The Ball is next week... it's slightly unbelievable and there's still lots to do - (don't panic!!) - but the major stuff is sorted out and the rest is under control, hopefully, but if this blog is slightly incoherent please be understanding :-)
Anyway, if you haven't got your ticket yet, I'll be in contact, and if I don't reach you, please, please, get in touch, and confirm you are coming (contact details are on the website), because our lovely venue will be asking for final numbers and we don't want you to turn up and have nowhere to sit! :-)
Unusually, despite how close we are to the ball our Tuesday session numbers are fluctuating wildly as many of our regulars are away due to other commitments; (promising they'll be back before next Friday), meanwhile the Monday class is gradually increasing in numbers - and on both days we are regularly getting 2 sets up even for more challenging dances. The main problem is the continuing hot weather - despite the occasional clouds, and the real chill at night where we are in the mountains - the weather down at the cost is staying sultry, making dancing harder work than it should be at this time of year; it seems worryingly similar to last year when a truly spectacular storm stopped many people getting to the ball at all and most of those who did make it had hair-raising journeys - thankfully even the most pessimistic weather forecasts for next week suggest light showers only, which isn't enough to dampen our spirits. In the meantime Halloween requires a little bit of preparation too - so lots to do, I better get on with it!

Well I think I've got it done … find it at the bottom of the  Future Events page, or click HERE. You can click on any of the dance names to get to a video/s of that dance. The colours and description will hopefully give you an idea of how easy they are.
There will be dance cribs supplied on the night as well as a 'walk through' so don't worry that you'll have to remember them all - or even dance them all - we will almost certainly run out of time - so probably only a selection will be done from the programme - but hopefully they'll all be enjoyed.

It was our usual change over of faces (and feet); regulars away, swallows returning, and some brilliant newcomers swelling the ranks - and both the Monday and Tuesday session were excellent. Dropping the bar (though not really that far), on Tuesday gave us the chance to include most of the dancers in most of the dances despite the lack of experience for some of them - so we had 2 sets up several times - lots of fun whether the dance actually ended up as written, or not. We did have one or two more challenging ones and some people got 2 goes at 'Mairi's Wedding'; even I managed to dance it - not a common occurrence since it's so popular I'm rarely needed to make up the numbers.
Tonight's job is the ball dance programme - I haven't been putting it off, I've just had such a lot of other things to do that time's crept up on me - I have a good idea of what dances I want to include, it's just ensuring I've got decent music to dance them to and getting the right order - though on the night we can be flexible, it's good to have a basic idea of what will follow what. Just a reminder to you all that final numbers for the ball will have to be in fairly soon... but we still have a week to encourage our friends to join us; we aren't quite at the point when we can get the discount promised us, but we are getting closer, so finger's crossed and it truly is 'the more the merrier'. 

to stop being so ambitious! Okay, so over the last few weeks we've been doing some pretty adventurous stuff, but I've finally realised we've reached the point when it's stopped being fun and started to become hard work... hey ho. Time to leave Ramadan-ce for the 'advanced class', though I have to commend everyone who did so well - it's a genuinely tricky one to do, and I forget that not everyone is with us every week ; but having exhausted the brain cells, the dances planned to follow on, on the programme became too steep a hill to climb. So what to do? A quick revamp ensued and we indulged instead in a bit of Barley Bree, and Johnnie Walker - both named after inebriating beverages and guaranteed to lift the company - the Devil's Elbow fitted in with the theme quite well too. In amongst the revelry Butterscotch & Honey introduced some sweetness and Byron's Strathspey some style! But Rannoch Moor was one of the night's surprises - not a well known dance but quite a 'logical' one and several people truly surpassed themselves and proved that even amongst our enjoyable chaos a bit of knowledge manages to filter through! I'm truly impressed. Well done everyone - I'll try to keep things a bit less complicated, or at least well known - for a while at least - and don't forget the ball is only 3 weeks away, let me know if there are any dances you'd particularly like on the programme - mostly it will be simple stuff but we can include a few more complicated 'class favourites' - Mairi's Wedding anyone?! Well I'll put it on next week's programme and take a vote. 

It was great to be welcoming back some of our regular 'swallows' to Tuesday night dancing and, even though we were missing other regulars, numbers are very gradually increasing so that we managed to get 2 sets up at one point. This is something we haven't managed for weeks. It was a challenging programme, particularly because I am in the process of resurrecting 'Ramadan-ce' - you start with 'Sausage' Reels and finish with 2x1/2 reels of 3 across the set and then up and down - with some very unusual twirly bits in the middle - of course that's not how the instructions put it - but basically that's it.
We didn't manage it.
However for a first try it was pretty close and we'll try again next week. The benefit of trying something that challenging came later - because for the first time the class danced every other dance with no significant breaks or breakdowns  - including Staircase in Styria - in fact I didn't believe it when the music finished - there was everyone smug and smiling in their places, every slight hiccup corrected on the fly - and the 3 couple bourrel in Barbara's Strathspey? No problemmo - I've obviously been making everything too easy for everyone!  (well, okay, Postie's Jig wasn't quite as written, but it was lots of fun anyway)
On another note, Ball tickets sales are gradually picking up - we aren't likely to run out of them any time soon, however please try to remember your money and get yours sooner rather than later - the prep that goes into the night is quite extensive and having an early idea of numbers goes a long way towards making it less stressful - and in the case of the dance programme - more likely to include your favourite dance!

So, we've got a challenging programme and less than 50:50 as far as experienced, to less experienced dancers. What to do? Well,  during Monday's session we'd successfully tackled a few of the challenges already, including the 5 couple dance 'The Staircase in Styria' - so we went for it! With the lowest bar set at finishing at approximately the right time with the right partner - and the highest bar being a perfect rendition all the way through, we were clearing most of our fences with the best! A great night, lots of fun, and although credit has to be given to our beginners for getting up and giving it their best shot, a huge amount of credit also has to go to our more experienced dancers - they are amazingly patient, and encouraging, not to mention skilled, because it's far harder to dance in a 'learning' set than in a more advanced one. We know that the only way to learn is to have the chance to practice - and it's certainly bearing dividends at the moment... let's keep it going... and hopefully I'll see everyone at both classes next week?  he, he! (and don't forget to bring your money for ball tickets - we need bums on seats - and of course feet on the dance floor!_