Last week we were limiting our programme to mainly 3 couple dances because we had so few attending the session; this week we danced two '5 couple' dances one after the other, with plenty of dancers to spare - welcome back everyone, lovely to see you again, and a very big welcome to the beautiful new dancer joining our ranks who has been hiding in the hills all these years and thankfully has now been enticed to join us. Not much more to say other than the usual 'well done' to those who tackled dances just a little out of their comfort zone, it's amazing what you can do when you try (I remind myself of that all the time). 
Just a few reminders -

• Tickets for the June Jamboree - our end of season dance at the Elea Golf Club are now available - €25 and cheap at twice the price! This is a lovely night, an excellent buffet meal then dancing under the stars. The programme will include dances suitable for 'non-dancers' too, so please bring friends and family - Date - Tuesday June 24th, time 7 pm, dress - cool but smart. Children under 12 1/2 price 
• Sunday 10 am - 12 noon 'Advanced' classes are restarting - (once I've confirmed with the Phoenix Club) I'll be letting people know the exact date by the end of the week- cost will be €5 because I'm saving up for Winter School! 

See you next week.

Things happen, and in our particular world they seem to happen on Tuesdays. Every week there's one or two people who are unable to make the highlight of their week (I like to think)  because of unfortunate (or otherwise) events outside of their control. This week was a week when so many people had a 'Tuesday event' that our class numbers were less than half the week before. The bar staff were in grave danger of being required to join a set, but in the end, with a slight change of the programme and the inclusion of some 3 couple dances - to give dancers an occasional rest - we managed an excellent night of dancing without having to entice them out. One bonus for the evening was meeting the wonderful Blossom, who despite her health issues accompanied her Mum and Dad to the class and showed a lot of intelligent interest in the proceedings. Unfortunately she didn't arrive in time to see us all enjoy our Trip to Bavaria- a long time since we've visited this particular dance and getting it practically perfect first time through is an achievement we should be proud of - especially our less experienced dancers.  Another dance we possibly haven't done for nearly a decade is the lovely 'Sugar Candie', - it wasn't on the programme but was an excellent 'request from the floor' and will definitely be kept on for next week.  

Just a quick note to congratulate the dancers attending yesterday's Monday class - most of them coming brand new to Shiftin' Bobbins & Scallywag - both of them brilliant dances, but very different to our recent fare. They tackled them with enthusiasm and showed how much everyone has learnt and gained in confidence over the last few weeks. Well Done ! Onward to tonight's class - and hopefully we'll see some of you there to dance them again!

Another two weeks have flown by. Our weather has been hot, hot, hot, now it's cold again and the winds are blowing strongly, as they tend to do around this time of year - but despite the evidence of sahara red sand over everything, suggesting a desert origin, the temperature is closer to arctic. However that isn't a problem when we are dancing - the cooler the better since we are generating a fair amount of heat ourselves! The Monday class has been well attended and working hard. Despite the usual fun & laughter, people are getting more and more confident, with their reels of 3 especially, and this week we tackled Pelorus Jack - the 'dolphin' dance; we practiced the scary sounding 'alternating tandem diagonal 1/2 reels of 3' around chairs initially and then sailed (or should it be 'swam') through the dance.
Tuesday evenings continue to be enormous fun too. Last week we welcomed another intrepid solo visitor - keen to join in and so obviously enjoying it all that when she's back in the summer I know we'll see her again. This week we celebrated a birthday - tucking into some fabulous cake- brought for us all to enjoy by the lovely birthday girl. We also tackled some challenging dances - none of them completely new to the class but unfamiliar to most of our current dancers because it's a while since we've done them. With cake on the horizon, concentrating on a new and challenging dance was the last thing people felt like doing, but once the music stopped and the dance was done, the beaming smiles showed that despite their misgivings it was worth it. Even with a cake break, a couple of renditions of Happy Birthday and some serious learning curves, we fitted in every dance on programme and as a birthday celebration it was declared hard to beat. As the helpers returned the room to it's normal layout, discussion around how to organise having a birthday to celebrate every week was only partly tongue in cheek!

I'm exhausted just thinking about it ... what a great night of dancing - well early evening to be accurate - but it felt like we'd danced all night and could have danced some more! It was lovely to welcome back some of our swallows - and they were really impressed with how much fun and energy we were generating all night. For all but the most unfamiliar dances we had 2 sets up - and might have managed more if we'd had the room. Well done to all those who accepted the challenge of Mairi's Wedding - brilliantly done - snaked round the Devil's Elbow and buzzed with the Bees to name but a few. We all spent the evening on a 'high' which had nothing to do with the bar - though as usual the bar ladies were doing a stirling job and we couldn't have done without them - they sold as many bottles of water as anything else. Roll on next week, can we beat a week like this one... well we can try! 

When I haven't updated this blether for several weeks it can occasionally be because there's little news or what there is of it, isn't wonderful; but more often it's because the classes have been so much fun, and life as well as the classes has been so full and busy, that time has flown past without me knowing. Thankfully the latest blethering gap has been due to the later reason. This is the season, before it gets too hot and while flight prices are still reasonable, when offspring of college age and older arrive for visits. We have had a wonderful couple of weeks during which some of these visitors have taken up the challenge to see what their crazy parents (or grandparents) are up to, and they have been a brilliant addition to our dance sessions. Well done and thank you to all of them for coming along, willingly joining in and so obviously having a ball. Now for some announcements - our wonderfully atmospheric summer dance the 'June Jamboree' is booked for Tuesday 24th June at Elea Golf Resort - depending on the temperatures this may or may not be the final 'class' of the season but that decision will be made closer to the time. We are also going to start asking for a weekly fee for anyone attending our classes- €1 please. This is to contribute towards the Performing Rights payment now being levied by the government on the club. Hopefully everyone will be able to manage that and we'll see you again next week (BTW - we know that there is a bank holiday and we'll be carrying on as normal)

Feet touched the ground... and I'm dancing. Well done to all the people who came to the Monday class this week. With the magic number of 10 dancers we attempted  'Polharrow Burn'. Phew! Not a 'beginner's' dance by any description, but brilliant fun to try and master with such enthusiastic participants. 
And, No, we didn't manage to dance it all the way through - but everyone managed to grasp how it should work and wants to keep trying until we have got it perfect - and we will. What a team!
Tuesday dancing was sacrificed to the 'Tattoo Night', but that gave us the chance for once to enjoy an entirely social evening on a different Scottish theme. We had an excellent response for tickets  and enjoyed seeing many people who aren't dancers but often join us to enjoy other aspects of our Group. The evening was sponsored by Blevins Franks who provided us all with a free drink and a very relaxed and interesting update on the recent changes in UK laws - covering mainly inheritance tax, domicile vs resident status etc. and how they might effect us. It was clear and concise and done without any 'hard sell', and proved to be a genuinely interesting portion of the evening. The following buffet was ready spot on time and excellent as always. We then sat back to enjoy the show - as always you can follow the link via the Past Events page to see more memories of the evening if you are interested.
As always the evening could not have been as successful without the volunteers from the Phoenix Club who worked hard and also leant both equipment and expertise to allow us to provide an excellent evening. 
Next week we are back to our normal format - but this week has attracted some visitors to the group and that is an unexpected bonus for us all - I've also already had some positive comments on the dance programme I've prepared for my come-back you might have to get your thinking caps back on but I know you'll enjoy some of the Strathspeys I'm introducing to our repertoire - I'm looking forward to next week already (and hopefully it'll be a bit warmer by then too!) .  

It was fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.
Did I say it was fabulous? I am so lucky to be able to attend the most amazing event in my world. Nowadays there is a definite emphasis on reminding people that our dancing is meant to be a fun activity - yes, it's great to do everything the best that you can, but it's dancing and not the end of the world if you forget to point your toes! At the same time trying to achieve that little bit more, in company with others equally enthusiastic, gives you the most amazing sense of achievement, and joy, when the magic of the music lifts you all up and you can feel the whole room moving as one. Wow. Others are lucky enough to dance regularly in such large numbers and with such amazing live music but for me it is very special. 
Okay, enough - if anyone is interested enough no doubt I'll see you and I'll be able to tell all in person - or you can check the archives of this blether and find my record of last year's event which will give you a day by day idea of what goes on - though there were some difference this year, and they made it even better. 
I fly home tonight (and I know that the weather is dreadful - ironic that it's not been too bad here) and I'm full of enthusiasm for tomorrow's Monday class - don't worry though I'm not going to get you doing anything more challenging than usual - he, he, he......
And don't forget it's the Trip to the Edinburgh Tattoo on Tuesday - it is a genuinely impressive experience and if people want to dance at the end I'm sure we can accommodate them given time permits. See you soon.

I'm sat in the gloom of a Manchester winter afternoon enjoying the much brighter recollection of yesterday's 'Monday' class - (and it's always a shock how just a few hours travelling can create the impression that yesterday was a lifetime away). We welcomed some super newcomers to the class, and as they provide a good introduction to many dance basics, we covered several of the dances that will be on tonight's 'fun and familiar' dance program. I hope the folk who attend both session will have the confidence to get up and join in those dances, doing them again so soon will help to cement them into their memories - and it will be a help to Pete too, who in my absence will be trying to get everyone through the next two week's programs all by himself.
In the meantime I have a few days in Manchester then I am travelling (weather permitting) up to the fabulous Atholl Palace Hotel that hosts the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society's (RSCDS) Winter School in Pitlochry every year. I will then get my dose of teaching for the year to keep my standards up - what I do for the class! Just a reminder - Monday 17th - class is cancelled: otherwise nothing is changed, Tuesdays are functioning as normal​

We are a tad Haggis-ed out, but both the Burns' celebrations we attended were really excellent. Food, company, tributes and all. However by the end of the evenings we missed having our regular dancers around because, despite the enthusiasm of a few of the guests, we didn't get much dancing done at either event ... too much food and not enough time!
So it was great to get back to the classes and pay our own little tribute to the Bard by getting to grips with the Burns' Bicentenary Strathspey. Initially, on Monday with 10 dancers joining in the class they surpassed all expectations and managed to climb The Staircase in Styria -  a 5 couple dance with simple enough formations but enough speed and changes of direction to discombobulate most beginners. Having worked off a bit of steam they were glad of a slightly slower pace and they tackled all the complexities of the B B Strathspey - Set & Link, Reels of Four and Ladies Chain along with the new idea - to most of them - of commencing a dance on the opposite side of the set. Extremely well done to all of you.
It was a tough act to follow but as usual Tuesday turned out to be equally enjoyable, especially since we welcomed back so many lovely ladies from their extended absences. With my own trip to Winter School looming I am shamelessly including dances that I don't know and that are included on the Winter School Social programmes - teaching them is a great way to learn them myself. It's introduced us to some excellent dances and music - currently we are enjoying getting to know Welcome to Ayr and Craigleith, and although Da Rain Dancin' was just a bit too frantic for some it was a lot of fun trying it out, and Miss Catherine Allan got a thumbs up even though there was something strange happening with the music I used - note to self - must investigate that before next week.