The Spring Fling is an annual event of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society for young dancers (age 16-35), which is organized by a group of young dancers with the support of the local Branch. This year it has been held on March, 25th -27th in Edinburgh. A number of scholarships were offered that covered residential and course fees. I have been dancing for about one year and a half in Madrid and I was awarded one of those scholarships to attend my first workshop on SCD.
Friday afternoon – Check in. I met my roommates at the youth hostel and, although we came from different countries, our stories turned out to be very similar: we came across SCD somehow accidentally, but we got right away captivated by its elegance; our local groups are relatively small, with a mixture of beginners and experienced dancers, and an average age over sixty years. We were very excited with the opportunity to meet young dancers who share our passion and we were eager to make the most of the workshop.
Friday evening – Ceilidh. It was going to be my first Ceilidh and I did not have a clear idea of what it would consist of. This made me feel a blend of joy and panic that vanished as soon as we danced The Sausage Machine. After singing Auld Lang Syne, some of us headed for a drink at a quiet pub to slow down and recap our day.
Saturday morning and afternoon – Classes, classes, classes. Jumping out of bed on Saturday morning felt unusually effortless. I attended two country dance classes for beginners, which were held in a light and spacious room with live music. Our teachers, Margo Priestley and Sophie Rickebusch were most welcoming and provided us with a good number of useful tips to improve our technique and dancing skills. After a light lunch, there was a choice of highland, ladies step, or hard-sole step dancing class. I made my mind up for the ladies step and met Atsuko Clement. Her performance is simply awesome; her movements flow in a light, smooth and elegant way, especially in contrast with my own attempts to reproduce them. Certainly, ladies step is not for me, but I enjoyed the class and I cannot imagine a better way of getting the flavor of that kind of dance.
Saturday evening – Ball. It was definitely the highlight of the weekend. Open to all, the dance floor was comfortably full of different-aged dancers who floated in time with the music and kept smiling even when someone made a mistake. Every detail, from the impressive venue to the lively band, including the exceptionally assorted catering, contributed to a great success. After the formal dance, a number of informal parties took place between swollen feet and plenty of laughs.
Sunday morning – Scottish dance challenge. During the weekend, none of the organizers dared to answer our questions about the Sunday’s challenge. Whenever asked, they simply smiled and encouraged us to be on time. Getting to the venue was a challenge itself. Once there, we were divided into six teams and faced four tasks. First, each group was given a short story somehow inspired on Edinburgh and was asked to devise a dance, choose a tune,… and dance it! Honestly, I think that we all did a great job. Then, teams were given a series of diagrams showing different dances and had to identify them. The third challenge consisted in answering a quiz about Edinburgh. Finally, each team formed a set, the first eight bars of some tune were played, we had to recognize the dance and, immediately afterwards, first couples had to dance it until the first progression. Except for Mairi’s Wedding, cries of “keep moving” and “reorganize the set” were often heard in the middle of an hilarious mess. Without doubt it was a challenging and breathtaking way to say goodbye.
Many thanks to the organizers, teachers, musicians, and attendants for a wonderful weekend. Happy dancing to all!
Rocio Alcalá-Quintana
The Schiehallion Group, Madrid