Despite the Covid-19 lockdown, the last few months have been full of activity for Johnsonville Club.
On 16 March we celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Club members turned out in force (and in green) for what turned out to be our last club night before dancing was suspended.
It was a good night to look back on, starting with a set of Irish reels for A Trip to Ireland, andfinishing with Irish Rover. It was alsofun to have another opportunity to dance The Coleraine Rant written by tutor Rod Downey for last year’s St Patrick’s day celebration.
Rod searched out lively music in Irish style, bringing a flavour of Ireland to well-known Scottish Country Dances devised around an Irish theme. Supper co-ordinator Elizabeth Ngan supplied a super supper with a green theme – ranging from healthy minted green pea dip and corn chips, to delicious green-wrapped Easter eggs. It was a good send-off to a dance-free life for the next three months.
With no idea how long we might be unable to hold club nights, we felt we needed to do something to keep our dancing community engaged. We made the decision to keep producing our weekly newsletter, much along the lines of RSCDS HQ’s Dance Scottish at Home – though obviously on a much smaller scale.
Tutor Rod provided information to keep people in dancing mode, learning more about formations, viewing dance videos, and practising their footwork. Club members Désirée Patterson, Elena Lark, Maureen Sullivan and Moira Broughton generously offered their time as video subjects demonstrating reels, reels and more reels.
Secretary Robert Vale drew on his time in Scotland to bring us interesting items on places Scottish, with a focus on the Glasgow area. John Homes continued his Dances Done at Club segment, searching out interesting facts relating to familiar dances and Kristin Downey and Loralee Hyde played their part in the background.
Perhaps the most entertaining part of the newsletter was the Scottish Connections segment, made up of articles contributed by club members. We learnt about people’s family histories, choice of tartan sash, beloved items such as Scottish songbooks, and memories of childhood.
We honoured our longstanding members and Life Members, and delved into the club’s history.
Once New Zealand reached Level 1, we were back dancing, holding our first club night on 15 June. It was hard to know how many people would return to club, so we were really pleased to have four sets on that first night back, including some of our beginners.
This year’s beginners had only been dancing for seven weeks when we had to shut up shop, and they were concerned they had forgotten much of what they’d learnt. To re-build their knowledge and confidence, Rod started club nights early to focus on basic skills and it’s really nice to see them doing so well.
Those skills stood them in good stead for their first night dancing to live music at Johnsonville’s Live Music & Tartan Night on 13 July.
The event was to have been on 6 April at Onslow College gym, with all Wellington dancers invited to attend. It was cancelled, then the hall became unavailable post-Covid, and our current club venue is too small to invite others – so we had a fine night dancing ‘at home’ instead with rousing music from musicians Aileen Logie, Hilary Ferral and Jason Morris.
from Kristin Downey, President
20 July 2020
Originally published in Kiwi News, RSCDS NZ Branch Inc. Volume 25, No 2 July 2020
