past events: 2005-06 (summer)
Dunedin Summer Dance | Castle Ceilidh
Dunedin Summer Dance 2006
by Remco
(3 June 2006) This year's Dunedin Summer Dance was in the Upper Hall of the church complex at Cluny, a surprisingly large hall with a separate bar area. The janitor who let us in thought he had done us a favour by putting on the heating in the afternoon, and this was on the first really summery day of the year. It was no surprise that the most popular food item during the interval was the juicy fruit...
There were some eight sets on the floor, including a lot of SUSCDF people, New Scotland and of course Dunedin. The programme by Cath Coutts was a nice mix of well-known dances and dances no one had ever heard of but that turned out to be quite nice. I definitely hope to see Belgian Folly and The Hole in the Wa' back on dance programmes in the near future.
The music by Neil Copland and his band was excellent and definitely deserved the standing ovation they got at the end. The MC'ing by Neil Wignall and Jane Gent was invaluable especially for the unknown dances (we got through them - sort of). The after-party at Neil and Rachel's was rather quiet but a nice relaxing end to a great but exhausting evening.
Castle Ceilidh 2006
by Remco
The Castle Ceilidh was on Sunday 7 May and after a year indoors because of the rain, it was back where it belongs: in whatever's left of the castle in St Andrews. New Scotland came with a sizeable delegation in cars and a coach, adding to the large crowd. The scenery was beautiful, which took our minds away a bit from the fact that it was absolutely Baltic. Our choices were simple: dance or freeze.
The dancing was good, the calling really energetic and the band over-age (apparently). After the dancing, there was the annual torchlit procession with probably over a hundred people braving the wind and the bits of burning torch flying around. A quick drink with the Aberdeen people in a pub that didn't serve hot chocolate, and then it was time to go home again (and finally thaw up).
Mental note for next year: even more layers!