SUCURSAL RSCDS BANFFSHIRE
ESTABLECIDO EN 1929
Celebrando 90 Años de la Sucursal
1929 hasta la actualidad
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Winter News January - March 2024
21 January 2024
Class with a Difference
By Anne Taylor and Dianna Baillie
A brief lull between severe weather warnings (the snow had disappeared overnight & storm Isha wasn’t due till evening) meant the class at Spey Bay was good to go. Anne & Dianna took it turn about to teach the dances (which all had ‘New’ in the title, as it was the first class of the New Year).
We started off with ‘The New Forest Circle’ (New Forest SCD) as a warm up, then Newburgh Jig (Bk48). Anne took us through New Abbey (Roy Goldring) where we were encouraged to cover across all the sets and New Amsterdam (Chris Ronald, Big Apple Coll.) had a couple of new formations there to challenge us - a very enjoyable dance once we got it.
The Newholme Jig (Ian Barbour, Magic Medicine), followed by ‘A Guid New Year’ (Maggie & Duncan Keppie) taught by Dianna and Anne finished off with ‘Ways in New Hall’ (Bk42) then ‘The New Opera’ (John Drewry, Australia Bk.)
Ladies’ Chain, Espagnole, Set and Rotate, Rondel. The new ones - Celtic Cross Progression, Swing Corners and a modified Corners Pass and Turn (half turn & twirl instead of Turn) were formations covered.
A very enjoyable afternoon had by all and can’t wait to see what Bill and Rosemary have in store for us next month.
Class with a Difference 18th February 2024
RSCDS Teachers, Bill & Rosemary Legge
We had two three couple sets and we danced to make it a seven.
Our theme was "Something old and Something new"
Our dances were -
Scotch Mixer
The Waggle o' the Kilt
Toast to the Mousies
Mathilde is a Delight
Chased Lovers
Scottish Reform
The Riverside
Report by Bill Legge
The dates for the next 'Class with a Difference' can be found here
Estonian Visitors to Banffshire
Estonian Dancers come to Portsoy
Eight young dancers and four adults travelled from Avinurme in Estonia to Portsoy this week. It was a second visit for three of them. They had travelled to Riga, flew to Edinburgh and bused to Aberdeen. Anne McArthur picked them up there and took them to Portsoy with a stop to visit Delgaty Castle.
The dancers stayed in the Sail Loft in Portsoy overnight. They had a hectic schedule sampling the delights of Bonnie Portsoy. There was pizza, fine pieces and a ceilidh with some members of the Banffshire Branch and Anne McArthur's Dancers on Wednesday night.
Thursday was a beautiful sunny day although very cold and windy. The dancers were accustomed to the cold as they live near the Russian Border but the wind from the North Sea was something else.
The group visited the Salmon Bothy Museum, walked around the historic harbours then headed to Soy Kilts where Moira showed them how to make a kilt. After a very informative visit it was off to Portsoy's famous ice cream shop, the gift shop and Portsoy's Harrods of the North - the Thrift Shop.
In the afternoon Anne McArthur taught the dancers the highland fling and the sword dance with some of her little dancers then it was a visit to Hook, Line and Sinker for a fish and chip supper and back on the minibus to Aberdeen.
March 17 was a beautiful warm spring day; thank you to the 15 people who gave up
the chance of being out in the sun and instead came along to the class. With myself
that gave us the perfect number for 4-couple sets.
I chose “valleys” as the theme for the day, including glens, straths, vales and dales.
We started with “Glen Janet”, an easy jig from Newfoundland and a slight cheat as
“Glen” in this case is a man’s name, Glen and Janet being a couple. We then
danced “Ellwyn’s fairy glen”, an older reel by John M. Duthie not often danced
these days, and we followed that with “Strathaird”, a strathspey for 4 couples from
the Sheffield “Second sheaf” collection. The next two dances were a bit more
challenging, the reel for 4 couples “Glens of Angus” from Book 23 and “Gladys
McDonald of Glencoe”, a John Drewry jig from the Aberdeen 75 th anniversary
collection. The next dance, rather easier, was again from the Sheffield “Second
sheaf”, “The Don Valley Reel”. “Strathmore”, a 4-couple strathspey from Book 43,
was quite tricky but could be danced just twice through and we were able to finish
with another simpler reel, “Snowdrops in the glen” from the Glasgow 90 th
anniversary book.
Well done to everyone who attended and persevered with some of the more difficult
dances – I hope you all found it was worth missing the sunshine!
Isobel Turner