“AND WE’RE BACK!!
Our first event of 2026 took place last Saturday 10 January at the Scout Hall in Almond St, Newlands. It was a scorcher of a day, but we were all just so happy to be dancing again after the holiday break. Our thoughtful instructor, Campbell Tyler, chose simple and not-too-strenuous dances (including the crowd “favourite”, the Canadian Barn Dance) to keep us as fresh as possible. Many participants kindly brought fans for some relief from the heat, and regular breaks were observed. We had a newcomer who had a super time – dancing barefoot, no less!! She was grateful for the welcoming, helpful atmosphere, and expressed a keen desire to return, with more newcomers in tow.
After kicking off with the above-mentioned Canadian Barn Dance, we did the Boston Two-Step, also a straightforward round-the-room dance; this was followed by three circle dances: the Circassian, the Mayflower, and the Lowland Lilt. This last one, which we did for the first time, was filmed, and will be uploaded to the internet as the first-ever online video of this dance!! A couple of members opted out of being filmed, feeling uncomfortable with being so unfamiliar with the dance; the rest of us decided to take the plunge, and, despite perhaps a bit of self-consciousness, made a pretty good go of it!!
The last portion of the session was devoted to trio dances; namely, the Dashing White Sergeant, Kirsty’s Ceilidh, and Alison’s Round Reel. Given the gap between this and our previous session before the holidays, many of us needed brief refreshers on some of the steps and formations of these, such as the right-shouldered reel of three, but we managed to remember pretty quickly. We finished with Alison’s Round Reel, also a crowd favourite. A lovely afternoon of physical and mental exercise, as well as fun socialising, was had by all!! Can’t wait for the next one!!”
Comments are closed