Post by sheena on Feb 5, 2022 20:08:25 GMT 1
When we cancelled our New Year Ball 2022 we instead held an event on zoom entitled Desert Island Dances with members presenting and explaining the background behind video clips of their favourite dances or other dances of interest.
Our new year ball date this year was therefore a more intimate soiree on zoom with a programme of 14 dances (18 clips) selected by members as being particular favourites.
Popular favourites followed including City of Belfast, The Dancing Master (also sharing video footage of the eponymous master Bill Ireland providing mouth music for the dancing of Derek Haynes and Jennifer(‘s Jig) Wilson), The Falls of Rogie, A Trip to Bavaria, Midsummer Common, The Plantation Reel, Mairi’s Wedding (as danced by Reelers, as well as the style we are more accustomed to), and the less well known The Flying Spur and My Heather Hills.
We paid a visit to the 1992 episode of Come Dancing (in the days before it was Strictly) when a “formation dance” turned out to be the dance Schiehallion performed by a team of Scottish country dancers from Dorset, followed by a reprise of the dance by a team from Newcastle for the 2010 Children in Need charity event complete with hiking gear and rucksacks (with Louise Macdougall, wife of one of our members, as one of the musicians).
Another dance that used to appear on our programmes was the Eightsome Reel and we saw this performed by members of the Royal Family at the annual Ghillies Ball at Balmoral c1990 before we closed with the Irish Rover which was danced by our own members, firstly to the fiddle playing of Barbara Manning in the guise of Niel Gow at our 2009 Lady Nairne social and then at a dancing weekend attended by a number of our members to the singalong tunes of Ian Muir,
It was an enjoyable selection of dances (it was suggested that perhaps we had a ready-made programme for our next dance !), with the commentary from members on their choices proving interesting.
Our new year ball date this year was therefore a more intimate soiree on zoom with a programme of 14 dances (18 clips) selected by members as being particular favourites.
We opened with a dance that featured on our dance programmes earlier in our history, but not for many decades, the waltz country dance performed by our members to the music of our singing group at our Jacobite dramatisation 20 years ago.
Still with a historical perspective we were then introduced to a no-hands dance Red House, devised long before no contact dances became in vogue due to covid concerns.
Popular favourites followed including City of Belfast, The Dancing Master (also sharing video footage of the eponymous master Bill Ireland providing mouth music for the dancing of Derek Haynes and Jennifer(‘s Jig) Wilson), The Falls of Rogie, A Trip to Bavaria, Midsummer Common, The Plantation Reel, Mairi’s Wedding (as danced by Reelers, as well as the style we are more accustomed to), and the less well known The Flying Spur and My Heather Hills.
We paid a visit to the 1992 episode of Come Dancing (in the days before it was Strictly) when a “formation dance” turned out to be the dance Schiehallion performed by a team of Scottish country dancers from Dorset, followed by a reprise of the dance by a team from Newcastle for the 2010 Children in Need charity event complete with hiking gear and rucksacks (with Louise Macdougall, wife of one of our members, as one of the musicians).
Another dance that used to appear on our programmes was the Eightsome Reel and we saw this performed by members of the Royal Family at the annual Ghillies Ball at Balmoral c1990 before we closed with the Irish Rover which was danced by our own members, firstly to the fiddle playing of Barbara Manning in the guise of Niel Gow at our 2009 Lady Nairne social and then at a dancing weekend attended by a number of our members to the singalong tunes of Ian Muir,
It was an enjoyable selection of dances (it was suggested that perhaps we had a ready-made programme for our next dance !), with the commentary from members on their choices proving interesting.
There are still many more dances that we could share and a playlist from the event is being added to the messageboard so do add your own personal favourites. The final dance faded out to the music of We’re No Awa’ Tae Bide Awa’ as we hoped to be back on a dance floor soon, but having enjoyed a chance to share our favourites with fellow-attendees.
See below for more clips from the evening.