Border Schools Country Dance Festival

Bill Murray, Chair of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Branch shares this blog about the recent Borders School Country Dance Festival.

A Scottish Country Dance Festival, organised by Margaret Pritchard & Maureen Buckley, the Youth Co-ordinators of Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, in conjunction with Active Schools, was held in Volunteer Hall Galashiels on 27th March 2024.

Six primary schools, from Primary 5 upwards, took part in the morning session, with four secondary schools taking part in the afternoon session, with a total of 23 teams. The adjudicators Mrs M Ballantyne ( Branch President) and Dr L Bryce (former Branch Chair) commented that they had great difficulty in scoring the teams and the final decisions were close.  They were also pleasantly surprised by the number of boys taking part in the competition.

The dances selected by the organisers were A Reel for Jeannie, Galloway House, The Brudenell Jig, Lady Catherine Bruce's Reel, EH3 7AF and there was a “Creative Scottish” section for the secondary schools.

Prior to the event volunteers from the branch had gone into the schools to support the class teachers. It was clear that this event provided an opportunity for the schools taking part to include Scottish country dancing in the curriculum and the children participated with great enthusiasm. Their enjoyment was obvious and hopefully they will continue to dance in the future.