Young Dancers News of young dancers is edited by Olga McIntosh. Please send her news of your youth events to: ol.mcintosh@gmail.com
Global Youth Week Winners Galashiels St Andrews Day Ceilidh The winning entry in the Global Youth Week competition was the St Andrew’s Day Ceilidh in Galashiels. The Ceilidh took place on Tuesday 26 November with over 200 children dancing. Our musician was Roddy Johnston. All the primary schools in Galashiels took part. The dance teachers from the Branch had spent the previous six weeks going into the schools and teaching the dances to the children. The supermarket chain, Tesco, have a community champion scheme and they provided the snacks for the children. The local Active Schools co-ordinators and our members worked together. It all made for a very happy and successful morning. Margaret Pritchard, Galashiels
The Newcastle Festival As usual children under 16 had their own slot at the Newcastle Festival in February. Two teams entered the Under 12 section with the Méaudre Reel children from the French Alps winning the Chris Blair Trophy. They danced Bill Clement MBE and A Trip to Timber Ridge. In the Under 16 section there was an impressive entry of 6 teams with the German team taking the trophy home. They danced Brechin Lassies and the Braes of Tulliemet. The older teams chose some quite challenging dances. Of the 8 teams competing, 5 had travelled from Europe, all credit to the children and their teachers. There were two local teams and one down from Aberdeen. Peter Avery, Newcastle
Sutton Coldfield Branch doing great work with Four Oaks Primary School
Scottish Festivals
Global Youth Week Winners – Galashiels St Andrews Day Ceilidh
The Scottish Festivals take place in the Spring, kicking off with the Inverclyde Festival in January in the grand surroundings of Greenock Town Hall – one of the best dancing venues in the country. Around 60 primary school children and their teachers had put in a huge amount of effort and the level of energy and enthusiasm was impressive. Dumfries followed in February with Inverness, Glasgow, Perth, and the largest of them all, Aberdeen, all in March. These Festivals are supported by volunteers from their local RSCDS branches. Each festival has a festival musician, who plays for all the teams.
Southern Fling At the end of January Canberra and District Branch hosted its first ever Scottish Country Dance Youth Weekend – 2020 Southern Fling for dancers aged 18 - 40. We had 36 dancers from across Australia, as well as New Zealand and even Ireland. The weekend provided both newer and more experienced young dancers with the opportunity to improve their technique and footwork in an energetic setting. The expert teachers were Diana Hastie from Sydney and Mel Roome from Hobart. Dancers were also given the opportunity to try dance devising on the Saturday afternoon, workshopping ideas in small groups. Four dances were produced and then showcased at the close of the weekend. Evening socials were held on both Friday and Saturday and while the weather was less than ideal (reaching 41˚C), energy and atmosphere on the dance floor were lively and joyous. We had live music at all events throughout the weekend from Iain McKenzie from Mackay in Queensland, as well as local musicians for one of the
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morning classes. Most importantly, the weekend served to grow and strengthen the youth Scottish country dance community in the Southern Hemisphere. Many new friendships were formed amongst dancers
of all levels and abilities in a fun and inclusive environment. We can’t wait to dance together again soon! Laura Walter, Canberra
