3 minute read
Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Joint Dances
Lesley Ross, the secretary of Clackmannanshire branch, tells us about branches working together - to the benefit of both.
In September 2012, a few committee members from Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Branches met to discuss the possibility of running a Joint Branches Dance. We were inspired by the joint dances of East and West Lothian and Edinburgh Branches and the Fife Branches. Our aim was to pool the resources and encourage friendship between the two neighbouring branches building on our existing relationship. Clackmannanshire Branch members regularly attend the very popular Falkirk Branch Crieff Hydro Weekend in January each year whilst Falkirk members support our Summer Season dancing in Alva. We agreed some principles for the dance including: l that the event would be held in a hall that the branches did not already use for their existing dances l that we would actively encourage branch members to come along, especially those who were a bit wary of going out to social dances We decided that our first dance would be held in the Dobbie Hall, Larbert on Friday 31 May, 2013. Marian Anderson’s Band was booked and a programme compiled using popular dances suggested by the classes of both branches. We printed tickets to hand out at both branches’ classes and also contacted neighbouring branches and the wider network of country dancers. As we were unsure how many would attend, we requested on the ticket that dancers brought along “something sweet to share” for the supper table. As everyone was very generous, lots of doggy bags left the hall at the end of the evening. We had a great night dancing to the music of Marian and her band. The Dobbie Hall was well received as a dance venue, adequately coping with the 140 plus dancers and we agreed the last Friday in May was a suitable date for future dances. One of the dances included on the programme that night was Miss Frances Martin, a medley devised by Campbell Hunter. Miss Martin was Falkirk Branch secretary for 55 years and passed away in 2007. After this initial success it was decided to hold the 2014 dance once again in Larbert. This time we decided that the committee members of both branches would provide the food – Falkirk providing the sandwiches and Clackmannanshire the cakes! James Coutts and his band played for us and again a packed hall enjoyed their evening dancing to a programme of wellknown dances. For the 2015 dance we booked the Devonvale Hall in Tillicoultry. Clackmannanshire Branch had held a few of their summer dances there in the mid/late 1980’s before the Cochrane Hall in Alva became the preferred venue. Devonvale Hall has also been used over the years for Take the Floor outside broadcasts. Music this year was provided by Alan Ross and his band on Friday 29 May and another super night of music and dancing passed all too quickly with 150 dancers on the packed floor resulting in a great atmosphere. Yet another excellent supper was provided by the two committees. Falkirk Branch member, Janet MacDonald came to promote Living It Up’s campaign “A Spring in Your Step” which aims to encourage people to be a bit more active. Janet asked for volunteers to wear a pedometer for the duration of the dance with a prize for the dancer who took the most steps. Many of the dancers danced their way through more than 4,000 steps that evening with some managing more than 6,000 steps demonstrating that Scottish country dancing provides healthy exercise! More information about this can be found at: https://flourish.livingitup.org.uk/keeping-active/keeping-activeblog/blogs/scottish-country-dancing We will return to the Devonvale Hall for our next Joint Dance on Friday 27 May 2016 with music provided by Frank Thomson. After this we will we alternate the venue between the branch areas each year. We have been very pleased with the success of our three Joint Dances and would encourage other Branches to consider organising similar events.
61956-2016
