Andy Murray – The Pride of Dunblane

Ian Brockbank charts the growth of his new dance from ‘ crazy idea ’ to national news item.

Dancing in Linlithgow Courtyard Photo by Fiona Hewitt

How do you write a dance for a champion? That was the challenge John Carswell set me. That wasn ’t quite the way he put it, but it was the net result. In an email titled ‘Crazy ideas ’ he wrote, ‘Do we require a dance for Andy, and could the music for Matchofthe Day be used as a dance tune?’ I was watching Andy Murray ’ s Wimbledon semifinal, thinking he looked as if his time had finally come, and obviously so did John. I sent a jokey response, but over the weekend my thoughts kept coming back to it. The other question in my mind was ‘Why?’ I didn ’t want to write a dance only for the dancing community. If I were to create a dancing tribute to Andy, it would have to be one which could be appreciated by everyone in Scotland. Then Andy actually won, and the papers went mad. The first Scotsman to win the singles in 117 years (his brother Jamie won the doubles six years ago), the first British man for 77 years. Everyone was talking about it. I emailed John back to accept his challenge, and he suggested we premiere it at the first Linlithgow Scotch Hop of the season . . . in nine days ’ time. A dance for everyone, so a dance suitable for a ceilidh. I let the ideas mull, and gradually The Pride of Dunblane took shape. Circular for Centre Court and also to be inclusive. Lots of movement – back and forth, twiddles and twirls – to suggest Andy ’ s brilliant movement around the court, serving an ace, the incredible lob retrieval. I emailed the dance to John and we were ready. Working with his daughter Fiona, we wrote and sent out a press release, and prepared for the launch. On 17 July, nearly 400 people filled Linlithgow Palace courtyard.A photographer from The Scotsman newspaper came and went; I had given them a telephone interview earlier in the day. A photographer from the West Lothian Courier, sent along

to cover the opening Scotch Hop, couldn ’t believe his luck at such a newsworthy premiere and stayed most of the evening, eventually producing a double-page photo spread. Elizabeth Foster, RSCDS Executive Officer, and her husband attended; she too had been phoned by The Scotsman to get the RSCDS viewpoint. John put the dancers through their paces in the early dances on the programme, and then at the end of the first half the moment of truth arrived. John handed me the microphone, the floor was filled, and we were away with the very first dancethrough. Advance and retire, ladies, men, jinking and jiving and the lob retrieval – lots of smiling laughing dancers joining in with a will. It really worked! The premiere was a great success, and Elizabeth Foster, who joined in, said ‘It was great to be part of a country dancing tribute recognising Andy Murray ’ s wonderful achievement at Wimbledon. It really caught the mood of the people. I would hope to see the Murray family trying the dance out in the not too distant future. The open invitation is there!’ We put out another press release next morning which got more press interest, particularly from Deadline News, and another telephone interview. I also tried it a week later at the Dunedin Dance Festival and if anything the response was even more enthusiastic. You can see the video on YouTube, with or without the teaching at the start – search for ‘The Pride of Dunblane ’ and listen for the cries of ‘Come on!’ The dance seems to have caught the public imagination.A friend later told me someone in the pub asked him, ‘Have you heard someone ’ s written a dance for Andy Murray?’This is a great opportunity to raise the profile of Scottish dancing, possibly bridging from the wider ceilidh scene. The more people who hear about it and dance it the better, and once they ’ re involved, if they have a good time they ’ll keep coming back. Simple dances that anyone can do, interspersed with some more complicated dances, whet the appetite – as John proves week after week at Scotch Hop – and some will look for more. The dance can be freely downloaded from my website at www.scottishdance.net /dances/. Print it, dance it, share it as widely as possible, and maybe it will help to inspire a new generation of Scottish dancers. If not, at least we ’ll have fun. Come on!