Australian Winter School

35th Australian Winter School, Adelaide 2010

by Neville Pope

150 dancers, teachers and musicians gathered in Adelaide in early July for the 35th Australian Winter School. Responsibility for hosting for the School rotates through each of the seven branches in Australia and this year it was Adelaide’s turn. The theme was “From the hills to the sea – dance the Heysen Trail”, the Heysen Trail being a 1200 km walking track from the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia to the sea at Cape Jervis. The School was given a rousing introduction with Craigellachie (UK) playing for the Adelaide Branch Ball. Large numbers of interstate dancers arrived early for this appetiser. Craigellachie also provided music for the School along with Balmoral (Australia and NZ). Visiting teachers were Elinor Vandegrift (Seattle) and Jim Rae (Lockerbie). Mornings were taken up with formal classes, and afternoons with a variety of classes, meetings and two HQ Forums with both Alex Gray and Ruth Beattie (RSCDS Chairman and Chairman Elect) present. On the free day Craigellachie ran a musicians’ workshop for local and visiting musicians. Meanwhile some of the dancers visited the giant pandas at the zoo or the worldfamous wine region in the Barossa Valley. Evenings included socials, a ball, a formal dinner and a ceilidh. The Tuesday night social generated some extra inventiveness and fun as dancers were invited to “let it go to your head” and arrived in all sorts of hats and wigs. Adelaide as host city opened the ceilidh with a couple of “panda” dances to celebrate the arrival in late 2009 of the giant pandas. The final item of the ceilidh was the traditional announcement of next year’s Winter School, which will be held at Nelson Bay in the Hunter Valley from 9 -16 July. If you can make it to Australia, be sure to come for some great dancing and enjoyment. (www.scottishwinterschool.com)

Ian Muir of Craigellachie leads the musicians' workshop

Dancers at the Australian Winter School "let it go to their heads"