Loralee Hyde: Dancing with friends across New Zealand | Johnsonville Scottish Country Dance Club

Catching-up with old friends and making new

A big part of the fun and friendship of Scottish Country Dancing is seeing the welcoming, smiling faces of dancers at Johnsonville Club or at other clubs in our region.

An added bonus of being Scottish Country Dancers is that we also get a great welcome when visiting clubs across New Zealand.

As well as the opportunity to make new friends, visiting other clubs gives us the chance to catch-up with old friends (perhaps those living in places where we’ve danced previously or dancers we’ve met at weekend schools like Hanmer Springs in July 2021 or at Summer Schools such as the 2022-2023 Auckland school).

For the experiences some Johnsonville members have enjoyed in the past at other clubs, see Rod and Kristin dancing in Hawke’s Bay and Pat Reesby in Whangarei

When I lived in Hamilton in the early 1980s, I danced at Lochiel Club. While visiting my sister Karen in Hamilton in early April (she has danced at Lochiel for many years), we went along to the Tuesday club night. Old friends I caught up with who I had danced with all those decades ago included Ruary Laidlaw and Robyn Howes. A rotation of people including Ruary and Robyn taught the dances during the evening.

To accommodate a number of new dancers from Lochiel’s beginners’ classes this year, easier dances featured on the first half of the programme, including Allemande to Go, devised by Gaye Collin from the Wellington Region for teaching the allemande to newer dancers.

In April last year, I had a great tour of the south of the South Island—to Dunedin (where I danced at Ceilidh Club), down the Catlins, over to Stewart Island and then across to Milford Sound and Te Anau. The participants in our small group from around New Zealand included Margaret from Hamilton.

Margaret started Scottish Country Dancing in February this year, taking part in Lochiel’s Beginners’ Classes. It was wonderful to dance with her as a ‘newer’ friend!

Dancing Allemande To Go with Margaret. Behind my left shoulder is tutor Ruary Laidlaw who introduced the allemande as a new progression to the beginners. Photo: Karen Hunwick

I’ve always liked the dance The Old Man of Storr as it brings back memories of the Isle of Skye which I loved visiting in 1979. The Storr is a steep rocky hill on Skye, with weirdly shaped rock pinnacles. One of the famous pinnacles is called Old Man of Storr.

The Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye. Photo: Aaron Hunwick

Dancing left hands across in The Old Man of Storr with an ‘older’ friend Robyn Howes at the left and a ‘newer’ friend Lesley at the right, who I met at the Hanmer Springs weekend school in 2021. Photo: Karen Hunwick

This was a lovely relaxing evening of fun and friendship. Thanks so much to Lochiel Club for your welcome and for the opportunity to dance with old friends and to meet new ones.

Next time you’re travelling to a different part of New Zealand, take a look at the RSCDS New Zealand Branch club directory to see what club is dancing near you and pack your shoes! It’s lovely to have fun with more of the Scottish Country Dancing family wherever you go.

Loralee Hyde
7 April 2023