Last year, Johnsonville Club member Désirée Patterson gave us a personal account of the Summer Schools she has attended and what they involve including classes, Hogmanay, the President’s Ball and other social occasions, and optional activities.
Below, Désirée shares her experiences of cycling to and from class with Hilary Ferral, also a Johnsonville Club member, at the recent Cambridge Summer School.
Désirée on the cycle track alongside the Waikato River in Cambridge
The last of the pre-Summer School newsletters suggested: “Definitely bring your bike if you can, for cycling around the campus. There is a cycle track from the school to the Cambridge township”. That sounded like an excellent idea!
Hilary and I were planning to travel to Cambridge in her car, and she emailed me: “Are you going to take your bike to Cambridge?” So John suggested we take our (non-e) folding bikes.
On Boxing Day, I met up with Hilary to check that the bikes fitted in her car, and we went for a short pedal, to see how she liked riding a ‘foldie’.
The venue for Summer School was St Peter’s School in Cambridge. What a fabulous campus! It is vast, with many lovely buildings, beautiful manicured gardens and lots of trees, and wide open spaces.
The class we had both enrolled in (Advanced Low Impact) was meeting at Cambridge Primary School, in the township, about 5 km away. On the first morning, we set out quite early because we were not sure how long it would take us to get to class, or even where the cycle track to Cambridge started from!
We eventually found the start of the track, tucked away beyond a car parking area by the Velodrome. A nice wide, sealed track took us down towards the Waikato River. It was quite exhilarating to zoom down the winding track, which flattened out after a long downhill. Little ups and downs along the way went through farmland, with some cattle and lots of pūkeko. But at the back of my mind was the thought “we went down such a long way, we will have to start climbing soon”. And so it was.
I usually ride an e-bike because I am not good at climbing hills. But we had brought the non-electric bikes, so I would have to rely on my own internal motor and leg-power to get me up the hill.
The road up to town level was relatively short, but steep! I think I managed to pedal up for about three metres, before I stalled and had to walk the rest of the way. But even walking and pushing my bike was a mission. I maintain that I am a Dutchie, a flatlander, and was never designed to climb up hills! (Having a somewhat defective ‘motor’ – leaky heart valve – doesn’t help either.)
Hilary on the cycle track with one of the “little up and downs” behind her. The real hill climbs were much steeper!
Hilary, meanwhile, did very well and got almost to the top before she had to give in and walk. There were two pretty big climbs, and while I was huffing and puffing my way up, she very patiently waited for me. By the end of the week, she got to the top without having to get off and walk.
After a very hard-working class, we had the prospect of biking back. Knowing that the lovely long downhill at the start would translate into a horribly long uphill slog going back, we were not keen to go back the way we came. So we found our way to the main road, and biked home along the flat!
We biked to class every day, except on the last day, I decided that I really couldn’t do any more cycling. I had danced far too many of the dances the night before, at the President’s Ball, and my calves were so sore I could hardly walk, let alone bike. And I knew that our teacher Melvyn Short would make us work hard at class, so I chickened out. Hilary heroically decided she would be OK biking, and she got there before I and the rest of the class arrived on the bus.
It was surprising that we were the only attendees to bring our bikes to Summer School. After the suggestion in the newsletter, I would have thought that lots more people might have done so. The only people we saw biking around the campus were some of the local organisers.
The track down towards the Waikato River is part of a much longer track, Te Awa River Ride, which stretches from Ngaruawahia to Karapiro. John and I cycled parts of that track some years ago (on our e-bikes!). You can read more about that in my blog
Our tutor Rod Downey talks about Scottish Country Dancing classes and schools and the experiences he and Kristin have had.
How we began dancing
Kristin began dancing in Singapore in the early 1980s when I had my first ‘real job’ lecturing at the National University of Singapore and Kristin was an expat wife. She went back to dancing in 1991 after both our children were born here in Wellington, joining the beginners’ class at Johnsonville Club.
At the same time I went back to playing volleyball, immediately sprained my ankle (yet again) and quit. Then on Easter Monday 1991, with no club night running at Johnsonville, Kristin dragged me along to dancing at Linden Club saying ‘you might like this’.
With the help of baby-sitters in those early years, Kristin and I started regular dancing with the Johnsonville Club and never looked back. To learn faster we also each danced individually at a second club.
Rod, Loralee Hyde and Kristin from Johnsonville dancing in a demonstration set at the 1994 Wellington Anzac Weekend School. Dances: Argyll Strathspey, Mrs Stewart’s Jig, Rose of Glamis
As beginners
Early in 1991, we both went to the beginners’ class run by Ian Simmonds, tutor at Linden Club. This was a typical beginners’ class with a group of new dancers (maybe a set or so) all of more of less the same standard.
Ian worked on the basic steps and formations in a very concentrated way. I distinctly remember him working on Pas de Basque, emphasising the use of the knee and the flexing of the ankles to gain rhythm. I remember mine was all wrong at the time.
Having the opportunity to work on this in a concentrated session was invaluable. When else do you get time to work in a small group on your steps and basic formations? If you are new dancer and see the chance to go to a Region Class then go: they are really helpful.
As intermediates
We went to a nice class with Damon Collin during the 1992 Easter Weekend School in Wellington. This was a weekend school run by the region, for three days of a long weekend.
From memory, the classes were divided into the usual levels, new, intermediate, advanced and maybe advanced technique. Of course, now there tend to be other categories, like advanced social, low impact, high impact etc.
With my usual impatience, I had wanted to go into the Advanced Class, but Marjorie, my then tutor told us to go to Intermediate. Good idea, we learnt a lot.
Every teacher teaches you something, if you look for their ideas. I am always surprised when I hear people say that they ‘got nothing’ from a class. Be keenly observant, and questioning of your dancing.
Even more helpfully for Kristin and I, Damon’s Intermediate class was also small, maybe two sets, whereas the advanced was typically large with many sets, and hence individual dancers had little concentrated attention from the tutor.
Damon gave everyone lots of individual attention accordingly (something not recommended by the Society, but I find really helps for me). If you want this at a class you should talk to the class tutor who I bet will be overjoyed to help. (But don’t take any comments which you perceive as negative to heart, as they are trying to help).
There were the usual after parties at the school late at night, but we had small children and the only parties for us at the time involved fish sticks or chicken nuggets. We did go to the final Ball, which was themed around the 18th Century, and had dances from that period.
Kristin, Rod and Loralee Hyde at the Wellington 1992 Easter Weekend 18th Century Ball
Damon chose what has become one of my favourite dances, Down on Yon Bank, as our key dance to learn. He wanted us to be perfect for the ball.
This was an excellent teaching choice by Damon as it is quite tricky with a lot of phrasing points, so it taught us a lot as intermediates. It was a challenge for many at the ball, but not for our class! It definitely made us feel momentarily superior, at least until the next dance which we likely stuffed up.
First Summer Schooland first advanced technique class
Our first summer school was in 1993 in Wanganui and we were in the advanced technique class run by Mary Stoker, a friend of Miss Milligan (the co-founder of the RSCDS). She was very much the old school style of teacher.
Mary Stoker with her daughter, Carole, at the President’s lunch in 2005, the 75th Anniversary of the London Branch. Photo: The Reel No. 292 London RSCDS Branch 2015
Many people think that an advanced technique class will be a class with lots of really complicated dances, kind of like the last dance we do at Johnsonville Monday nights on steroids. This is occasionally true but more often it is not the case.
For RSCDS schools like ‘the’ Summer School (at St. Andrews), NZ Summer School, TAC Summer School (Canada), where teachers are expected to mainly use Society dances. In this case a technique class is either mostly basic dances, or even basic formations, done perfectly, or you do some of the non-flowing dances from the RSCDS books we don’t do (and usually there is a good reason for that).
Wanganui Summer School had the usual format of classes in the morning, activities like other dance forms, music, sleep(!) or a G &T in the afternoon, and some kind of social dance or ceilidh each evening; including two major social and more formal dances: Hogmanay and the President’s Ball. Then after the night’s dancing, informal parties, which Kristin and I did not go to because of young children.
In our technique class we would warm up in a circle, have some step practice, and then do lots and lots of basic formations. One day we did 4 hands across and 4 hands round, and especially 4 bar turns for about an hour. Mary drilled and drilled us. My 4 bar phrasing was never the same again.
1993 Wanganui Summer School Advanced Technique class with tutor Mary Stoker standing at the rear with musician Robert Mackay. As well as Kristin and Rod, John and Aline Homes and Loralee Hyde are Johnsonville dancers.
We did do some of the less commonly done formations, like the tournee. I have done the tournee in many, many of the advanced technique classes I have been to! That and the Strathspey all round poussette.
For this reason, and since I had begun writing dances, I wrote one for our teacher Mary Stoker called A Mary Summer which was the second dance to feature my Rose Progression. This would be a good technique teaching dance with both tournees and roses!
I also learned how to set to and turn corners at Mary’s class; she was very big on moving forward for the turn. These simple lessons have stayed with me ever since and I use her ideas in my own classes.
As learners, one thing to always be is observant. What is the tutor saying? How do they view a formation different from my own view? Can I incorporate this in my own dancing? Mary was also quite big on foot changes, but I have not used her method.
The other advanced (technique) class approach is to do lots of un-flowing dances, possibly not copied down correctly from the 19th century fan or the like. The Society had access to lots of old material, but the reconstructions of the actual dances is difficult.
Compare the current instructions for the dance The Colonel (video here) with the original manuscript for The Collonel below and you can see how the dance was adapted.
What you need for such non-flowing dances is good technique and the ability to modify your dancing to adapt to strange phrasing. Memorable such dances include oft done ones like The Maid of the Mill (video here) where the transitions are really quite difficult, and you need real scope (attack) with the steps, similarly The Carl Cam’ Ower the Croft.
Another example is The Falkland Beauty, where bars 1-8 are diabolical. Maybe it was originally a 32 bar dance reconstructed wrongly; we don’t really know how they danced 300 years ago. Notice in all of these dances, the emphasis is not on the complexity but on the transitions.
TAC Summer School
One such class I did was at a TAC summer school. TAC (Teachers Association of Canada) is a really fun school to go to in Canada, lots of lovely people, really well thought out social programmes catering to all levels of dancer, with lots of walk throughs. I recommend it very highly if you want to try a school for an overseas holiday.
I have been to TAC several times and at one school the tutor was Marjorie McLaughlin from San Diego. She decided to dance all the dances from Book 8. One of these dances The Braes of Atholl has very tricky reels in it which are very difficult to phrase. Half the sets in the room fell apart, and it was abandoned!
Sometimes you’ll do very complex dances, but rarely. At one Easter school in Wellington tutor Morag Napier of Sydney tried the Hugh Foss fugue Wing the Wind with ‘modest’ success (but somewhat better than in this video).
This is how you get flow in your dancing. Advanced dancing to me is not defined by what formations you ‘know’, but your ability to modify your own dancing to enable the dancing of others. When this is done right, and it is done in phrase with the music, I think you get the true joy and beauty of Scottish Country Dancing.
The key to Scottish Country Dancing is not so much pointing toes etc, but being in the right place at the right time, not rushing, and being calm. You must count, count, count and really listen to the music.
It’s a team sport …
I like teaching all kinds of classes and different classes suit different groups. Why do we dance? There are many reasons: loving the music, feeling the rhythm, dancing as an expression of that symbiosis, seeing the patterns.
The social aspect is important too, being with a nice group of people like those at Johnsonville. Being with your partner. Even more importantly being in phrase with your set; it is a team sport.
Rod dancing with his JAMS class at the 2000 Queen’s Birthday Hamilton Witches & Wizards Ceilidh. Photo: Loralee Hyde
You may have noticed that Rod and I both wear the same tartan (Macdonald Dress Modern) in our sash and kilt respectively. I have Scottish heritage through my father Ian (Mac) Macdonald, so Rod chose to adopt my tartan as he didn’t have such an immediate link.
Kristin and Rod wearing their Macdonald Dress Modern sash and kilt while dancing The White Cockade at the Johnsonville 50 Golden Years Celebration in 2016
Macdonald is a very common name, and Clan Macdonald (or Donald) is one of the largest and most ancient. Look around at any tartan night and you’re likely to see a number of dancers wearing one of the 32 variations of Macdonald tartan. (For example, Liz Hands, Catherine McCutcheon, Duncan and Mary McDonald, and more I’ve forgotten I’m sure.)
Clan McDonald cigarette card
My grandfather was a carpenter who came to Australia from the US, his father was a Macdonald and his mother was a McNeill. He met and married my grandmother, the daughter of a shipwright by the name of Macfarlane from Liverpool, who absconded from his vessel when it docked in Brisbane.
My grandmother’s family ran a kiosk beside the Brisbane river and the family of 13 children all helped operate a rowboat service across the river – I recall my grandmother was a woman with mighty arms! From her I have connections to the more recent Clan Macfarlane.
Clan Macfarlane cigarette card
Until a couple of years ago, I thought my mothers’ side was all English – with names like Bird and Pask. However it turns out there was a Stewart not so far back, so there’s a Stewart connection as well.
With clan mottos Per Mare Per Terras (By Sea and by Land, Macdonald), This I’ll Defend (Macfarlane), Buaidh no Bas (Victory or Death, McNeill) and Virescit vulnere virtus (Courage grows strong at a wound, Stewart), it seems life was one long fight for my Scottish ancestors.
As a child I didn’t really think about these Scottish connections, but my father always sang the old Scottish and Irish songs when we went on long car trips, things like The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond, and McNamara’s Band. I guess my love of Scottish music came from him.
I also grew up with a love of the pipes, although I’m not sure how that came about. I lived in a small country town with (I think) only one family of pipers who had a son in my class. As it turned out my dad also loved the pipes, but I only discovered that after I’d left home and we never managed to get to a piping event together as he died a few years later.
My mother Veda Pask, encouraged me to follow dancing (my other love), starting with ballet and tap for a couple of years until the ballet teacher left town, then folk and ballroom when the opportunities came along.
Between my parents and my ancestors, I was well primed with historical, musical and dance connections to launch into living life as a Scottish Country dancer.
We can usually find a Scottish Country Dancing connection with anything that’s going on!
To help us through the COVID-19 lockdown, there’s a Great New Zealand Bear Hunt underway to keep us connected and bring fun and joy to kids. As we go out for our local walks, search for Teddy Bears looking out for you from the windows of homes you pass along the way!
There’s also a number of Scottish Country Dances set to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic tune for us to dance (or play, sing or clap) along to.
Club member Loralee Hyde (in green top dancing hands across) and former club member Philippa Pointon at the right of the set, dancing The Fete Champetre as a ceilidh item at the 2001-2002 Summer School in Napier. Note the Teddy Bear bonnets – very tricky dancing the Schiehallion reels with those on! Musicians John Smith on the fiddle and Peter Elmes on the accordian are at the far right.
The tune Teddy Bears’ Picnic was composed by John W Bratton in 1907.
For musicians who might like to play along to the dance videos, download a copy of Peter Elmes‘ sheet music for the tune that he arranged for the dance The Fete Champetre.
During her travels to North America in December 2019, club member Elena Lark found some welcoming groups to dance with. She tells us about her experiences below.
Greensboro, North Carolina
First my work took me to Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina. There is one group in Greensboro (the city population is about 290,000), the Greensboro Scottish Country Dance Society
Mary McConnell, the tutor of many years, was very welcoming.
The format of the night, as expected, was familiar, similar to what we are used
to in Johnsonville. Though most of the dances were new to me, all the
formations were familiar.
Elena, third from right, with dancers in Greensboro
There were two sets on the floor. Among interesting things,
there were three students from the local university attending the club within a
‘study dancing of the world’ programme, where they visit various dancing groups
and participate. The night started with a couple of ceilidh dances to get the
new students involved.
Another interesting thing the club is practicing – a few of
more experienced dancers take turns in teaching one dance a night for the rest
of the group. This way, Mary can have some rest and the other dancers have a
chance to practice their teaching skills.
The members of the club were surprised to hear that we have
supper in the middle of the dance night, though they did appreciate New Zealand
chocolate!
Toronto, Canada
After North Carolina, I went to Toronto for about a week. I
googled Toronto Scottish Country Dancing in advance and was surprised by the number
of events – there are 2-3 options for dancing every night of the week.
Elena, second from left, with the Shiftin’ Bobbins dancers
I landed on Saturday and the first event on was at a Shiftin’ Bobbins Scottish Country Dancing Social Group. They dance at the Grace Church on-the Hill and I managed to travel there on the Toronto underground and through the snow.
This social group turned out to be at quite an advanced level. It was a challenge to keep up, especially with unfamiliar square-set dances, like the Twelvesome Reel. But the group was very welcoming and patient with me. They invited me to a few other events over the week.
I can only recommend joining Scottish Country Dancing groups wherever you are travelling! It is a great way to feel welcome in a new place and to meet the locals as well as doing something you like.
John Munro, a former Johnsonville Club member and Secretary who now lives in the Wairarapa, tells us about reeling – what it is about and recent events in New Zealand.
During the Scottish Country Dancing off-season at the end of February, I went to a Reeling Ball in Martinborough. A week later there was a Southern Meeting at Larnach Castle in Dunedin. I didn’t go to Dunedin but many of the Martinborough contingent did and their numbers were supplemented by Otago reelers.
John at the rear in the white shirt reeling at the Martinborough Picnic Ball
What is reeling about?
Reeling is a long-standing Highland tradition. The Northern
Meeting in Inverness was inaugurated in 1788 by 13 Highland gentlemen for
“pleasure and innocent amusement”. The autumn and Christmas Balls and
Piping Competitions are still grand occasions in Scotland.
Reeling has become rather ‘smart’. In recent years, the
itinerant glitterati have patronised lavish balls evolved from the Highland
gatherings.
Taking place in St. Petersburg, Vienna, Venice, Istanbul,
two Maharajahs’ palaces in India, Florence, and Oman, these were not budget
events.
‘The Last Hurrah’ Desert Ball in 2018 in
Muscat at the Al Bustan Palace (a luxury hotel), was appropriately Scottish
since the Sultan (who died in January this year) served with the Cameronians
after Sandhurst.
After the Oman Ball, it seemed proper the series should end with a Southern Meeting. Who better to organise it than Lady Lilias Bell; a reeling whiz, married to a Kiwi, long time Wellington resident, and impeccably Scottish as a daughter of the Duke of Montrose.
About 80 international reelers flew in from around the world including Scotland, England, the US, Canada and Zimbabwe and touristed their way from Auckland to Martinborough for a Picnic Ball and thence to Larnach Castle in Dunedin for The Southern Meeting.
Picnic Ball: Martinborough 22 February
A few locals from Wellington, the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay had a reel practice a week before the Picnic Ball. With three male dancers from The Royal New Zealand Ballet, we felt pretty flash!
On the evening of the ball, we had a convivial dinner at
Colombo Vineyard where we got busy filling our dance cards; very cute with
their attached little pencils. Then bused to the Martinborough Town Hall, hoping
to match our card scribbles of Felicity (green dress), Joy (New York) … to
one of many new friends.
The music was top notch as it was from Lynne Scott and a
host of our excellent Wellington musicians.
The Schiehallion Ceilidh Band on the steps of Larnach Castle
Despite kilts, sashes, reeling dresses and ballgowns the
dancing is defiantly not RSCDS. For example, in the Scottish Country Dancing
version of Duke of Perth, first couple turn by the right hand and cast
to second place. Whereas reelers rush in, bump hips, clap and cast.
There’s much stamping, clapping, twirling and birling. Plus
a crazy formation (for the young and brave) called helicopter – as a foursome
transitions from strathspey to reel time, the ladies become rotor blades.
It’s interesting to note changes at a number of clubs in the Wellington Region this year – of either venue or tutor. Johnsonville is one of these clubs.
With carpet being laid in Johnsonville School Hall at the end of last year, we had to find a new club venue at short notice. We were fortunate that Johnsonville Bowling Club welcomed us, and has continued to do everything they can to make us feel at home.
Our Summer Ceilidh on 25 January gave new members a preview of the Bowling Club, then we moved in properly for beginners’ classes starting in February.
Dancing The Texas Progressive Threesome at our Summer Ceilidh at the Johnsonville Bowling Club
It’s taken us a few weeks to adapt to our new space, but we’re now well settled in and our furniture moving techniques are vastly improved!
Who would have thought that simple things would exercise our minds for weeks – like which size table to use for supper, where to put our door money, how to arrange the seating etc etc.
We’ve also learnt how to keep our sets contained and our lines straight – something we never seemed to manage at Johnsonville!
Kristin Downey, President 17 March 2020
Originally published in RSCDS Wellington Region Harbour City Happenings Volume 23 No. 1 March 2020
