News from Coates Crescent Mike Greenwood Elections to management posts Nominations have closed. Elections will be held for some positions. Details of the candidates are available on the website.
Teacher Training - Unit 1 Examination date change In February 2017, the Unit 1 examination date will change from the second Saturday in February and October to the first Saturday in February and October. The new dates are as follows: 4 February 2017 and 7 October 2017; 3 February 2018 and 6 October 2018. For more information please email Julia Parr at: Julia.parr@rscds.org
Branch and Member feedback into the Business Planning Strategy Earlier this year branches were invited to provide feedback on the proposed Business Plan strategy for 2017-2020. Over 60 branches (nearly 40%) from around the world and eighty individual members have commented and made suggestions which have been built into a draft work plan to be considered by the Management Board in October. The business plan will then be presented to the members at the Open Forum during the AGM weekend in November for discussion and clarification. Thank you to everybody who has taken part in this exercise.
Funding We would like to remind members that funds are available from the Jean Milligan Memorial Fund to support new initiatives that promote Scottish country dancing or the Society in a positive manner. Submissions are accepted throughout the year and application forms can be found on the RSCDS website under ‘JMMF’. There are three deadlines for applications to be considered: 15 November, 31 May, 30 September. Awards from the Fund have been made this year to: l
The SCD Section of the Aberdeen Music Festival (as support for moving to a new venue)
l SCD
Weekend in Hungary (bringing groups together from a wider area)
l North
Shore Tartan Day Tattoo, New Zealand support for a video of the North Shore Tartan Day for promotional purposes for the use of the whole SCD community in New Zealand and the wider RSCDS
l
Australian Winter School 2017 (to support the introduction of a Youth class)
l The
Fund is also used to provide scholarships, support branch teaching events and the International Teacher Development Fund.
Information about the Fund and what else it is used for, as well as application forms, can be found on the RSCDS website.
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Beijing Dance Academy delegation visit to Coates Crescent A delegation from the Beijing Dance Academy met with the Convenors of E&T and YS Committees to share experiences of teaching traditional forms of dance. We described our teacher training programmes, Dance Achievement Awards, medal tests and school accreditation system. In turn, the Beijing delegation explained some of the challenges they face in encouraging young people to take up a traditional dance form. It was a useful exchange. Edinburgh Branch also made a presentation on the work they do with schoolteachers, pupils and other young people.
Headquarters staff Eleanor Walker joined the Coates Crescent team in July as a Receptionist/Administrator on a six-month contract.
Dance revisions Hamilton House There is an error on page 11 of the Combined A5 Volume of Books 7-12: Bars 9-12: 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples set to partners twice. At this point in the dance the dancers are not all facing their own partners and the Technique Advisory Panel has agreed that ‘to partners’ should be deleted from the text. There is no need for further explanation as the positions of all dancers is stated in Bars 5-8. Miss Milligan’s Miscellany CD Part Five The running time for The Marquis of Lorne should be 8:26 and not 4:35 as shown on the liner notes and back cover. In addition La Russe is given as an 8x32 reel when it should be listed as a 4x64 reel.
Photo database – we are looking for a volunteer please! We are aiming to build an effective photo database of images of SCD from around the world and at HQ. We have several thousand photographs and video footage which need to be sorted, categorised and inputted into our database to enable us to access the images more easily. We also encourage branches, affiliated groups and individual members to send in good quality images of their activities and achievements. To help develop the database we would like to recruit a volunteer who could give us possibly a day or so a week for 4–6 months. This would be easiest for somebody based in Scotland. If you feel you have the skills and time please look at the details on our website and email mike.greenwood@rscds.org if you would like to discuss this further. The deadline to apply is 1 December.
