I counted ten Johnsonville members dancing at the Lower Hutt Dance on Saturday 3 September, plus club musician Aileen who was on stage playing accordion for us the whole night long, along with member Hilary.
The dance was held in the Knox Church Hall in Lower Hutt, plenty of space for six sets in three rows. The decorations were all tartan, with banners, informative pictures of the clan tartans and tartan swags across the front of the stage. A huge ‘open book’ at the lower end of the hall displayed the night’s programme.
On the stage as well as Aileen Logie, the band were Hilary Ferral (fiddle), Jason Morris (keyboard) and Terry Bradshaw (percussion). They provided glorious music for the whole night’s dancing, they must have been exhausted by the end.
The members of Lower Hutt Club made us visitors feel very welcome.
Everyone went well in spite of a programme with four of the total of seventeen dances marked with two stars for ‘only dance this one if you know it well’ and another three with one star for ‘find a good partner’.
Damon Collin MC’d the night with clarity as well as wit. For the last but one dance before supper he said that “the Weasley family in the Harry Potter stories were in the stonemasonry trade. Now we will dance The Weasley Pavers”. In spite of that, we all managed The Paisley Weavers.
St Bernard’s Waltz preceded a shift into the spacious foyer for supper. There was plenty of tea and coffee although we had been warned that the hot water boiler had failed, as well as the dishwasher. There was lots to eat as well and we all staggered back to the hall to work off our gluttony to Seton’s Ceilidh Band.
The night ended with The De’il Amang the Tailors followed by some music for stretching and easing sore muscles in a circle and the singing of Auld Lang Syne. We had enjoyed a wonderful night’s dancing, many thanks to Lower Hutt.
Your roving reporter had to miss dancing the vigorous and complicated Momentum in order to take some photos of the Johnsonville dancers. I have to admit I did not mind at all!
Robert Vale
8 September 2022
Photos: Robert Vale
