There was a great turnout and a very celebratory atmosphere at this year’s Halloween-themed club night on 2 November. Thirty-seven dancers brought the dance floor to life, and it was lovely to have former Johnsonville dancer, Pat Reesby, join the party.
Our last three Samhain celebrations have been combined with the Club’s AGM. This year the AGM was held separately, allowing us to enjoy a full night of magically mysterious dances, and wonderful music from Aileen Logie, Hilary Ferral and Jason Morris.
Rod gave us a great time as always, with lots of fun dances, including some we’ve come to know and love from previous years. Slytherin House, Ferla Mor and Ellwyn’s Fairy Glen are always crowd-pleasers. Nice also to once again dance The Scottish Werewolf named for local teacher and deviser Iain Boyd, with Samhain Magic, The Fairy Dance and Ghost Dance rounding out the programme.
Club members made a fantastic effort to dress the part this year. There were witches galore, cobwebs, spiders, bats, a devilish tutor and one very red devil, tam o’shanters, toothy vampires, robes of ochre and velvet, and colourful masks. Wall decorations and themed tablecloths added to the atmosphere.
The band went to great lengths to join in the Halloween spirit. Hilary’s brilliant effort at face painting made her unrecognisable, Jason was the serious man in black, and I hear Aileen is still finding strands of green wig hair in her accordion!
As a special treat, Aileen gave us a surprise performance of the song Dundee Ghost by Matt McGinn. It’s all about a Dundee ghost rising cold from his grave and managing to gain himself the warmth of a Glasgow ‘single end’ (a favoured end of the terrace house) by haunting the owner (lyrics here and lovely spooky YouTube video here).
Aileen also talked about the tradition of ‘guising’ in Scotland, where children go door-to-door in disguise and perform an item in return for a gift of fruit – without the threat of ‘tricks’. Good to hear a bit more about Scottish Halloween traditions from someone who’s experienced them.
Then it was on to supper itself, and yet another of Elizabeth Ngan’s amazingly creative displays of themed goodies with something for everyone. The ‘cauldron’ centrepiece contained pink hummus and GF crackers, chocolate fingers took on the role of firewood and witches’ brooms, there were monster faces with strawberry ‘tongues’, and toes made of sausage rolls complete with almond ‘toenails’. It really caused a buzz.
Thanks to the photos taken by Loralee Hyde on the night, we can all enjoy happy memories of the occasion now, and in years to come.
Kristin Downey
11 November
