Beginner Classes February 2024

Fun
Beginners classes are starting soon, commencing 5 February 2024, from 7.30pm to 9.00pm. They are especially for people who have never danced before, or who danced a long time ago and need a refresher. You don’t need to be Scottish or have a kilt to enjoy Scottish Country Dancing!

The cost for the four lessons is just $25. To register for classes, email as at linden@dancescottish.org.nz, or come along a bit earlier on the night.

Fitness
As dancing gets you moving, you will warm up quickly, so wear cool clothing. To start with you can wear soft soled shoes – the thinner the better.

Friendship
A regular dance partner is not required for Scottish Country Dancing as it is customary to dance with a different partner for each dance, making it a very social form of dancing. Dances are usually danced in a set of eight people – 4 men and 4 women arranged either in two lines (men facing women) or in a square, and they work together to dance a sequence of formations.

There are several basic steps and about a dozen figures which will get you through quite a number of dances. There is also more emphasis on “steps” than in, say, ceilidh dancing, but the basic technique can be learned through a couple of months’ worth of practice evenings once a week at Club nights.

Club nights, schools, balls and social dances are held in places all over New Zealand and the world. Once you know the basics, you can join in anywhere in New Zealand or around the world.

Club Night Monday 17 July

Tutor’s Notes
We started with a circular warm up dance based on The Dashing White Sergeant. I got a little over ambitious with the interlocking reels (brains need to be warmed up before being too challenged). Next week I think we will try again and just stick to the figures of 8.

We then looked at Turn Corners and Partner and danced Light and Airy – a very traditional dance from 1798.

Next we jumped 200 years from Scotland to America (as they do in Outlander, for those who watch it) to 1999 and danced Pluto’s Head , named when the deviser went to Animation Station at Disneyquest and learned to draw Pluto’s head (circles and meridian lines). While this dance has simple formations it is tricky to do well. The video shows how we can improve on our circles, not being so quick to join hands and releasing earlier to get out to side. (We might try this again to improve).

We moved to Strathspey time and, building on Diane’s teaching of the Bourrel , we danced A Summer Meeting.
This dance has a variation on a 2 couple Bourrel as well as a pousette. While a little challenging, we all got where we needed to be and the Bourrels were looking good when we remembered the variation – i.e. a petronella turn out to place at the end.

After 3 challenging dances we then relaxed with two more familiar dances, both of them on the Upper Hutt program this Saturday night. They were:
Lass of Richmond Hill and

St Andrew’s Fair. Interestingly this video (and many others) show the 2nd couple moving up on 7&8 but the instructions do say 3&4)

I hope you enjoyed the night, see you next week.

Club Night Monday 10 July

Tutor’s Notes
We had the pleasure of Diane teaching us for the last 2 weeks, and last week’s programme was a fun combination of dances from the Upper Hutt dance and some club requests:

Shiftin’ Bobbins (R)
Practised the 3C bourrel
Barbara’s Strathspey (S)
Seton’s Ceilidh Band (J)
The Piper and the Penguin (R)
MacDonald of Keppoch (M)
Mairi’s Wedding (R)

Club Night Monday 22 June

Tutor’s Notes
We continued working on dances for our Annual Dance on Monday and I was really impressed with how well our new dancers coped with a lot of unfamiliar things.

We started off easily enough with Joie de Vivre (J) then moved on to trickier things being:

Trip to Timber Ridge (R) – this has corner pass and turn and a variation on double triangles. The music is fabulous.

Sugar Candie (S) – repeated from last week but working on the transition from turn corners and partner to the reel with corners, left shoulder to 1st corner.

Best Set in the Hall (J) – a popular but directionally challenging dance, remember the centre people cast to the corner behind them.

Oriel Strathspey (S) – we are really familiar with this one now

Pelorus Jack (J) – with dolphin reels, alternating tandem ½ reels of three (quite a mouthful to say)

We will look to repeat some of the more challenging dances on the programme next week.