FALL 2012 RSCDS St. John’s (Newfoundland) Branch
Greetings dancers! Hope everyone is refreshed after a wonderful summer and ready to start another great year of dancing. Wesley United Church will be our home this year and we are looking forward to trying out the new space. We have their main hall for the social group and Welcome back! another large room for Kathy's beginner class. Welcome to a new year of dancing – with a few changes to keep us on our toes! In addition to our new venue, you will notice a Our Thursday night technique class will go ahead this year at new look to our newsletter. I’m sure the original style will St. David’s as usual and details return once I get accustomed to my new computer! Tech-savvy, are given in this newsletter. I am not. Summer dance sessions were Please forward any news, tidbits, recipes, etc. that you would very well attended despite like to share in our next edition. We are a fun group and we all some Monday evenings being have interesting stories to tell! Thanks. quite warm!! Not too much attention was given to footwork it has to be said, but what we Save the Date! lacked in technique was more than compensated for by an “Test Night” Ceilidh Beginners’ Social enthusiastic workout of bodies September 27 September 30 October 27 and minds. It was fun. Have your say Join us for a ceilidh A fun night of Look forward to seeing about what goes to celebrate easier dances and everyone on Monday evenings. into RSCDS Book Culture Days live music 47! Denise
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Class Schedule Fall semester: Social classes start on Monday, September 10th and conclude on December 3rd. Class starts at 7:45pm sharp in our new venue, Wesley United Church, Patrick Street. Fees remain the same as last year: $70 for the term and $7 drop-in per night. Please note that all dancers must pay a $10 registration fee. Please see Ken, he will be happy to relieve you of your funds. Thursday night Technique class will begin on September 13th, 8pm at St. David’s. All dancers with one year of experience and in interest in improving technique are welcome. Payment is on a drop-in basis and also remains at $7/class.
Culture Days Ceilidh As part of the 2012 Culture Days celebration, the City of St. John's Pipe Band will join forces with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, St. John's Branch and the St. Andrews Society of Newfoundland and Labrador to present an afternoon of music and dance at no cost. This is an opportunity to see and hear the Pipe Band and dancers but also to join in some ceilidh dancing. We may even have some highland dancing or Irish step dancing to keep the pace going.
Please join us on Sunday, September 30, 2012 from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at the Spirit of Newfoundland Masonic Temple, 6 Cathedral Street St John's
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Beginners Social Please join us for a fun night with live 4. St. Andrew's Fair 8x32 Jig music by Corrievrecken and easy to 5. Blooms of Bon Accord 4x32 Reel follow dances on October 27th, venue to 6. Birks of Invermay 8x32 Strathspey follow. Dancing starts at 8pm sharp, so 7. Shiftin' Bobbins 8x32 Reel please arrive early to give yourself time 8. It's nae bother 8x32 Jig to put on your ghillies and stretch your legs. Please bring along some nibbles to Break share at the end of the evening. 9. A Highland Welcome 5x32 reel Here is a sneak peak of the evening’s 10. The Robertson Rant 1x80 strathspey programme. Dance booklets will be 11. The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow 8x32 Jig available closer to the social. 12. Banks of Clyde 8x32 strathspey
13. Berwick Johnnie 8x32 Jig 1. Linton Ploughman 8x32 Jig 14. Round Reel of Eight 1x88 Reel 2. White Cockade 8x32 Reel 15. Avalon Waltz 3. Sandy O'er the Lea 8x32 Strathspey
Committee of Management For 2012-2013; elected at the Annual General Meeting in April, 2012
Denise Sharpe Members at large: (Chair) Louise Beaton, Brenda Kathy Simonsen Burness and Ingrid Pardoe (Secretary)
Ken Galbraith (Treasurer)
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Between the jigs & the reels
Overseas Travels We were part of the entertainment at the "Royal Garden Party" held indoors at the Legion Hall. We were part of the entertainment at the "Royal Garden Party" which had to be held indoors unfortunately, at the Legion Hall, as the weather was doubtful.
The Garden Party was part of Bell Island’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations. With the group is David Shears, a piper with the City of St. John’s Pipe Band.
Passing of June Shore June Shore passed away recently at the age of 93. Along with her fellow teachers, she was a founding member of the Teachers' Association of Canada (TAC) for Scottish Country Dancing in 1958 and remained active in the Scottish country dancing community until five years ago.
Some of you may remember her, as she taught at the Branch’s summer workshop in August 1991.
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Reel benefits for your bones Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University recruited 22 participants from country dance clubs in Lochwinnoch and Milngavie to measure the stresses that pass through their lower limbs when performing the popular pas-de-bas step.
The women performed the step while standing on a force plate to test whether its impact on the bones fell within the range known to be beneficial to bone health.
The team discovered a force 1.94 times the dancer's body weight goes through their legs when carrying out the move, well within the range of 1.5 to 3.5 demonstrated by earlier studies to help prevent deterioration in bone density.
"A 2004/06 study that tested 160 ladies in the same age group doing lots of different activities found activities that give an impact between 1.5 and 3.5 times body weight is beneficial for bone health in terms of reduced bone mass loss. That obviously reduces your risk of osteoporosis and increases your bone strength. Therefore, if you were to take a fall you're less likely to break a bone."
She added that evidence suggested an activity such as ceilidh dancing was also better for the bones than some other forms of exercise, such as jogging.
She said: "There are studies coming to light showing that, while running is good for you in terms of being out in the fresh air and has benefits for the heart, in terms of bone health and impact it's maybe not as good as something like Scottish country dancing which is stop-start."
Dr Morag Thow, GCU lecturer in physiotherapy and study co-author, said: "The study provides new quantitative evidence that the impact forces sustained during the pas-de-bas step are beneficial for bone health and thus postmenopausal women and other older individuals can be assured this activity can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis and falls."
RSCDS chairwoman Ruth Beattie welcomed the results: "This research adds to the growing number of scientific studies that confirm Scottish country dancing is superior in producing levels of fitness with extensive measurable benefits for older people.
"As well as reducing the risk of osteoporosis, Scottish country dancing can help prevent or treat serious and chronic physical conditions, in addition to improving mental health and general wellbeing."
A Comparison of the ground reaction forces of the Pas de Basque Scottish Country Dance step and three exercises used in osteoporosis exercise classes Thow, Morag K; Stewart, Sabita; Rafferty, Danny Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
The Herald Scotland (11 August, 2012)
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RSCDS ST. JOHN’S (NEWFOUNDLAND BRANCH) FALL 2012 Have your say! Are YOU interested in having a say about what goes into RSCDS Book 47? The Branch has agreed to test several new dances that may appear in the forthcoming Book 47. We received a batch of ten dances earlier in the summer and plan to try them out over two evenings in September and October. The first "Test Night" will be Thursday, Sept. 27th, at St. David's on Elizabeth Ave. Martin and Kathy will take dancers through the six jigs and reels. The four strathspeys will be sampled in October. Everyone is invited to try these dances out. It would be great to have two or more sets turn up. The session will start at 8pm and cost the $7 drop-in fee for the Thursday night class.
Now that fall is in the air, settling in with a good book is one way to enjoy the cooler nights. One suggestion found on the RSCDS Facebook page is Miss Esther Scott’s Fancy, Lorn Macintyre’s new short story collection that includes two stories involving Scottish country dancing.
The first story introduces Esther Scott, a mill worker, who attends the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society's Summer School in St Andrews in 1936, where she meets Miss Jean Milligan, the Society's co-founder, who changes Esther's life. In the second short story, the Honourable Blythe Campbell, “compulsive reeler” in castles and mansions, arrives at the Summer School in 1938, and falls in love. Blythe, like Esther, experiences loss as well as fulfillment. Jean Milligan is a formidable presence in both stories.
Can anyone think of any other novels that feature Scottish country dancing?