Helen, Lynne and Liz try out some tunes

On 16 June, I attended a music workshop with Lynne Scott – versatile musician, music teacher, and NZ Branch Music Adviser.

The workshop was aimed at both dancers and musicians, or talented people who are both.

It was held in Lynne’s beautiful music room at her home in Lower Hutt. With only four participants, it was disappointing that not more people had taken the opportunity to come and learn more about the music we dance to. There is definitely more to Scottish Country Dancing music than “putting on a CD and dancing to it”.

One of the participants was a very new dancer, but a talented musician; one other (me), a reasonably competent dancer, but with very sketchy music knowledge (I love music, but my technical understanding was stunted by hated piano lessons in childhood). We both had plenty of “aha!” moments during the day.

Lynne talked about such things as tempo (reel, jig, strathspey), ‘lead’ tunes, the arrangement and structures of tunes. I learnt the difference between ‘grace notes’ (the twiddly, decorative bits) and the ‘Scotch snap’ – the short (semi-quaver) note before a longer note, on the stressed note of the bar, which is characteristic of strathspey, and which makes Scottish music distinctly Scottish.

To illustrate, Lynne played various examples on the fiddle or accordion, and the two other musicians in the group played several tunes with her on the piano and double bass, to show how tunes were repeated in particular patterns.

When preparing to play for a dance there are many things for a band to consider: e.g. the kind of gathering, the state of the floor, the age of the dancers, the speed at which to play, the mood in the hall, even the ambient temperature.

In the choice of tunes, musicians have to select tunes that are similar in style within a dance, decide how to join them up, whether to have a change of key, have a ‘break’, or an extra long ‘lead note’ between 32-bar sequences, and how to phrase them to match the dance.

I came away from the workshop a little more knowledgeable about the music, but a lot more aware of all the time-consuming preparations that go into planning and arranging music for a dance programme.

The Wellington Region is very lucky to have so many skilled musicians available for our dances and classes, thanks to Lynne’s encouragement of likely prospects.

From Désirée Patterson. Originally published in Harbour City Happenings Volume 22 No. 2 June 2019

Thank you to Catherine McCutcheon for the photo

A chance remark can lead you off your chosen path … and set you up for an unexpected encounter.

While on a tour of Europe in May, my sister Karen (who is also a Scottish country dancer) and I managed to sneak in a three-day visit to Edinburgh and its surrounds including a side trip to Fife.

We’d both explored these special places on previous trips but there are always new delights to discover.

I am very fond of bird watching and photography. Hearing of my hankering to see puffins (such captivating birds), the friends we stayed with in Edinburgh arranged a boat trip for us from the fishing village of Anstruther in Fife to the Isle of May, a Scottish National Nature Reserve. With it being nesting season, we had a great chance of seeing puffins up close.

As we drove through Fife, we came upon the town of Auchtermuchty. John, our friend who was driving, casually mentioned this town was once the home of Jimmy Shand.

Loralee with Jimmy Shand (1908-2000)

I am sure John did not expect such an excited reaction from this Kiwi backseat passenger. “Jimmy Shand,” I cried out. “I love his music!”

From the time I started dancing in the mid-1970s, the tempo, clarity and energy of Jimmy Shand and His Band’s music has always appealed.

Many a time I’ve danced to Jimmy’s set of tunes for the Eightsome Reel. The De’il Amang The Tailors is a particular favourite—no matter how tired the legs are, this tune gives more spring to my step.

Another favourite is his arrangement of the traditional strathspey Braes O’Tullymet. Nowadays, I still dance to Jimmy Shand’s music as our Johnsonville Club tutor Rod Downey regularly uses his recordings. [1]

Having heard my excitement at seeing the town where Jimmy once lived, John added fuel to the fire by mentioning there’s a statue of Jimmy in Auchtermuchty.

Of course, we had to deviate off the A91 into the small town, driving up and down the narrow streets in search of Jimmy Shand. And there he was, playing his button accordion under a stand of trees.

Puffin with a catch of sand eels

Scottish Country Dancing adds flavour to our lives wherever we go. If you are ever in Fife and see the signpost to Auchtermuchty, I suggest taking a few minutes to veer from your path and meet up with Jimmy Shand.

We made it to Anstruther in time to catch the May Princess over to the Isle of May. On the boat we found out there was an estimated 92,000 puffins on the island along with hordes of other seabirds including razorbills, guillemots, Arctic terns and shags.

We had two and a half hours of bliss in this puffin paradise—and I got the close-up shot I wanted of a puffin with a beak full of sand eels to feed to its puffling.

From Loralee Hyde. Originally published in Harbour City Happenings Volume 22 No. 2 June 2019

[1] Rod Downey, Mathematics, Computer Science and Scottish Country Dancing, April 2019, p1

Click here for more about Jimmy Shand and his music

Each year as we approach winter, Johnsonville holds a themed social night with dinner and dancing for members and their families.

This year on 11 May we celebrated the international nature of the Scottish Country Dancing community, and the international diversity of our club membership.

As always it was a lot of fun with our biggest attendance yet of 36 members and their eight guests enjoying good food, good company and a fun programme of dances.

Johnsonville Club has many home-grown Kiwis of course, but they are joined by dancers with links to Australia, Austria, Canada, China, England, Fiji, Holland, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, and (a surprise on the night) Zambia.

Marking up a map of the world helped us know a bit more about each other, and it was interesting to find that some dancers started their Scottish Country Dancing lives in places like Canada, Malaysia and Singapore.

Our standard venue of St John’s Church hall was full of good cheer, helped along by Allison K’s famous mulled wine! The hall was also full of colour, decorated with tartan tablecloths and rugs, a multitude of international flags and banners, and tea-towels from round the world.

Club members dug deep to bring along their international memorabilia, whether they could attend on the night or not. Thanks everyone – especially Wendy for her huge collection of flags.

International dress added to the atmosphere. Some outfits were easily identifiable others gave the most subtle of hints – tiny wooden clogs or shamrock socks.

There were outfits from Austria, Bangladesh, China, France, Holland, India, and Japan, and others with tones of Africa and South East Asia, colours of Australia, or shades of the ‘Old Country’. And of course, there was plenty of tartan proudly worn.

An array of international outfits!

Our tutor Rod searched out themed dances, reflecting our countries of origin. Starting with Scotland, we moved on to There are no Kangaroos in Austria, Tokyo Flyer, A Trip to Holland, The British Grenadiers, Kiwi Black Magic, and The Coleraine Rant.

With no dances to be found for Singapore or Malaysia, he devised The Durian Rant for our South East Asian members. Thanks Rod for giving us a night of dancing fun we could all enjoy.

Lots of fun and laughter!

Final thanks to Allison K for all the work she put in as co-organiser and kitchen supervisor, to Loralee for her work setting up the online registration form, to photographer John P and to all those who helped on the night.

From Kristin Downey. Originally published in Harbour City Happenings Volume 22 No. 2 June 2019

More photos

Click here for more photos of this fun-filled evening

Rod’s programme

• Scotland (fractionally modified)
• There are no Kangaroos in Austria
• Tokyo Flyer
• The Durian Rant – see Rod’s The Golden Bear Collection
• A Trip to Holland (modified)
• The British Grenadiers
• Kiwi Black Magic
• The Coleraine Rant – see Rod’s The Golden Bear Collection

What might your ears be doing while your feet are busy dancing … or when you’re sitting out a dance?

Wellington contingent at the ceilidh: Natalie, Gaylia, Pat, Elaine, James, Lynne, Michele and Lee

I was lucky enough to attend the recent Queen’s Birthday Weekend Scottish Country Dancing school at Katikati, where we heard a talk by our local musician Lynne Scott, who has often played for Johnsonville dances.

Lynne was accompanied by Auckland keyboard player Sharlene Penman, and her talk covered such topics as ‘lead’ tunes, styles and structure.

I was made aware of the many hours of preparation which go into choosing the best tunes for a dance. Lynne and other musicians try to match the phrasing of a tune to the formations of each dance, making it easier for us to remember ‘what comes next’.

The ceilidh band

We had a ceilidh evening at the school, and Lynne and Sharlene’s item showed just how versatile they are. They played Puttin’ on the Ritz; the rhythmic patterns of this 1920s Irving Berlin number are said to be incredibly complex.

‘Nibbles’ at the ceilidh!

The name Katikati refers to ‘nibbles’ and many ceilidh costumes reflected this theme. Lynne’s husband James became a red hot pepper.

Scottish Country Dancing weekend schools are well worthwhile; I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Katikati.

Besides classes, a Saturday night ball and the ceilidh, there was time for a dip in the warm thermal waters of Sapphire Springs. I wish we had them in Wellington!

From Pat Reesby

John Homes: Afternoon dancing
Daytime dancing: Tuesday 11 June

John Homes: Afternoon dancing

From late in 2018, we heard that Gaylia Powell, from Ngaio Club, was organising some sessions of dancing during the afternoons, for those who would be able to so attend.

The sessions would be for experienced dancers, taught in the first instance by Catherine McCutcheon, on two Tuesday afternoons a month, at St John’s Church Hall, Johnsonville.

I was able to attend three of the four sessions last year. The first session was straightforward enough, with dances well within the capabilities of most dancers with a couple of years’ experience. But this was just Catherine’s evil plan to lull us all into a false sense of security.

From the second session, the gloves were off. Some of these dances were hard. They were good, enjoyable dances once you could get them down and going, but it was a tough time getting there.

Catherine told us that she would not be looking at what our feet were doing, presumably as long as they got us to where we were supposed to be. This was just as well, because often we were using all our brain power to work out where we needed to go, leaving none to consider the manner of our going.

There have been two sessions so far this year. Catherine has not attempted to break us in gently, but has thrown us into some really difficult dances from the beginning. When I say that the dances have been hard, this is in the sense of ‘Ensure-Brain-Is-In-Gear-Before-Engaging-Feet’.

They have not been more physically demanding than a lot of the dances popular at Saturday night events, and none of them have been prolonged memory tests.

With all these mentally demanding dances, one might expect a fair number of mistakes. Mistakes were made, some of them by me. However, a good sense of humour on everybody’s part has meant that the mistakes could be laughed about, and then onwards, to the next mistake.

If you are wondering whether these sessions might be for you, what would you need? You will need a fair amount of dancing experience. For most people, about four years minimum would be needed, and that is, of course, four years of dancing regularly, not just time since you started. It would pay to check with Catherine and your club tutor.

Although the dances are not (usually) very physically demanding, you will need a certain level of physical fitness to get through them. While footwork is not an issue as long as you can get to where you need to be, you will be expected to show a good understanding of phrasing and covering, and to dance fast or slow as the dance requires.

Last but not least, you will need a sense of humour. Mistakes will be made, some of them by you, and you will need to able to laugh at them.

From John Homes (dancing Foxhill Court in the photo above on 11 June). Originally published in Harbour City Happenings Volume 22 No. 1 March 2019

Daytime Dancing: Tuesday 11 June

Dancing Bon Accord

Seven Johnsonville Club members – John H, Désirée, Pat, Maureen, Moira B, Hilary and Loralee (photographer) – took part in the daytime session for experienced dancers on 11 June at St John’s Church Hall in Johnsonville.

Led by Maureen Robson, we danced four interesting John Drewry dances with lots of fun and laughter (along with a few mistakes as mentioned in John’s article above)!

• Bon Accord
• The Clootie Well
• Foxhill Court
• Dunblane Drummer (alternative name is Alex Doig’s Jig)

Click here for more photos of the afternoon

Find out more about the daytime dancing sessions for experienced dancers

See details of the general sessions of daytime dancing

A good turnout of club members farewelled Don and Judy Keats on Monday 20 May.

Maureen gave a brief speech and a bounteous supper with two cakes and fruit was on offer along with lots of smiles and fond farewells.

Judy and Don are moving to their retirement home on the Kapiti Coast, and will take up membership of Waikanae Scottish Country Dance Club.

They’ve been members and very regular attendees at Johnsonville since 2014, helping behind the scenes whenever asked at both club and other events as well as volunteering to distribute posters for our beginners’ classes.

Thank you both for your help and your friendship on the dance floor. We will miss you. Please come back and visit when you can.

Good luck and happy dancing in your next phase of life.

Thanks to John Patterson for the lovely photo.

“Thank you all for making our 5 years of Scottish Country dancing so much fun. We’ve really enjoyed being part of the club and all its activities. We’ll be dancing at the Waikanae club from now on, but we’re sure our paths will cross in the future; maybe in a cross-over reel! Thank you.” Don and Judy Keats

Ngaio is always the first club in the Wellington Region to hold their annual Saturday night dance, with a good crowd at Ngaio Town Hall making for a great night on 4 May.

More than ten Johnsonville Club members were on the floor, enjoying their night’s dancing to music by Aileen Logie, Don McKay and Johnsonville Club member Hilary Ferral. Among them was new dancer Sandy Zang, as well as quite a few of our experienced dancers.

Maureen was the Advanced Class tutor at the 1989-1990 Summer School in Hamilton including Johnsonville dancers John Homes (top row, right), the late Jim Crawford (middle, second from right) and Loralee Hyde (bottom, right).

A very special feature of the night was a presentation of a RSCDS Branch Award by New Zealand Branch President Elaine Laidlaw to long-serving Tawa tutor Maureen Robson – for outstanding service to Scottish Country Dancing. Many congratulations Maureen.

Tawa Club secretary Désirée Patterson (also a Johnsonville Club member), reported full details of the award.

Maureen’s contribution to Scottish Country Dancing has been considerable, including:

• Tawa tutor for 35 years, being one of the Region’s longest serving teachers
• Serving on the Wellington Region Committee for a number of years
• Organising Region Weekend Schools
• Teaching Teacher Training classes on behalf of the New Zealand Branch, and mentoring numerous candidates studying for their teaching certificates
• Always willing to provide advice, support and encouragement to others, especially newer teachers
• Teaching at a number of New Zealand Branch Summer Schools, numerous Region classes and Weekend Schools throughout New Zealand
• Devising many dances, some of which have been published in RSCDS Books
• Maintaining the New Zealand Branch Memorial Book.

Maureen was acknowledged for her contribution at the Johnsonville 50 Golden Years Celebration in 2016

Maureen and husband Alan were Johnsonville Club members in years gone by, also tutoring and serving on the committee, so we too have benefited from their service to Scottish Country Dancing.

Thank you Maureen.

Rod and Kristin with the Rutherford Medal

During an interview with Radio New Zealand following his award of the Rutherford Medal by the the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2018, Johnsonville Club tutor Rod Downey was asked why, as a mathematician, he was interested in Scottish Country Dancing and why he thinks this form of dancing appeals to people in maths and sciences.

Rod has written a piece as a discussion on these points that simply reflects his experiences and views as a dancer, a teacher, and a deviser. These experiences are all intertwined.

Read his article by clicking Mathematics, Computer Science and SCD Rod Downey April 2019

Rod’s article covers his thoughts on:

• The SCD experience
• Music and SCD
• So what has this got to do with maths?
• Devising
• Social dancing
• The core
• Novelty
• There are many ways to like SCD
• His own dances
• Teaching dances
• His novel dances

Rod appreciating the fine efforts of both musicians and dancers at the Johnsonville April 2019 Tartan Night

Find out more details of Rod’s dances and instructions

Our newer dancers

Johnsonville dancers were treated to a night of Irish-themed dances and grand tunes on Monday 18 March – only a day late for St Patrick’s Day.

New and not-so-new dancers took up the challenge to ‘wear green for St Patrick’s Day’ and filled the hall with many shades of green and a lot of enthusiasm.

Supper continued the theme with green-coated chocolate, and corn chips and guacamole on offer, thanks to supper co-ordinator Elizabeth Ngan.

Tutor Rod Downey searched out a programme of interesting and fun dances with Irish names or Irish connections, and paired them with thumping good Irish music.

The Goat Fell Gallop got us all laughing as we galloped, then it was on to Rory O’More (thank you Edith for that suggestion), Lady Glasgow, The Wild Geese, City of Belfast, St Patrick’s Day (of course), The Orchards of County Armagh and The Irish Rover to finish.

Wearing green for St Patrick’s Day!

We also danced the ‘world premiere’ of Rod’s newest dance The Coleraine Rant.

It was written for the occasion, as a beginner-friendly dance featuring poussette, and it got the thumbs up. The title gives a nod to Coleraine in Ireland, and New Zealand’s famous Te Mata Coleraine wine. See the dance instructions here

This year more than 20 new dancers have become members of Johnsonville Club. This was a great opportunity to share another aspect of Scottish Country Dancing with them, through the fun atmosphere of a theme night.

For our longer-standing dancers there was the excitement of some novel dances and new and different music. Visitors from Capital City Club added to the occasion, together with a foreign exchange student who bravely took the floor for her first go at Scottish Country Dancing

The bonus for everyone was the experience of trying out a newly devised dance hot off the press. Thank you Rod for delivering a programme which had something for everyone.

See more of Loralee Hyde’s photos of our beginners and St Patrick’s night celebrations 

From Kristin Downey. Originally published in Harbour City Happenings Volume 22 No. 1 March 2019 and Kiwi News Volume 24 No 1 April 2019

When Austrians Katharina and Thomas moved to New Zealand and settled in Johnsonville, they had no idea they were about to become part of the local Scottish Country Dancing community. Here is their story in their own words.

“When we came to Aotearoa / Wellington to stay, there were a lot of things we had expected – nice people, wonderful nature, the sea, silver ferns, green hills, even wind and earthquakes. And then there was the unexpected.

One of them is that every Monday, around 7 p.m. we get ready for Scottish Country Dancing. As Austrians who had been living in Vienna for a couple of years, you would expect us to be doing the waltz or maybe some exotic Austrian folk dance like Schuhplattln. But no, we are now Scottish Country dancers.

Why Scottish Country Dance? We wanted to do something locally, something fun for ourselves, as well as getting to connect to people. In early 2018 we heard radio ads at a local radio station and read an article in the newspaper, that new dancers are welcome at the Scottish Country Dance club in Johnsonville. Heading for the first night, we were wondering, would this be something for us? Neither of us have any ties to Scotland, nor are we passionate dancers.

So we went. And we stayed. What do we like about it? First of all the people – it is a really tight knit but at the same time open community, with people from different backgrounds, different descent, different ages, and all really nice, helpful, and having fun. Then there is dedication.

Dedication from our tutor Rod who knows all the nitty-gritty about the dances and the music and the history. Dedication from the whole club team who organise the practice nights and open dance nights. Dedication from all the experienced dancers who help the less experienced.

Then, the dancing. It is a holistic experience – your body and your brain are challenged equally. That creates a good feeling. Even when you start the evening tired from a long and busy day, you leave at the end with a feeling of happiness and lightness. Kiwis in kilts – we like it, we do it.”

Following the Christmas-New Year break, Katharina and Thomas are looking forward to the start of the 2019 dancing year, getting back in touch with all their dancing friends and welcoming this year’s new dancers in February.

Beginners’ Classes 2019

You don’t need a partner or a kilt, just a desire to have fun, meet people and dance to toe-tapping Celtic music.

Find out more about Johnsonville Scottish Country Dance Club beginners’ classes here or contact Elaine 027 272 5637, or Kristin and Rod 478 4948.