Banks School of Scottish Dancing

Monday night saw Ashley, Connor and Darcy (and I) traveling across Sydney to Turramurra Masonic Hall for their charity christmas night, in honour of St Andrews Day.

The children danced beautifully, and were much loved.

In the first bracket they did a Highland Fling Trio, then Darcy did her Pas de Basques and Highcuts, Connor did the Flora, Ashley did the Blue Bonnets, Darcy did Pas de Basques and Ashley finished the set with the Village Maid. The Village Maid went down a treat, I used Dougies music 'Good Times With The Wilson' which has a beautiful Village Maid track that plays Waltzing Matilda for the last two steps. The audience sang along!

After a yummy dessert we moved along to the second bracket.

Darcy opened the event with the Sword Dance - very good awe aspect to have a tiny girl doing the Gillie Callium over swords bigger than she is! Then Connor did the Seann Triubhas in his tartan jeans, Ashley did the Scotch Measure, Darcy did the Lilt and Connor finished up the night with his funky jazz dance, Still Rock and Roll to me, which had the audience clapping and singing along.

It was a lovely night, and the children received a gift of Tunnock Tea Cakes each as a thank you. (they went down very well!)

We do love dancing at events such as these. It is important to instill in the dancers the value of community.

On Monday night just passed Kirstin had to present her report to the NSWSCHDInc regarding her trip to Scotland last year.

Kirstin has permitted me to put her speech up on our blog.

Thanks K.

I have always dreamed of dancing in Scotland. One of my long term goals has always been to dance in the country in which Highland Dancing originates. Until August last year, that is all it was for me, a dream and a hope that someday it would happen. Without the help of the BBM Scholarship that might still have been the case.

On the 4th of September 2008 I received a much anticipated email from OzScot Australia, informing me that I had been accepted as 1 of the 45 dancers to represent Australia in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2009. The opportunity to dance in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been something I have always wanted to do since I was 9, always telling people that one day I was going to dance on the Castle Esplanade.

Receiving an email from BBM informing me that I was the nominee for the Highland Dancing Scholarship early March 2009 was something that made me feel that all my goals were now possible. Being awarded a grant of $7000 made it possible for me to travel over to Scotland to participate in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It also ment that I had the opportunity to stay in Scotland when most of the OzScot team departed for home. I decided that with the money not only would I be able to travel to Scotland for the EMT, but I would also sit my Members Highland Exam, take classes from a Scottish teacher and compete in some Highland Games.

On the 30th of July 2009, I left Australia to achieve my goals and dreams. We wasted no time - being driven straight to Redford Barracks for rehearsals the day after our arrival. Our first week was full of long intense rehearsals while Billy Forsyth taught us the dance he had choreographed for the Tattoo that year. Being the 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns, naturally making that the Tattoo’s theme for 2009, we were telling the story of Tam O’Shanter. We had to play the character of the witches in the tale; it was exciting to be able to have a theatrical aspect added to the dance, a character to play each night. Before we began to move our rehearsals from the gym at Redford Barracks to Edinburgh Castle, Billy warned us that there was a 20ft drop from the top of the Castle to the bottom of the Esplanade and that part of our choreography would take some practice to get to our positions in time. When we arrived and were able to see the Esplanade ourselves, most of us didn’t believe what Billy had told us. However, after one practice all our doubts faded – it was going to take ALOT of practice and hard work to get from one position to another.

It wasn’t long before our second dress rehearsal, which also marked our first performance with an audience. It was time for us to get all dressed up and into character – the addition of crazy hair and make-up made it so much easier to become the character of a witch than it had been during our rehearsals. With much excitement we all waited for the jets to fly over the Castle and to hear the sound of the canons that marked the commencement of the Tattoo. It seemed such a long time before we were told we needed to make our way out of our rest area and to get into our lines to make our way under the stands. This marked the first out of many times both the Australian and the Scottish Dancers warmed up to the music of the Swiss Army Central Band. But soon enough it was our time to take the spotlight as we transformed the Castle Esplanade into the haunted Auld Kirk Alloway, once we heard the sound of thunder we were all in character, slowly creeping out onto the darkened Esplanade. As the music began to increase in speed; the lights increased and we could now see our audience, it was a moment I will never forget, the smile never once left my face. We performed on the Castle Esplanade 25 times, infront of a crowd of 9000 each night. The adrenaline pumped quickly every night as soon as I placed my foot within the sight of the crowd, I enjoyed every moment that I was out infront of our audience, and I cherished every moment of it.

As well as our performances at the Castle, the Australian team also performed in 4 Satellite Tattoo’s where we performed Choreography by Cheryl Roach – Streaming Reels and Other Stories. These Satellite Tattoo’s were spread throughout our duration in Scotland, we performed at George Square in Glasgow, Linlithgow Palace, Dumfries House in Ayrshire and in Jedburgh. This was an excellent opportunity for the Australian dancers to show what we could do as a team, show Scotland why we were chosen to travel to Edinburgh for the Tattoo..
Eventually we came to the conclusion of the Tattoo; our final performance was on the 29th of August. There were many tears as we came off from our last performance and got ourselves ready for the finale. We had made close friends with the Scottish team and nobody wanted to say our goodbyes. As we began to dance to Auld Lang Syne for the last time, we all found our smiles again when we turned toward the Castle to find that the Top Secret Drum Corps joined in with our Pas De Basques.
Being apart of the cast for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo made me realise that if you want to achieve something, you must be focused, committed and disciplined; or you will never reach your goal. I had dreamed of dancing infront of Edinburgh Castle for 10 years, and now it’s not a dream – it’s a memory, one that I will never forget.
On the 30th of August, I made my way to Ayr, where I would take lessons with Aileen Robertson in the lead up to my Members – Highland Examination. For the past few years I have been helping teach at Justine’s studio as an Associate Teacher, it’s something that I instantly enjoyed. I loved the feeling that came with being able to pass on something you have a passion for to someone else. Since then another one of my goals has been to become a dance teacher and to someday open my own studio. When I received the Scholarship from BBM, I thought about all the things that I could achieve during my time in Scotland – it occurred to me that it would be so special to me if I received my teachers certificate from the very country that Highland dancing originates. After a few hard working dance classes with Aileen, I made my way to Peterhead to set my Examination on the 4th of September. Although I knew that I was confident with my theory and the technical side of Highland dancing due to my student teaching back home, I was still very nervous as the time for my Exam approached. My nerves were soon put to rest after the conclusion of the Exam when my examiner Rhona Lawrence told me that I had nothing to worry about. On the 25th of November, I received a letter informing me that I was now a member of the UKA and I had successfully completed my Members – Highland Exam.

On the 5th of September I travelled to Braemar for the Braemar Highland Gathering. This was one dance competition that I felt very honoured to be dancing at for a few reasons. Firstly, Braemar hosts one of the only dance competitions that I know of that you must be accepted to dance based on your results in competitions throughout the past year. Secondly, the reason that you must be accepted and cannot just enter is because it’s the only dance competition that the Patron is Her Majesty the Queen. The atmosphere at the Gathering was amazing, about halfway through the Gathering; the Queen arrived to watch over the games from the Royal box. The thing that made this even more special for me was not only was the Queen present at a Gathering I was dancing at, but the Royal box is situated infront of the Highland Dancers, and I was 1 of the first 3 dancers to perform the swords for her. There is no way to explain the feeling that I felt while on stage for my swords, it was a phenomenal experience that I will never forget.

On the 6th of September I was entered in the Blairgowrie Highland Games, unfortunately due to the amount of rain Scotland received that summer the Highland Gathering was flooded out and therefore cancelled. So instead of going straight back to Ayr like we had planned, we decided to see a little more of Scotland than we had once planned. We decided to travel up to Inverness before returning our caravan in Ayr. I had always thought that Inverness was beautiful, but you really have no idea what it’s like until you’re on the Loch itself. We went on a Jacobite Cruise, which took us on a cruise across the beautiful Loch Ness as well as on a tour of Urquhart Castle and inside the Lochness Exhibition Centre.

When we returned to Ayr, my dad took the opportunity to show me the sights relating to the story we told in our dance at the EMT. My dad grew up not too far from Kirk Alloway, so I had to chance to go to Burns Cottage where Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759, as well as go to a hotel that my uncle used to work at that has the most beautiful fireplace in the foyer – this fireplace has the story of Tam O’Shanter carved above it, it was amazing to see. My dad also took me to the scene of the climax of the story, which was also the end of our dance, where Tam escapes the witches by crossing over water where the witches cannot follow. This famous bridge being the Brig O’Doon which is also known as Tam’s Brig. It was fascinating to be able to see all these sights when I had spent a month learning and then telling the story to the audiences that watched the EMT.

On the 10th of September we decided to make our way to Selkirk, so that we could visit the Dunsdale Mill which is where Dalgliesh produces their tartans. Most of the tartans I have had have been purchased from Dalgiesh, so it was amazing to be able to go inside and see the tartan mill. There has been a tartan that I have wanted for my Aboyne since I was nine; my mum had always told me that if I won a championship that she would buy it for me. Unfortunately, due to problems with injuries this goal of mine is still left unfulfilled but with only a few more days in Scotland left I decided that I could buy the tartan I have wanted for almost 11 years. The tartan I am referring to is now in the process of being made into my new Aboyne, which I am very excited about wearing for the first time at Champion of Champions in Queensland.

One opportunity I had while in Scotland that I am very thankful for was the chance to meet my dad’s side of the family for the first time. I had talked to them all on the phone many times over previously, but to finally have the chance to go to Ayr and meet them was amazing. With only a few more days in Scotland to go we made our way to Glasgow for the last part of my trip. On the 12th of September I was entered to dance in a competition in Glasgow, regrettably I was unable to compete due to illness; however I had the opportunity to watch my sister compete in Scotland. She did very well and made us all proud. But every trip comes to an end eventually, and on the 14th of September I departed from Glasgow airport for a long flight home. Even though I loved every bit of Scotland, 6 weeks is a long time to be away from home and I eagerly waited for the moment we arrived back in Sydney.

The BBM Scholarship helped me gain some memories that I will cherish forever. I was able to achieve my remaining goals for my dancing – those being to become a Highland Dance teacher and to dance in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo – as well as having some amazing experiences on the way such as dancing for the Queen and meeting my family.
Thanks to the BBM I have now taken what was a childhood hobby to a professional level and had an experience I will never forget. This is an experience that I would have been unlikely to enjoy without their assistance.