We arrived to a reception committee of the church people who had been frantically cleaning up for us after a final ceiling fix - and very good it looked too. It was a programme full of challenges but everyone rose to them brilliantly-  I suspect they may have even surprised themselves; the occasional chaos was expected and partly due to my own inexperience in teaching certain challenging dances - it certainly wasn't, necessarily, a reflection of the ability of the dancers. Ramadan-ce was flown through, well done to everyone who attempted it, I think it was the first time we've ever finished it in such good order and managed the change overs at the repeats so consistently well; the brand new dances, Missing Turn and Quarries Jig were equally well done, even though they were late in the programme, always an extra challenge since the brain cells are often exhausted even if the body isn't (I'm talking from experience here!). The evenings are getting longer and it is always more noticeable on Tuesdays because the lights don't go on at the same time in the programme, this week the fans were switched on independent of the lights for the first time and it wasn't until half time that the gloom got to me and a tall person was required to click them on, the A.C. kept us lovely and cool however so role on the rest of the summer - and don't forget the Picnic on the Patio at the Elea the most lovely night of the year is still to come!

It was lovely to welcome back more than half a dozen members who for one reason or another have been absent from class fora little while. They returned to a program of dances that included quite a few they hadn't danced before, including one (the strangely named 'Missing Turn) that was brand new to the rest of the class too - however it was a really good night of dancing, and, although we didn't quite manage the whole program all the dances that were attempted worked well and were pronounced 'good':-) 
The hall is undergoing repair work and when we arrived the first thing to do was sweep and mop the floor and throw open the windows to air the place, however the weather is now warm enough for the floor to dry out in less than 5 minutes and we soon closed all the windows again because the Air Conditioners were needed as well as the fans, it wasn't quite the first time we've used the AC's this year, but definitely the first time we've had them on before the class even started. Summer is definitely around the corner.
Tickets are now available for the Picnic on the Patio at the Elea - it will be a really lovely night so if you can make it, don't miss it.
See you next week. 

The numbers were about the same but 50% of the people at the last Tuesday session were different from the previous one, I can never predict how many or exactly who will be there with any accuracy, people head for home but others return. We were delighted to welcome a new dancer to the class who did doubly well to manage dances that were new to virtually everyone and not just to him, in fact the whole class did extremely well since although none of the dances were desperately difficult virtually all the second half were new to the class. The 'new' dances had been requested by members who are lucky enough to be attending a dance in the UK when they return - and since they are all excellent dances for the class it is good to use them to ring the changes.
​Plans are on full speed for the 'Picnic on the Patio' - there are still several weeks to go but lots to do and hopefully although many people will unfortunately be heading home around that time others will be here to join us, it should be a really beautiful night. In the meantime life is frantically busy so there is no more time to blether. Jx

We were few in numbers but it was a super night... nothing to do with the missing folk I assure you :-) , but with just about enough people to manage 2 sets people were joining in when they may otherwise have sat out. Nice To See You was one dance that didn't really work properly with the limited number of dancers but the resulting effort was far more fun than the original dance - at least for me!! This was the first evening this year when we were warm enough to open doors and windows in addition to the fans, the hall now has a full fire evacuation plan but we would have had no problem last night ... ironically it also rained later which cooled things down again but at least we are now all enjoying fresher air after the recent dust clouds.
Last Sunday I held an 'advanced class' and very challenging it was too thanks to the request to cover "The Reel of the Puffins" - however  it turned out to be a really fun class and everyone who attended wanted to practice what they had learnt, so we had a little 'demo' at the start of last night's session; it still wasn't quite the dance as written but everyone obviously got a high from the attempt and the improvement was visible. This week I've had three classes in a run, one after another, all of them different but all of them fun; as well as the Sunday session, on Monday the 'beginners' session at the UKCA was a very good afternoon. We welcomed 3 new dancers who all appeared to enjoy themselves, I have high hopes that they will eventually join us on Tuesdays too because they seemed to quickly grasp and enjoy the idea of the dance formations and that Scottish Country Dancing is more than just dancing with your partner - you are dancing with the whole group. I am already looking forward to next week . Jx

After so many weeks of colder, wetter, weather than normal we were finally dancing with the fans on, though we didn't quite get warm enough to resort to the air conditioners. Numbers are still fairly low for this time of the year, partly because so many people are unfortunately suffering from nasty bugs and various ailments but we were yet again lucky in welcoming a visitor who, with very limited dancing experience, managed to join in and enjoy some quite tricky dances. For the numbers and skill mix the program was again quite challenging so it was quite surprising that we managed to dance all the dances on the program. The brand new (to us) Strathspey 'Cashmere Shawl' was very much enjoyed and considered a 'keeper', other items on the program took a while to sort out and it was hard for me to tell if people enjoyed them or not... though I've been assured later that they did, however it is still difficult to decide whether to 'build on the experience' or 'write it off to experience'! ;-) I am also trying to decide on the programme for this year's St Andrew's Ball - despite it being so far off, time is going so quickly and the number of classes before the earlier date is limited - so if I don't have some idea of what we will be doing I waste the opportunity to get people as familiar as possible with the dances. Of course long before the Ball we will be holding the Picnic on the Patio at the Elea - on June 15th it is a full moon which will lend extra magic to an evening which is always magical. The dancing that night (for which I am also in the process of deciding the exact programme) will be suitable and fun for everyone from children to 'two left feet' granddad's who normally would refuse to dance, so we hope everyone will be bringing along their family and friends - more details are on the Future Events page. Bookings are now open - no money needed as yet. See you next week. Jx