Tuesday classes are never, ever the same session twice... last week we were lucky enough to be joined by two experienced dancers, enjoying a brief holiday over here in Paphos, they lifted the class with their dancing knowledge but also appreciated learning dances completely new to them; this week we welcomed instead 3 brand new dancers, having had their first taste of dancing just the day before at the Monday beginner's session, they were emboldened to join us. They lifted the class by their enthusiasm and willingness to join in - which turned out to be a boon because so many of our regular dancers were unable to attend due to family circumstance, illness or injury. Inevitably we had to take things a little slower, but there was so much chattering going on in the sidelines it was obvious that many people were happy with a less frantic programme. The faster dances were eventually too much for such a small group of mainly inexperienced dancers, but we had several excellent strathspeys available to keep us going without exhausting ourselves mentally or physically. The Ring of Brodgar; The Dream Catcher and The Letham Ladies finished off our evening - The Letham Ladies had been taught at the Monday class so our 'beginners' had the advantage of the rest of the class since it was a new dance for Tuesday's session - and was voted a winner despite the lack of a teaching video... maybe we'll add one ourselves once we are confident with it. Hopefully I'll see many of you on Saturday at Burns Night otherwise I'll see you next week.
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Just a quick report on our first Monday class - what a super turn out and fun afternoon. Everyone worked really hard but certainly appeared to be enjoying themselves, so hopefully they were! Don't forget, tomorrow is the last day to buy tickets for our Burns Night - contact Irene (her details are on the website's contact page) ASAP if you want to reserve one and can't get to the class, otherwise I hope to see you there.
What an excellent night to start our new year off despite many people having to miss it. Well done to everyone who braved a chilly night and possible rain to join us. The first great surprise was to be joined by both our bar ladies despite one being just out of her sick bed and the other still recovering from a serious accident - talk about dedication to duty - but they also don't want to miss the fun of our sessions!
We were lucky enough to be joined this week by some lovely holidaying dancers. They thoroughly enjoyed the friendliness of the class and having them in the sets made it much easier for the rest of the class to learn two dances that were new to most of the rest. Well done to all who attempted Black Mountain Reel and the Aviator and even the lovely strathspey The Swan & the Tay which, despite being slower, contained the formation 'corner pass, and turn', a move unknown to most of the class. Next week I hope we'll have more people back, and I'm also looking forward to our first Monday 'beginner's class', see you then. Our first class of 2024 is tomorrow! I am so looking forward to it and I hope everyone else is too, however, I've just been recapping the trickier programme dances and I don't know what got into me when I chose them last year - they are really great dances, don't get me wrong - but potentially a little challenging for our first night back, I'm not so worried about everyone else but whether my brain can cope so soon in the season, well, we shall see; I know the class is up for anything, and there are plenty of easier dances amongst the challenges for newer and even non-dancers to enjoy, so we can resort to just doing those if necessary! Either way I know people will enjoy themselves, and if we do find things tricky it's just providing our brains with additional exercise that can only be doing us good - not to mention additional entertainment for the non-dancers by the bar! Don't forget to bring your money for Burn's Night tickets if you intend to join us for that, always a great night. This year it's in the familiar friendly surroundings of the Phoenix Club - but transformed from our usual dance venue into a tribute to Robbie - as usual a lot of hard work is going on in the background so the event itself should be seamless, luckily I don't have a lot to do with it and those that do, know what they are doing, so it should be good! See you tomorrow :-)
Well, the ceilidh is over. Our last Tuesday class attracted a very respectable number, swelled by visiting family and friends - everyone entered into the spirit of the occasion and a lot of fun and laughter ensued. More information on the evening can be found HERE or via Past Events.
Now we are heading rapidly towards Christmas and like everyone I am very short of time so I'll simply wish everyone a very merry time and an excellent Hogmanay to follow. I hope to see you next year as and when you can make it. The Tuesday social sessions restart on Jan 9th, then Monday 15th sees the restart of the 'beginner' sessions. When I return from a holiday I always feel like I've travelled in time rather than distance, once back home it doesn't actually feel like I've been away at all - whereas during the time I've been away it has seemed like month have passed because so much has been fitted in. The main reason for my trip was to attend (with friends) the Aberfeldy Highland Ball, a big charity ball held annually at Blair Atholl, a castle near Pitlochry in Scotland (see more pictures and video HERE if you are interested). It was - and always is - a fantastic experience, but this year we had the chance to stay in the area for almost a week afterwards giving us a chance to see more of the wonderful countryside. It was very cold, (-5'C at times) but we were blessed with a lovely warm place to stay and the perfect weather for brisk walks. Our super hosts having lived in the area in the past could show us some of the nicest places to go, both for walking and delicious bowls of soup! Altogether a memorable trip... but it's still nice to get home. I look forward to seeing you all on either Monday or Tuesday... or even better, both!
I never really like going away and missing any of the classes - it's fine once I'm away, but all the arrangements needed before I go sometimes makes it seem more trouble than it's worth. This time it has been made even harder by greeting some newcomers to the classes just as I'm about to go. It was lovely to see how much they enjoyed the atmosphere and the dances they tried and how welcoming the class was to beginners. Remember there are no Monday classes while I'm away but the Tuesday sessions are carrying on without me of course, because they aren't just about me! We've a volunteer leader for the sessions and the programme has just been updated with some great dances that he wants to try that we haven't done for a while, as well as familiar ones that won't tax the brain cells quite as much - I wish I was there - but I'm back in a couple of weeks. I will post pictures of the Ball I'm attending and look forward to catching up with everything that's been happening while I'm away - no doubt it will go quickly.
It's been a fortnight since I added to these blethers, of course there's been lots to say during those weeks, but no time to record it. Last week both the Monday and Tuesday classes were packed, and great fun, as people did their last minute 'cramming' for the ball. Irene was working incredibly hard in the background performing the final negotiations with the venue and ensuring that we could have access the club in the morning to do our pre-ball decorating. I was changing hats from minute to minute as I put together the seating plan poster - ready for Irene's sending the guest names - finalised the music, dug out my photo gear, as well as the decorations from storage and more. I belatedly realised that on the night the notice boards should be advertising our next events not the one we were at - cue searching for Christmas fonts for a Christmas Ceilidh poster, as well remembering to do the normal updates on the website for this week's regular dance classes.
Both dancers and non-dancers seemed to enjoy the ball. It was great fun from my point of view and with only a few exceptions the dancing went well with 2 sets up for most of the dances. Initially managing even one set seemed amazing after such an excellent meal - I'd personally like to commend the chef on his superb mushroom soup! As expected we didn't dance every dance on the programme, but after completing the first half we 'cherry picked' our favourites so we didn't run out of steam before the end. Well done everyone for keeping going until then and thank-you all those who whisked down the decorations so we didn't have to go back on Sunday. Memories and photographs of the ball can be found via the Past Events tab above. There are still some pictures to be posted so the page isn't quite complete but the initial shots are already there. The 'portraits' taken on the night will not be posted on the site, but will be sent to people individually once I've got them ready. This week it was very difficult to predict how busy the normal classes would be and it wasn't a great surprise to have fewer numbers - though still a respectable turn out. On Tuesday we had a small hiccup when the lights fused soon after we arrived - but it was sorted by the time the class started - phew. It was also lovely to be able to add a few 'new' dances to the programme and even better when they were danced well and enjoyed. We are now looking forward to the Christmas Ceilidh which we hold on the last Tuesday session before Christmas i.e. 19th December. If anyone has a 'party piece' they'd like to contribute contact me and I'll add it to the programme. The dances on the night will be to 'seasonal favourites' and very very easy to keep us jolly! But there's a few weeks to go before then so in the meantime, see you next week. What brilliant time was had at both classes this week. Monday and Tuesday sessions were really well attended - by both visitors and regulars - as usually happens close to the ball - but more importantly they were fabulous fun. Whether we dance well on Saturday 11th, or not, everyone seems to be enjoying the process of learning enormously. Everyone is telling me how they are checking out the videos of the dances and doing their best to learn them, it's certainly being reflected by the number of visitors to the website. Of course it's much better to learn a dance by dancing it, however, done properly, the videos can be really useful too - here are a few tips to using them...
Finally, just a note to congratulate our junior visitors on Tuesday, brilliant dancers the pair of them, they really smashed 'Postie's Jig' I hope they enjoyed it enough to join us again sometime, and maybe find a class back home? - and also - well done to our volunteer bar staff both of whom joined in with a dance during the night - it shows that just watching can be enough if done often enough and with attention! See you all next week Jx What a great atmosphere! We welcomed back even more visitors and managed two sets up for several dances. Both the Monday and Tuesday classes were well attended and although Tuesday, especially, became a little chaotic, and the programme was nowhere near completed, the sessions were great fun. Now that the ball is so close it is obvious that many people have been practicing so that their favourite dances will be 'all right on the night' - an excellent thing to do, and I truly appreciate the effort they are going to. Notwithstanding the practicing however, we did get into a bit of a tangle with an otherwise straight forward dance - but never mind, better to work out the problems now rather than later, we'll get it cracked next week. Dance card/programmes/cribs for the ball were given out to everyone at the class who had bought tickets, and they are now available to anyone who comes to the Monday or Tuesday classes so they can make their own notes on the dances or book a partner in advance. They will also be available on the night of course - 2 weeks & counting! See you soon.
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MeOriginated in Manchester, England: Worked almost 20 yrs in the United Arab Emirates: Lives in Cyprus. Teaches Scottish Country Dancing (RSCDS qualified 2015) -just the average life! Also loves Photography & Photoshop, Gardening, Music, Sewing, Design, Reading, computers, God, my husband & my cat (not necessarily in that order). Hates - crowds, hypocrisy, 'Reality' TV, corrupt politicians, cruelty and greed of any kind. Archives
April 2024
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