social certainly improved attendance. Those attending each brought six dances to be considered for inclusion in the forthcoming March Social; dances were selected for the occasion and details of their presentation were discussed. In response to the recent publication of Thirty Popular Dances Volume 2 our Branch has circulated the list to all its members, suggesting that clubs incorporate them in their socials, and as an encouragement to dancers to travel to socials further from home. Bryan Hacker
Saitama Branch
Kasukabe Sugar Candies, one of the groups in Saitama Branch, celebrated its 15th anniversary on 5 and 6 October in Nikko. The group invited two musicians from Scotland, brothers Luke and Adam Brady. Five years ago they were invited by the same group in February. It was unusual that it snowed in Saitama area then. This time, people worried about a typhoon, but fortunately it was nice weather! About 160 dancers (including some from England and Canada) enjoyed the Welcome Dance and Anniversary Ball on Saturday, and Farewell Dance on Sunday with marvellous music played by Luke on accordion and Adam on piano. At the Ball, Peter Marshall, who has been a companion of the group for many years, presented a new dance, City of Wisteria, with music composed by Luke. A piper came through the forest by the hotel on Sunday morning, and the social gathering after the Ball reminded us of Summer School in Scotland. At the end of the dancing, we sang Auld Lang Syne and hoped to see each other again. That was a dreamy weekend! Momoyo Suzuki
Seattle Branch
Seattle Branch held its annual Burns’ Night celebration, a well-attended event open to the public. The audience was treated to witty toasts: to the Immortal Memory, to the Lassies and Laddies, and to the Queen. The formal program also included a highland dance performance by two greatgranddaughters of the late Margaret Allan, a long-time Branch member and supporter. Dancers then enjoyed a full evening of dancing, with a program designed to include all levels. Young and old alike, the group filled the floor, joyfully dancing to the music of pianist, Guinevere Saenger, and fiddler, Margaret Hannahs. Bill Wicheta
Seattle’s Burns’ Night
Shiftin’ Bobbins Social Group – Toronto
Tickets sold out a month before the 6th St. Andrew’s Dance on 24 November with dancers of all ages celebrating the group’s tenth anniversary and recognising three teachers who gained their certificates in ‘the class of 1979’. Dancers heard that two of the three, Kathleen Kynoch and Jean Noble, were in on the secret that Jean Hamilton was to be the surprise Guest of Honour. Kathleen Kynoch was recognized for her mentorship in the Toronto area Branch classes and participation in the prizewinning East York demonstration team, under the late Bob Millar. Jean Noble spoke warmly of all that ‘Mrs Hamilton of Eaglemount’ accomplished over 40 years and how her Scroll of Honour was earned. An overwhelmed Jean Hamilton thanked everyone. Following anecdotes of Jean’s attention to detail, legendary hospitality, and ability to consume an entire box of chocolates in place of dinner before receiving her Scroll at the RSCDS AGM, she was presented with a crystal vase from the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow. The evening continued to the music of Laird Brown and Scotch Mist. Shiftin’ Bobbins and its companion group ‘The White Cockade’ of Hamilton are proud to be affiliated with the RSCDS Jon Allen-Friend
Dancing weekend in Tallinn
On 6-8 December, Scottish music once again sounded in the capital of Estonia. Intertwined with Christmas tunes, Scottish music came from the open windows of the Writers’ House. For the third time, hospitable Estonia opened its borders for two streams of dancers – from the west and from the east. It is no secret that many Europeans are cautious about travelling to Russia and not all Russians have the opportunity to attend the European weekends. Tallinn weekends, due to their location and hospitality, became a place where you can not only dance with old friends, but meet new people from neighbouring, but slightly different cultures. This year’s tradition was supported by dancers from Finland, Germany, Russia, Belarus and the UK. Patrick Chamoin and Vladimir Garbuzov were the teachers, and Anna Kovaleva brought the magnificent concert grand piano to life at the classes and evening dances. We are looking forward to next year, and the next meeting in Tallinn. Vladimir Garbuzov
Tokai Branch
At the beginning of the Olympic Year of 2020, Tokai Branch organized its Annual Weekend School in Numazu, in the beautiful environment at the foot of Mt. Fuji in March. The Branch teachers offered classes full of variety: social class, funny SCD, DAA prep class, freshman teachers’ class by teachers who had just passed Unit 5 the year before. We had a fun ceilidh at night, and a farewell social dance in the afternoon of the second day. 80 participants enjoyed the spring weekend event. In May, we are planning the DAA Assessment for the Advanced Level. We offered the first DAA (Intermediate Level) in 2016, and this time we are organizing the Advanced Level workshop and the assessment. We hope that it will contribute to advancing the dancing level of Japanese dancers. Yoshiki Oyama
Tokyo Branch
On 8 November ‘Scotland Night’ at the Waseda University Intercultural Communication Center took place. International students from Scotland introduced their culture and history, and The Japan-Scotland Society gave a lecture on Gaelic. After that, the Tokyo Branch introduced Scottish country dance with a demonstration of The Bon Viveur, then enjoyed ceilidh dancing with about 100 participants including students from various countries, children, and neighbours of the university. 90 minutes passed in a friendly atmosphere with a large circle of dancers. Finally, everyone sang Auld Lang Syne to the bagpipes. This song has Japanese lyrics and is a famous song that any Japanese person can sing. This event was a good opportunity for young people around the world to know about SCD. Yumiko Kosugi
Toronto Branch – on TV!
Anne with an E is a Canadian TV drama series based on the novel, Anne of Green Gables. In one of the episodes (Series 3, Episode 6) there is an old-fashioned barn dance. There was a casting call for people who knew traditional Scottish dances. Several Toronto members responded, so we found ourselves on the set of the CBC TV series. We spent two days in an old barn filming a traditional 1899 barn dance. We had to be properly attired, the men in trousers, suspenders (braces), vests (waistcoats), jackets and ties; and the women in long skirts, corsets, crinolines, and blouses. There were two dozen of us, so it took quite a few hours to get into the costumes. Then the hairdressers went to work with hairpins and lots of hairspray. The ladies all had their hair pulled up or back into buns. No make-up was applied as this was 1899 after all. This resulted in an eight-minute scene of dancing. It is amazing how much effort goes into making eight minutes of film. However, the film really captured the delight and excitement of a dance. It looked like a fast-paced fun evening. The cameras focused on the main characters and their actions. As dancers, we were simply background extras flitting in and out of scenes. As the dancing scenes move very quickly and with so much happening, it is difficult to recognise anyone. The days were typically seventeen hours long, including travelling time. But the work itself was not too taxing and we were treated well and we can claim to have rubbed shoulders with the real actors. It was most certainly a lark! The series is on the CBC GEM streaming service and Netflix. Louis Racic
Wyre Forest SCDC – Bewdley, Worcestershire
Congratulations to Ken Thompson who celebrated his 90th birthday in September. We held a birthday party dance class in his honour. Our teacher had planned a themed programme of dances including Ken’s favourites, his love of Edinburgh and walking, as well as those to do with 90 or a link to Ken! We welcomed Ken’s friends from the Hagley dance club and enjoyed an American supper with Pat’s delicious birthday cake. Ken has been an active member of our club for over 13 years and was presented with theatre gift vouchers to celebrate reaching his 9th decade. Still dancing at 90 – what an achievement! Julie La-Borde
MAGAZINE EDITOR
This issue of Scottish Country Dancer is the eleventh and final one to be edited by Jimmie Hill. It makes him the longest serving editor, but Jimmie’s contribution to the magazine has been far greater than that. It was Jimmie who persuaded the Management Board to start a members’ magazine in 2005, and since then he has been central to its production. If not editing, he has been on the Editorial Board and contributing articles. His knowledge of publishing, the history of SCD, and the characters who have shaped the Society have been invaluable in developing the magazine, which is still today the principal means through which Coates Crescent communicates with individual members. We all owe Jimmie a huge ‘thank you’ for the ideas, inspiration and sheer hard work he has put into the magazine. Fortunately, Jimmie is not going far. He is a member of our recently-formed Research Group and I am sure he will be writing for the magazine in future. Andrew Kellett, Chairman
