Bridge Festival 2022 - June 4 and 5
Gleneagles at the Bridge Festival
We had a great time at this years Bridge Festival. The Festival was very well attended - and the rain held off. We promoted Scottish Country dancing and ScotFest 2022 in the UK Pavilion. It was encouraging to see so many people enjoying and taking pictures as we rehearsed outside the Pavilion. Our performance on the Cultural Dance stage was magnificent. Well, you can be the judge by watching the videos.
Special thanks to Alison for getting the dancers ready, to the dancers for your hard work, and to all of our members who attended our table promoting Scottish Country Dancing during the day.
Peterborough Chorister by Simon Scott
Peterborough Chorister was devised in honour of my father, the Reverend Canon Eric Walter Scott. As a young boy Eric entered King's School in Peterborough and sang in the choir twice daily, eventually becoming head chorister. The school is part of the Peterborough Cathedral and was founded in 1541 by Henry VIII and still operates at its Park Road campus. Thereafter Eric attended Saint John's College at nearby Cambridge University as a choral scholar.
My mother and father met at Peterborough Cathedral at the age of fourteen. When I was last in Peterborough, I sprinkled a mixture of my father's and mother's ashes at the centre of each of the four pieces of lawn in the centre of the garden in the aerial photo shown below.
Here then is Peterborough Chorister danced by the Gleneagles Dancers of West Vancouver. The deviser is dancing as second man. Eye-level videoing follows the 3X-through videoing from above. The dance includes a couple of unique and interesting figures.
About Peterborough
Peterborough (pop. 202,100) is a cathedral city in the northwest corner of England's Cambridgeshire and is in fact the largest city in that county, larger indeed than the better-known university city Cambridge (pop. 158,400 including 29,300 students). Peterborough was traditionally within Northamptonshire but ended up in Cambridgeshire as a result of that 1975 major reorganization of British counties and their boundaries which so greatly affected Scotland as well.
Peterborough is located along the hundred-mile River Nene, which flows into the Wash, an arm of the North Sea, thirty miles downstream....
Peterborough Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of St. Peter (thus the city's name), St. Paul, and St. Andrew (whose statues look down from the three gables above the arches of its famous West Front) is primarily a Norman-architecture structure of the 12th century, and it is one of the three major 12th-century English cathedrals, along with Durham and Ely, to have remained largely intact since its original construction..
Peterborough has its own Scottish Country Dance Branch
Gleneagles Ball 2019
The 56th Gleneagles Ball was a very enjoyable event. Thank you to the 105 dancers who attended - including the 20 dancers from outside the Vancouver area, the 22 dancers attending the ball for the first time and the 15 dancers from the Dunvegan Dance Academy in Maple Ridge.
The grand march was ably led by Simon Scott and our piper Mike Chisholm. We are very thankful to Mary Murray for her splendid work as dance master of ceremonies. One of the dance highlights was the 'Lady of Wishaw'' - a dance devised by Simon Scott and dedicated to May Loudon - a longtime teacher at Gleneagles. The Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra was once again in very fine form.
We thank everyone responsible for organizing the Gleneagles ball and appreciate your efforts in making it the highlight of our dancing year.
Fall Tea Dance October 26
The Gleneagles Fall Tea dance was a highly enjoyable event for the sixty four dancers who attended. Six dancers from Pat Johnson’s youth group performed for us at the break, to the delight of the audience. Thank you! As well, we were glad to see Simon Scott back on the dance floor and looking in fine form. Congratulations to Ann Ferries for winning the Grand Raffle Prize - A Night at the Fairmont.
We are very grateful to Heather Fawkes and the whole Fall Dance team for bringing food, organizing the kitchen, selling dance and raffle tickets, setting up the sound system, tables and chairs, and printing the beautiful program posters. It was an impressive display of organization and team work.
A special thank you goes to Louise Murphy for doing a great job briefing the dances - and to all of the dancers who attended.
Summer Barbeque 2019
A Beautiful Day on July 20
We had a beautiful day for this year's barbeque with approximately 60 people attending. The barbeque was a great chance to reconnect with our dancing friends - old and new.
Our heartfelt thanks to May Loudon for hosting us once again. Her gardens were beautiful. Special thanks also to Helene and Douglas for organizing the event and to all those helped make it a success. The barbeque team of Robert, Paul, and Ann did an exceptional job and deserve a special mention.
Here are some of the barbeque highlights.
LIVE AUCTION
Auctioneer Simon did a masterful job and the auction raised $1,600 for club funds. Congratulations to the successful bidders - Heather Fawkes (Whistler weekend), Keith Errington (Boat Cruise), Jeff Peterson (Dinner and Fireworks), and Susan Haug (Scotch tasting and Dinner). The club thanks everyone who donated the auction items – Ursel, Frankie, Douglas and Helene, Drum and Pat..
JOHN FREELAND MEMORIAL SPORTS TOURNAMENT
Norm Haug organized and managed our first Bocce Ball competition this year. Jeff Peterson and Gillian Muir emerged victorious from the 4 round team knock out team competition. Their names inscribed on the impressive Freeland cup.
Bridge Festival - West Vancouver Ambleside Park June 1, 2019
A Wonderful Community Day
We had a great deal of fun performing De'il Amang the Tailors, White Cockade, and Reel of the Royal Scots at the Bridge Festival Dance stage in Ambleside Park. The weather was perfect - and there were lots of spectators watching.
Thanks to all of the dancers who participated. Susan Haug and Simon Scott deserve special mention for getting us organized for this event. Thanks also to Helene Nelson who took care of the music and Norma Errington who videoed the dances.
Gleneagles Club Party - February 13
A Valentine's Classic
We all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who brought food and to Simon for selecting just the right Valentine inspired dances
THE 2019 BURNS SUPPER - VANCOUVER BRANCH - JANUARY 19
The 2019 Burns Supper was highly enjoyable. Special thanks to Jennifer Shearman and her team for orchestrating the event. Drum Cavers (dinner MC) and Mary Murray (dance MC) did an outstanding job and the speeches were excellent. The demonstration team, led by Kay Sutherland, provided superb entertainment before the dancing commenced and at the break.
A TRIP TO THE ZILLERTAL by ROSE POWELL
Well Done Rose
Rose was inspired to devise this dance by her trip to the Zillertal (a region in the Austrian Tirol) last August. The Zillertal begins at village Strass and ends at the village Mayrhofen with the Glorious Hintertüx. There is a promenade that goes from village to village. Rose's dance captures the hiking, jogging, cycling and social activity that the Zillertal is famous for.
A History of Lady Aberdeen by Simon Scott
Lady Aberdeen, as she became in 1877, when marrying Lord Aberdeen, the 6th Earl and 1st Marquess of Aberdeen, was certainly a most significant figure of her time.
