Youth Branch events planned for 2024
September 25, 2024
The Youth Branch have two very exciting events coming up in October of this year: our North American Youth Weekend Away in Boston, MA (4 - 6 October), and our European Weekend Away in Basel, Switzerland (18 – 20 October).
Following the warm reception we received in Philadelphia last year, our first ever Weekend Away outside Europe, we decided to continue our North American events, and chose to go to Boston this year. Boston has a dynamic and engaging dance scene, and the RSCDS group there has been incredibly supportive and enthusiastic as we prepare for this event. We are learning a lot about policies and legal requirements for hosting events in North America – and we have a fancy Entertainment Licence with the seal of the City of Cambridge, MA, to show for it! We couldn’t have done this without the help of RSCDS Boston, and we’re very grateful! We love that the North American Youth are accepting us and are excited about our event!
We have some excellent teachers and wonderful musicians lined up for the Boston Weekend. There are still spaces available for the full weekend, and the evening ball is open to ALL dancers regardless of age. We think it’ll be a fantastic weekend and evening ball, and if you haven’t signed up yet, we’d love to see you there!
Our second Weekend Away of the year will take place in Basel, Switzerland, in collaboration with the Scottish Country Dance Group of Basel. For this weekend we are excited to have Dave Wiesler from the US coming to play (he’ll play in Paris for their Anniversary Weekend the week before and will explore the Swiss Alps before coming to the charming city of Basel), and the well-known and much-loved Shona McFadyen (who’s also a Youth Branch member!). They will partner with two fantastic teachers, Mathilde Tischmacher and Shona Holmes (who just passed Unit 5 at Summer School!), who both have roots in Basel. We are hugely appreciative of all the support we’ve received from the Basel group and for the enthusiasm we’ve seen from other dancers in Switzerland. We are really excited for this event and we warmly invite all dancers to participate!
To attend the full weekend, you must be a Youth Branch member, with branch-only membership costing only 6 GBP per year. In case you don’t already know, the Youth Branch and the International Branch collaborate closely, and becoming a member of one branch comes with the added advantage of receiving no-cost secondary membership of the other. As a full Primary member of the Youth Branch, you can enjoy free secondary membership of the International Branch. Similarly, if you're already an International Branch member and under 36 years old, you can receive secondary membership of the Youth Branch for free.
We very much hope to see you at one or both of our Weekends Away!
Book your place now!
Happy dancing!
Tet Speirs
RSCDS Youth Branch Chairwoman
