From around the world
Africa
In this issue our regular regional correspondents are joined by Raquel Fernandez reporting on Southern Europe and Joy Claridge from Australia. Thank you to all our correspondents, in particular Alan Twhigg, who is stepping down as our correspondent on the West Coast of North America. Good luck with your candidate class, Alan.
Correspondent: Terry Lynne Harris harritl@unisa.ac.za Pretoria Branch website: www.rscdspretoria.za.org Cape Town Branch website: www.scd.za.net The 51st Club (Johannesburg Branch) celebrated its 60th birthday at the The River Cabin, a beautiful venue on the banks of the Jukskei River in Muldersdrift on 10 September 2011. Ryan Nelson, the Pretoria Branch chairperson, celebrated his birthday with a Scottish-themed party at which the Branch demonstration team performed and the Scottish country dancers who were present guided the other guests through a number of dances. The team also danced at the Brooklyn Square shopping mall on St Andrew’s Day. Cape Town Caledonian Society celebrated both their 130th anniversary and St Andrew’s Night on 3 December 2011. The Caledonian Pipe Band performed and Cape Town Scottish Country Dancers gave a demonstration. The Cape Town clubs held a devisers’ workshop in January 2012. This was an opportunity for aspiring choreographers to try out a new dance on a group of willing stooges. Those attending had fun and devisers received useful feedback on their dances. Cape Town’s first fund-raising dance for 2012 took place at the Fish Hoek Club on 30 January. It was an evening of Roy Goldring dances, honouring a favourite
Tascal Junior Reelers and South Hobart Primary Reelers perform a maypole dance in Tasmania.
deviser. The programme included Under African Skies, one of several dances by Roy that were included posthumously in the RSCDS Pretoria Branch book, Many Happy Hours, and Christine Godwin’s A Twinkle in his Eye, a dance dedicated to Roy and featuring a 4-couple set and link. The Grahamstown SCD Group, while small, continues to meet and dance regularly. In the absence of teacher Val Hodgson, Jennifer Williams held the fort for nearly four months and did an excellent job of taking all the classes. Jean Black from Perth, Scotland took an excellent class for the Grahamstown Group and she and her partner attended the end of year social. After the sad death of one of the Grahamstown class students at the end of 2010, the Group was thrilled to have new students joining during the course of 2011. Four of them now dance regularly, bringing the number of dancers as a whole up to about twelve.
60th birthday celebrations for the 51st Club (Johannesburg Branch). Left to right Andrew Lloyd, Gill Lloyd, Vivienne Muller and Meg van Warmelo.
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www.rscds.org
Australia Correspondent: Joy Claridge joy.claridge@westnet.com.au 2012 will be a busy year for dancers in Australia. In addition to a full calendar of classes and socials, there will be some special events. Both Adelaide and Sydney branches are celebrating their 60th anniversaries. Adelaide is planning a diamond-themed ball. See rscdsadelaide.org.au for the date. Sydney’s celebrations include a weekend at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains on 2–4 March, an anniversary ball on 23 June and an afternoon tea dance on 25 August. The Branch has also produced a 2012 calendar featuring photos from the early days to the present. To obtain a copy, email sydney@rscds.org.au The Scottish country dance group in the Northern Territory has been invited to lead the program for Activate–NT in 2012. This is a government-sponsored initiative to promote healthy living. The group’s participation in 2011 attracted new members. Dancers from around Tasmania gathered on 24 March for a day of dance at the historic village of Ross. Tasmania Branch was proud of its Hobart junior dancers who were asked to perform a maypole dance in period costume in October 2011. The dance was filmed to provide the backdrop to the set for a local musical theatre production – Harriet James – about a young convict girl sent to the ‘Female Factory’ in Hobart in 1834. The dance was devised by teacher
