Winter Term 2025

This year term started on 15th January and finishes on 14th May when we have party night with music by Ian Slater. Further details on the Club events page. We don’t have an Easter break.

Trial use of cribs

At our December committee meeting the idea of putting a crib, with links to videos, for each week’s class on the website was on our agenda.  Arguments for and against were discussed. It was agreed this will run for a trial period following which it will be reviewed. 

It is thought that having a crib available will help dancers to become more familiar with dances.  There is no obligation to look at the dances beforehand, if you don’t wish to.  We understand that some dancers prefer to simply come along to the class without having to prepare first. Others may wish to see what is planned. The dances will be taught and walked as now.  

The programme may vary – some dances dropped, others added, depending upon numbers and who is present on any particular week.

The link to the cribs and videos for the class on 30th April.

If you want the crib on your phone, the mobile crib app is very useful. Use the dance list reference 59527 to load the full list.

One of the dances on the list is The Old Man of Storr. The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye. The hill presents a steep rocky eastern face overlooking the Sound of Raasay, contrasting with gentler grassy slopes to the west. The area in front of the cliffs of the Storr is known as the Sanctuary. This has a number of weirdly shaped rock pinnacles, the remnants of ancient landslips. One of the most famous of these is known as the Old Man of Storr.

The notes above have been extracted from the Scottish Country Dance Dictionary, a mine of interesting information on Scottish country dances.

A further resource for beginners is the Lower Hutt site. It has short YouTube videos of a great many basic figures as well as quite a lot of advanced ones.