Edinburgh Scottish Dancers
Edinburgh Scottish Dancers enjoyed supporting the Princes Street Gardens dancers on a sunny afternoon in July. (photo: Garry Robertson)
Edinburgh Scottish Dancers (ESD) is probably the newest club in Auld Reekie, yet despite its youth, it is on course to deliver a varied, dynamic and inclusive inaugural year of events. Formed in 2015, the high point of this year has been the three Summer Sessions held in June, July and August. Supporting emerging and inspiring talent is a key priority for ESD so we were delighted to invite Rachel Shankland, Fiona Mackie and Emma
Allsop to put us through our paces at the Sunday afternoon workshops. Robert Mackay, Andrew Nolan and Màrtainn Skene provided excellent accompaniment and continue the long tradition of live music for SCD in Edinburgh. A small grant from an external funder allowed us to trial this previously untested series at low risk. If you have a specific project planned, why not see if there is a fund that could help support it - local councils and funds specific to local areas are good places to start. Working with other groups, both dancing and non-dancing, is important to the success of any small club and we were proud to work with LOOPS Edinburgh to be part of a short video encouraging older people to #GetOotTheHoose. Although predominantly aimed at the over 60s, it was great to be able to show that SCD is a cross-generational activity and that it can be enjoyed by people of any age. Other highlights from our first year include a successful Inaugural Workshop with Margie Stevenson and Muriel Johnstone, an informative Voluntary Arts funded workshop on the evolution of formations with Ian Brockbank and Adam Brady and a team of ESDers who scooped four trophies at the Dumfries Music Festival. We were also delighted to support the Princes Street Gardens Dancers by providing a team for a glorious sunny July evening of dancing in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. ESD is grateful for a huge amount of support and encouragement it has received from dancers, musicians, teachers, supporters and funders. We’d love to hear of any events that you would like us to organise. Get in touch with us at info@edinburghscottishdancers.co.uk. In the meantime, how much do you think quadrilles have affected SCD? Find out more at our next event on 20 October, 7.45 pm in Murrayfield, Edinburgh (EH12 6EQ) with Jimmie Hill!
www.rscds.org
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