Banks School of Scottish Dancing

I had 3 dancers compete at Bathurst Games last weekend. And Ceilidh went as well (but she's only mine by blood not by tuition! LOL) All 4 girls did very well. It was only Catherine's 2nd Dancing Competition! She came home with some 1sts, 2nds and 3rds! Sarah won everything except the Hornpipe, in which she got 2nd and the Jig, in which she got NUFFIN! (What DID you do in the Jig Sarah??? lol) Miss Brodie Rosa did her fling for the very first time in a competition! She made no mistakes ALL DAY LONG and she got 3rd in all her dances!! Ceilidh Jo got 2 3rds in her beginners section, one in the Seann Truibhas and one in the Lilt. Here are some shots from the day.... CATHERINE IN HER SWORDS - THATS WHY SHE IS LOOKING DOWN!! AWESOME PHOTO OF SARAH!! THE 3 BANKSIES! BRODIES WINNINGS ON THE DAY!! (AND CATHERINE ON STAGE IN THE BACKGROUND!) THE REAL BANKSIE! IN THE NEW KILT FOR THE FIRST TIME!

I received an email from a friend in Qld letting us know how her son is going in Scotland. Craig is living over there this year. Here is her email... Hi all, just a short update on how Craig is going in Scotland. I am really happy to advise that he won the UK Championship Sunday night (pics attached). We were really delighted about that as you can imagine especiallyas he gained 3rd place in the Central Scotland Championship the week before.. Craig's Dad and I are realllllllly pleased. Marg J I notice in the photo that Dougie got 6th in it as well! So that's pretty impressive! 2 Aussies in the line up!!

DANCING NEWS March 2007 Firstly, congratulations to all the dancers who have been out there competing this year. Not just for what you may have won, but on trying your best, and giving our studio a great name! I received a wonderful email from a teacher/judge in Brisbane congratulating me on the standard of our girls, its up on the Banksies blogspot. Displays Please let me know if you are able to dance at Old Government House on Sunday 27th May. It is an all day event (we do a 15min display about 4 times during the course of the day.). If you can do morning, afternoon or both, please let me know. I will have more details of exact times as soon as I receive them. The senior display gig at the Westin Hotel has fallen through. Competitions Campbelltown Competition is Sunday 20th May – Im hoping to have our beginners and primary dancers ready for this competition. The following Sunday is SDAA at Ashfield Boys HS and then the fortnight after that is St George Eisteddfod at Arncliffe. Exams

Hi Justine, Just wanted you to know that Sarah was just a delight to have in our home this weekend and she represented your studio very very admirably. She was agreeable, friendly and well-mannered and above all, we loved her cool Banksie's uniform!!!!! Sarah danced so well and was such a credit to you. Congratulations on her 6th placing in what was a very difficult championship. The section results also show what a good effort she put in. Lauren also danced very well and I know you would have been proud of her too. Congratulations on their efforts, technique and style Justine. You are doing such a good job in promoting Highland Dancing in this country. Sarah has the 3 trophies our family won last year at the Eastern Australian Championship. I've cleaned them and hope they are acceptable.I'm still paranoid about the bag thing so please let me know me know sooner than later if the maroon bag I have belongs to you. All the best for the upcoming Championship Justine. M

A biiiiiiig thankyou to my girls for their VERY SECRETIVE card they made for me! Oh My! Was I surprised!!!! And thankyou to 'The Ladies' for my beautiful flowers!!!! Here is a picture of them!!!!

Hi Justine, I had to write a story for English recently about a journey that interests me and explain what was significant about it and what insights it gave me . I wrote about the 2005 Tattoo, and then i thought that if you thought it sounded OK, you might but it on the banksies site, well here it is: In February 2005, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo left Scotland for the second time in its 54-year history, and made its way to Sydney, Australia. Over 1,300 performers would perform to 160,000 spectators over 5 nights at Sydney's Aussie Stadium, where a dramatic replica backdrop of Edinburgh Castle was build to help capture the essential magic of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. For this once in a lifetime event, 170 highland dancers were to perform, 20 were from Scotland and 150 were from Australia. I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of those 150 dancers, accompanied by four of the dancers from my studio. Our rehearsals started on the 29th of January, we arrived a

Hi Jus, This is my story of the 2004 Edinburgh Tattoo which you requested to be put onto the Banksies site. Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2004 A trip of a life time! My experience. The year leading up to the Tattoo was one of the longest years I've ever had! It was like a waiting game - I was so excited and just couldn’t wait to get over to Scotland and be a part of the Australian Edinburgh Tattoo Team! After a day and a half of flying it was such a relief to actually land at Edinburgh Airport, hear the Scottish accent and be driven by coach to Redford barracks! As soon as we got there we were introduced to our managers and supervisors and then shown to our dorms. Everyone was so jet lagged but so excited because we knew in 2 hrs time we'd be learning the choreographed dance Billy Foresyth would be teaching us. That night everyone went to sleep early while listening to the bagpipers practising on their bag pipes out side our windows (someth

Saturday lessons have become 'torture time'! A flexible, strong highland dancer makes for a champion - so we are spending a certain amount of the lesson working on strength and conditioning. We are also doing alot of drills, to work on technique and positions Here are some photos of the girls stretching & drilling the other day.........

Kirstin competed at Newcastle Competition on Saturday 3rd March. She got 2 seconds and the rest were firsts and she won the Premier Senior Title!!! Well done Kirstin!!! Here is a pic of her on stage!!