Dance Scottish by Luke Brady
For DSW '10 members of Helensburgh & District Branch organised dancing alongside Kilcreggan Pier on the Firth of Clyde. Lots of villagers came to watch and quite a number joined in.
The Scottish Country Dance Group in Garstang, Lancashire, who celebrated DSW '10 with a demonstration of dances in the town square. Dance Scottish Week 2010 was well attended, well received and well executed. Everyone who took part should feel a great sense of achievement. As the focus shifts to this year’s events, a number of exciting developments are underway. Following last year’s Dance Scottish Week a review was carried out with branches, as well as participants and attendees of the members’ forum at the AGM Conference. Two clear things emerged from these consultations: many felt that early September was not the most appropriate date to hold such an event and that a degree of flexibility was required on dates.
So for this year, Dance Scottish 2011 – as it will be called – starts at the Conference Weekend on Friday, 4 November, running through to Saturday 3 December. Details of what is happening, where and when, will be available on the website as the programme is developed. Importantly, we look forward to hearing from you about what you will be doing locally in the way of promotion and events. Some branches may have put their plans in motion already for running Dance Scottish Week events in September. This is fine, as recruitment and promotion are, after all, year-round tasks. There will be no dates on
the promotional materials that are being supplied by HQ, in order to give branches the highest level of flexibility. Branches in the southern hemisphere have told us that the timing of Dance Scottish Week is generally not suitable for their dancing season. While they are most welcome to join in activities this November, we hope that an alternative approach can be introduced which will meet their specific needs. The Dance Scottish Panel is putting in a lot of effort to give members the platform they want. They hope to see an increase in local events that are aimed at introducing more people to Scottish country dancing. With your enthusiasm and continuing participation, Dance Scottish 2011 could be the best we have had so far. Please email all your Dance Scottish 2011 info to info@rscds.org, for inclusion on the website.
A day in Dunblane Lorna Ogilvie reports on the fifth annual Scotland and Northern Ireland Branches’ Conference 48 members representing 20 branches heard Ruth Beattie, RSCDS Chairman, open the conference with her vision for the way forward: R = recognise where change is necessary S = select appropriate, achievable targets C = consider the views of members D = dance for fun, fitness and friendship S = secure the future of the Society The Executive Officer, Elizabeth Foster, then outlined implications of recent staff changes at Headquarters and recommended the Annual Review 2010 as a summary of achievements linked to the Strategic Plan. In a workshop later in the day, she covered risk management and other aspects of good corporate governance. Liz Fraser, Marketing Officer, spoke about how to get the press interested in SCD. She expanded on this at her workshop on
marketing and publicity. The third workshop was run by Elspeth Gray, Membership Secretary, who guided - or perhaps I should say navigated - members through the website, which is being fine-tuned to make it as “user friendly” as possible. In the afternoon the emphasis moved to the future of the Society - children. Irene Bennett, past Chairman and now Schools Liaison Officer for the RSCDS in Scotland, sits on the “Curriculum for Excellence” Committeee which is working hard to ensure SCD is not lost in Scottish schools. Irene detailed the work to create a training course for primary teachers with no dance experience. This inspiring initiative was followed by another as Susan Rhodes outlined her achievements in the Young Dancer Project (see page 9). Finally, members moved into geographical groups and looked at shared marketing,
teachers and musicians and how to recruit among various age groups using the health benefits of SCD and events like “Dance Scottish”. A packed agenda, informative speakers and a chance to network in a relaxed atmosphere, whilst having direct access to decision makers in the RSCDS, demonstrated the value of the conference. Add the laughter and, yes, even when not dancing, Scottish country dancing is fun!
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