Dancing During a Pandemic Special Young Dancers Page

Dancing away from home in Lisbon.

Back to real dancing again

Raphaëlle Orgeret describes how her young dancers tried to keep dancing.

When the pandemic started, we stopped everything, from March to September last year. We asked all our Lyon Branch members to send some photos, and with some clever editing from our committee members, we came up with fun videos and online classes, but no child or teenager got involved with that kind of class. They couldn’t be bothered. When it became possible, classes for younger dancers resumed, dancing with masks most of the time. We didn’t have big numbers, as no new dancers had joined, but we managed to keep our 20 young dancers dancing throughout the pandemic one way or another. We even managed to keep our dancing trip to Lisbon in July! Ten teenagers went with me to dance with the local young dancers and visit the beautiful city. We had a ball!

Dancing away from home in Lisbon

Saturday Morning Zooming

Moira Korus reports on how one childrens’ class kept their skills up.

Rosedale Kids classes in Toronto, Canada decided to go on Zoom exactly a year ago in October 2020. Our numbers are very small and there is lots of time for individual attention. In our family class, parents attend with their children in person and so it was a natural progression for parents to dance with the younger kids during our Zoom classes. Working out where the top of the set was and deciding which was the men’s side and which the ladies’ side was a bit of a challenge. Gavin Keachie, our other teacher, joined us most Saturday mornings and by the end of the year was able to put our 8-12 year olds through some quite complex dances. Our classes went from October to May, and we finished with an online ceilidh with some fabulous recitations, songs, and music performances from many of our regular dancers. While Zoom kept us together as a class for the pandemic year, I know we are all looking forward to the time we can return to the shared dance floor.

Young Dancers Virtual Fun

Malin Altenmüller of the RSCDS Youth Branch remembers how young dancers put together entries for the RSCDS Virtual Festival when they could not dance together.

The submissions for the Virtual Festival showed how dancing can be very creative and great fun, even when we could not meet together to dance. In parks, forests and riverbanks, we saw young dancers, trolls, Vikings and fairies coming together to enjoy reels and jigs, strathspeys and step dancing. Kilts and dresses, flowers and costumes came to shine in spring, midsummer and autumn. Various very imaginative ways were invented for keeping physically distant from each other: outside dancing, extra wide sets, crafted paper hands, tennis rackets and flags not only ensured safe dancing but looked great!

Deer o'Dale, Ufa, as Scots and Vikings

Lyon dancers travelled virtually far and near.

Through skilful video editing, even travelling to different places in an instant for a dance seemed effortless! With their journey to all the locations they were planning to go in 2020, Lyon Branch won the popular vote. The winners of the under 16s category were Moscow’s Deer O’Dale dancers with their beautifully danced and presented display The Scots and the Vikings. Thank you to everybody who taught, danced, filmed, edited and uploaded videos for the Virtual Festival, it’s a real joy to watch them! If you haven’t seen all the entries yet, they are still available:

https://www.rscds.org/get-involved/young-dancers/youthactivities/virtual-festival

Our Dance Teacher: Mrs Young

Gail Fraser and Emma Allsop have been dancing since they were children; here they sing the praises of their muchloved teacher on her retirement.

Teaching children for over 50 years shows true commitment, enthusiasm, love, and passion for dancing. Mrs Doris Young’s style is encouraging and supportive; she looks for perfection but in a seemingly relaxed way. She is open, honest, and forthright at times while getting the very best out of her class. Mrs Young is a remarkable lady with a heart of gold who develops such sincere relationships with all her dancers that they will always be part of her dancing family. How many teachers can say that they are still in touch with their pupils from decades ago, attending their weddings, barbecues and parties? I will always remember my Friday nights as a child in her class, where dancers make friends for life. She allows fun and chatter (Mrs Young herself has joked that sometimes you need to come armed with earplugs as it can be so noisy!), but also commands hard work. This balance of strictness and understanding is so difficult to get right, yet Doris manages it effortlessly. The children’s classes began at Airyhall Primary School where Doris taught, and Kenny her husband played the accordion, always bringing a lively bounce to the children’s step – many people today still spot the ‘Airyhall bounce’ at festivals! Doris also encourages children to play Scottish music and try it out in class. The opportunities she presents are just fantastic. The class has seen a steady stream of young dancers keeping the RSCDS spirit alive in Aberdeen.

At the Friday night class, everyone is involved. Mrs Young hooks in young dancers and gets them excited to be there. That’s no easy feat when teenagers have other options available! Yet they show up willing to dance and help the younger ones, and some of her original dancers still help all these years later, whether as a partner, or to demonstrate and be a role model. The younger ones enjoy dancing with the ‘big girls’ and aspire to their level. One little girl couldn’t wait to be allowed to stay for the second hour because that is when they do strathspey! Doris’s endearing warmth shows in the loyalty that all her dancers show her, and many of her former pupils still gladly come and dance at events when asked. From dancing in her classes as a child myself to now teaching alongside her I have learnt so many things, for which I am truly indebted, and most of her dancers feel the same way. Not only is she a dance teacher, she also really knows her children. She knows their families; their other hobbies; the subjects they are doing at school and is always on hand to offer wisdom. Doris is very involved in Guiding and the Trefoil Guild, so those girls who are also Guides have another connection with her, and Doris is more than happy to sign off their Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes for dancing.

The Lady Sempill Salver presented to Doris and her Airyhall Dancers

One of the biggest things the class works towards is the annual Aberdeen Festival. Excitement builds for this highlight in the calendar, and everyone works hard to reach the standard worthy of entering. I’m pretty sure that one evening we danced Highland Fair about 50 times through until it was perfect! I will never forget that dance or tune now! But despite the hard work she always makes it fun, and everyone gets to participate. Active on the Festival Committee, she likes to enter as many teams as she can. There must be a vast array of trophies with Airyhall/Craigiebuckler names on them. Doris is willing to travel anywhere with a team to compete, and share the joy of country dancing, such as to the dance festivals in Perth, Dundee, Newcastle, and Inverness.

Doris sees potential and encourages children to work for Medal tests. More than a thousand of her children have achieved a high standard of dancing: a record to be proud of. She has a large collection of photographs of the class, and the children love their badges and shields. In addition, Doris has supported dancers, from teenagers upwards, to attempt Dancing Achievement Awards. Prior to the assessment, Doris will adjust the front of her black cardigan, clasp her hands and say, ‘You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine’. More recently, the Youth Leadership Award has had teenagers working together to devise their own dances, overseen by Doris, and the young ones are involved too in trying out the dances. The girls learn for themselves if the dance will work: is the progression right, does the phrasing work? Without knowing it, the children are developing a deep understanding of dancing while they have fun devising dances and trying them out! We are all better for having been taught by Mrs Young and once you have been in the team there is an imaginary piece of elastic that pulls you back to dance again and again. Friday classes won’t be the same without her, and Mrs Young will be missed, but we are sure that she will still give her opinion on dancing and will stay involved with the Society. She has influenced more people than she will ever know. What talent this lady has! What a legacy she has left behind! Thank you, Mrs Young!