Dancing around the World All branches and affiliated groups are invited to send in their news (maximum 200 words) to Caroline Brockbank caroline@ceilidhkids.com
Every branch and club was asked to tell us what they had been doing in lockdown to keep everybody’s spirits up. Thank you for such a great response. Before it all kicked off! In late February the San Diego Branch was planning their 45th Anniversary celebrations. ‘Everything was in place for a fabulous weekend in March: Friday night class, Saturday the Sapphire Anniversary Banquet and Ball with the venue, band, caterers, decorations and most importantly of all dancers, all in place, followed by a fun brunch on Sunday morning. A week later and we would have been unable to hold our Ball. We had a wonderful event, a few people naturally and prudently had to cancel as they were travelling from far afield and felt vulnerable to falling ill. Reel of Seven were their usual magnificent selves and lots of energetic dancing ensued. We had two special events planned for the Ball. During the dessert intermission we presented our Dance Director, Ward Fleri, with his Branch Award and a brief performance of the dance that we had commissioned in his honor. We also introduced a book of dances that represented our branch. We are so thankful that we managed to celebrate our 45 years in a place of community, dance and music.’
Coming to terms with it all It comes as no surprise that everyone who responded expressed their sadness
San Diego’s Sapphire Ball
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that dancing has had to be cancelled, but also recognised that everyone’s health has to come first. The Gainesville Dancers from Orlando Branch told us that one of their members became sick with COVID-19. He was hospitalized, intubated, and recovered, thankfully. Some groups have had to suspend all activity for the rest of year, others are optimistically keeping events in the diary for later in 2020 or for early 2021; a lot depends on location. And everyone mourns Summer School, Pinewoods, Spring Fling and Fringe, as well as their own local events. As Linda Harley in Lisburn, Belfast, writes ‘Getting together with pals once or twice a week, enjoying a very sociable form of dancing which requires lots of eye contact, dancing with a partner, and in a set, all combines to a shared sense of community and belonging. And for that to suddenly cease was a huge shock.’ Many groups did manage a little dancing at the start of the year. Freiburg Scottish Country Dancers were lucky to be able to hold a Midwinter Ball on 29 February with safety measures – just a week before the first lockdown period in Germany came into effect. The pandemic came to
Russia a bit later than to most European countries, so they managed to run some events in late winter and the beginning of spring, including the 5th Scottish weekend and Ball organized by the Affiliated Group Fairy Tale at the end of February. On 7-8 March, classes and a Ball took place in Kazan. Sheffield Branch had a great start to their season, with a very enthusiastic crowd of beginners. This is what every group hopes for, so they were devastated to then have to cancel all their classes and events.
Dance Scottish At Home Almost everyone who responded expressed a huge amount of appreciation for Dance Scottish At Home and the weekly online classes. Agne Hanson in Stockholm described them as ‘The light in the darkness these last months, that gave us much useful dance and class information, kept our brains and feet moving and made us all feeling as members of one big family.’ Irene Whyte of Inverness Branch agrees: ‘The folk at HQ should be commended for organising and co-ordinating Dance Scottish at Home and the online classes, as they have been great at maintaining interest and contact with our country dancing family.’
