Annual Dance Traditions

What makes our annual dances so special?

Many small customs and traditions, when added together, create a night that is special to us in all sorts of ways.

First – the night

It’s always on a Saturday night, a traditional Kiwi ‘night out’. Well into the 20th century, Saturday was pay day for most New Zealand workers, and Saturday night was entertainment time for those with the money and the inclination.

That Saturday night tradition has continued since Johnsonville’s first annual dance held at Onslow College hall in 1968.

The programme and the MC

Johnsonville tutors put an emphasis on programmes that are accessible and enjoyable for everyone, and bring their enthusiasm and love of dancing and dancers to the role of MC. Special indeed.

Tutor Rod Downey as MC at the Johnsonville 50 Golden Years Celebration in 2016 Photo: Loralee Hyde

Looking back over past programmes, you can see dances falling in and out of fashion, but some have remained popular since those early days.

For example, the 1969 Annual Dance programme included dances we still do at club today, such as Duke of Perth, Wild Geese, Cadgers in the Canongate and more.

The supper – big and bountiful

Since that first annual dance in 1968, a good supper has been important, keeping spirits high, and toes a-tapping till the last dance. The club’s 1968 minute book records:

supper perfect – same next year but only 12 of sand. instead of 20 dozen. (sandwiches)

130 people attended, but clearly even they could not consume 20 dozen sandwiches, on top of everything else on offer. There’s no full list of that year’s supper, but you can see a full list of the incredible amount of food served at the 1969 annual dance.

Supper Co-ordinator Elizabeth Ngan laying out the supper at the 2019 Johnsonville/Capital City Annual Dance. Photo: Loralee Hyde

Fruit salad – we love it

I’m not sure when fruit salad started to be part of the supper offerings, but it’s definitely there to stay – we do love a refreshing fruit salad, with a little jelly and cream. We may even love it a little more these days, with jelly no longer such a regular part of our lives.

Colourful fruit salad in the ‘jewel bowls’ at the 2012 Johnsonville Annual Dance. Photo: John Patterson

Tartan – the more the better

In the early days the dance floor was filled with men in kilts, and women in white dresses and a tartan sash. There are not so many tartan sashes around now, but still enough tartan to bring Scotland to the dance floor.

Adding tartan rugs to the walls and stage reinforce that Scottish atmosphere, and since 1988, Johnsonville club’s cheerful red tartan tablecloths have beckoned us to the supper tables.

The Pièce de résistance is the club’s tartan bunting, conceived of by our 2013 beginners. They moved swiftly from concept to bunting bee, producing strings of bunting in time for the 2013 annual dance. Somehow, as soon as the bunting goes up, it feels like a celebration.

Members of the Johnsonville ‘bunting bee’ group who made the lovely club bunting in 2013 – Debbie, Deborah, Lee, Joan and Allison. Photo: Pat Reesby

Live music – we love that too

Lastly, and very importantly, the club has a long history of live music at annual dances. The first reference to live music at an annual dance (that I’ve managed to find), is to ‘Mesdames McIntyre and McGowan, and Mr McIntyre’ at the 1971 Annual Dance, then to Hugh McKenna in 1974.

From that beginning, the club’s enthusiasm for live music has made it a matter of course at our annual dances, with an extra special 5-piece band for the club’s 50 Golden Years Annual Dance in 2016.

Fabulous toe-tapping music from Lynne Scott, Don McKay, Hilary Ferral, Peter Elmes and Aileen Logie. Photo: John Patterson

Our Annual Dance is the highlight of the club year, and we aim to keep it that way. We’re especially fortunate to have club photographers and videographers who record all the fun on the night, giving us the pleasure of reliving good times past.

Kristin Downey
18 August 2022

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