Events

Annual Dance - 2020 event CANCELLED

Our Annual Dance for 2019 took place on Sat 19 October in the Bridge Community Centre in Newark. Dancers from around the region joined us and danced to the music of Ian Slater. The evening attracted enough dancers for 5 sets and was a great success!

Our Annual Dance in 2020 was due to take place on 24 October, again in the Bridge Community Centre. We were very pleased to be inviting the Neil Barron Trio to play for us. Regrettably, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the Dance has been CANCELLED.

On a brighter note, 2021 is our 50th Anniversary and we all hope the dance we have planned can take place on Saturday 23 October when we have the Chris Dewhurst Trio playing for us in the Bridge Community Centre.
Please add the date to your 2021 diary and come and help us celebrate!

Enjoying The Orchards of Co Armagh ...

... and The Ruby Rant at our 2019 Annual Dance

Charity Ball - 2020 event CANCELLED

Around 50 dancers from across the East Midlands enjoyed the magnificent Georgian Ballroom in Newark Town Hall as their venue for Newark's 2019 annual Charity Ball, dancing to music played by George Meikle. Money raised is being donated to our two chosen Charities for this year - Lincolnshire Emergency Blood Bikes Service (LEBBS) https://www.lebbs.org and Dove Cottage Day Hospice https://www.dovecottage.org

Our 2020 Charity Ball was due to take place on Friday 11 December 2020 at 7.30pm in the Georgian Ballroom of Newark Town Hall (postcode NG24 1DQ) when we were to have Neil Barron playing for us. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the Ball has been CANCELLED.

We hope that dancing will be in full swing by the time of our 2021 Charity Ball. Arrangements have not yet been finalised, but it is hoped to hold it on FRIDAY 10 December 2021 in Newark Town Hall with live music. These arrangements will be confirmed in due course.

Charity Socials

One of Shelley's amazing cakes

Men dancing The Reel of the 51st Division to the sound of the bagpipes played by Hugh, one of our members

The weekly classes during the weeks of St Andrews Day (30 Nov) and Burns Day (25 Jan) are an opportunity for members to raise money for a Charity close to their heart. The Society matches the sum raised during the evening up to a maximum of £100.

The Charity chosen by Shelley in 2019 was Maggie's Nottingham; she baked cakes and raised money in November and in January. Cakes enjoyed during the interval in November raised over £200 and more of Shelley's amazing cakes appeared in January; with the promised contributions from the Society, £430.00 was raised for the Charity. Well done everyone!

Newark Day School - 2021 event CANCELLED

Day School 2020

William teaching at the 2020 Day School, supported by Ian on the accordion.

Our annual Day School is organised to address the needs of less experienced dancers needing to gain confidence, as well as dancers who are already familiar with basic figures.
There are classes in the morning and afternoon, and a buffet lunch.
The morning session (Elementary) is aimed at dancers who have attended a class for at least one term. It will concentrate mainly on steps and basic formations found in traditional and the more straightforward modern Scottish Country Dances.
The afternoon session (Intermediate) is aimed at dancers who already have a reasonable knowledge of steps and basic formations such as Reels, Allemande, Poussette, Promenade and Chains but who are not yet entirely competent and confident. This knowledge will be assumed so that the teacher can concentrate on developing further skills.
It is expected that dancers will wear appropriate footwear - ghillies or ballet style shoes; shoes with hard soles and heels will not be permitted.
There will be a limit on numbers, with a waiting list implemented if necessary.
Our guest teacher for 2020 was William Williamson, a long time member of the Dumfries Branch of The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society who has taught at the Society’s AGM, Winter School, Summer School and many events around the world.
William was supported by Ian Robertson on accordion. Ian is a full-time musician with a busy schedule playing for Scottish Country Dancing internationally, and has often played for William when he has been teaching at Day or Weekend Schools. After playing for the Day School, Ian played for the evening Dance.
Our 2021 Day School was to take place on Saturday 16 January 2021 in the Bridge Community Centre, Newark (postcode NG24 2DQ). We were due to welcome Sue Porter from Oban as our Teacher supported by our musician Iain Carmichael from Nottingham. Regrettably, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the Day School has been CANCELLED.
We are hopeful that by 2022, our Day School will be able to take place. The date will be Saturday 15 January 2022 in the Bridge Community Centre. Our teacher will be Andrew Nolan, from Edinburgh RSCDS. Andrew has wide teaching experience, including Summer School and many places at home and abroad; he will be supported by Iain Carmichael. Further details and an Application Form will be published here later in 2021.

Day School Evening Dance - 2021 event CANCELLED

Evening dancing after the Day School, 2020

The evening Dance in 2020 was held in the evening after the Day School. Ian Robertson, the musician for the Day School, delighted the dancers with some wonderful music and sets of tunes. The dance programme was devised with those who attended the Day School in mind.

Covid-19 restrictions have caused the evening Dance in 2021 to be CANCELLED.

Details of the evening Dance following the Day School in 2022 will be published here during 2021; Iain Carmichael will be our musician.

Dance Festivals

massed_dances_v2020-02-11.docx
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The ASCDS Festival is organised by the Association of Scottish Country Dance Societies to promote Scottish Country Dancing, particularly in the East Midlands. In 2020, it was to be held in Retford on 09 May with music performed by Chris Dewhurst and his Scottish Dance Band. Each year, the Newark dancers enter a team to participate in the Massed Dancing as well as a team to perform a demonstration solo watched by the other teams. A summary of the afternoon massed dances including the final round-the-room dance can be found in the file above: Massed dances v2020-02-11.
For words, diagrams and videos of the afternoon massed dances, follow the link http://my.strathspey.org/dd/list/25009/
For words, diagrams and videos of the evening dances, follow the link https://my.strathspey.org/dd/list/26999/

Photographs from the 2019 Festival are shown below. The video of Newark's solo, Touring with Scottish Dance, a (2x32R/32S/2x32R) medley can be viewed by clicking the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzVobnKQ8NU&t=6s.
Please note that the 2020 ASCDS Festival was CANCELLED due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The 2021 event is to be held on Saturday 08 May 2021, again in Retford. Chris Dewhurst and his Scottish Dance Band will provide the music. The programme of massed dances is being carried forward to 2021, so the details of the massed dances and evening dances still apply (see above).
Regrettably, the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions mean that the 2021 has also had to be CANCELLED. All arrangements are planned to be carried forward to 2022, when it will be held on 07 May with music played by Chris Dewhurst and his Scottish Dance Band.

The White Rose Festival is organised by the Leeds Branch of the RSCDS and is attended by teams from across the North of England and the Midlands as well as Scotland. It is held on the grass playing fields of The Gateways School in Harewood outside Leeds. A team of Newark dancers took part in 2019, participating in a programme of massed dancing and demonstration dancing and then staying for a dance in the evening. Music was played by Marian Anderson and her Scottish Dance Band.
The 2020 White Rose Festival was CANCELLED due to Covid-19 restrictions.
This year's Festival 2021 has been CANCELLED due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The next Festival is scheduled for 09 July 2022.

Newark team at ASCDS Festival 2019

Newark dancing at ASCDS Festival 2019

Newark dancing at White Rose Festival 2019

Garden Dances

On Tuesday evenings during the summer, dancers host Garden Dances in their own gardens for other members. In the event of inclement weather, the dancing takes place in the usual hall in Newark. Summer evenings from previous years are shown below. The summer of 2019 will be remembered by members as a summer of wet Tuesday evenings, having to wait until mid-July before succeeding in holding an outside dance! On a brighter note, dances were held in two new gardens, one of which coincided with the hosts' Golden Wedding anniversary. The final one of the summer, in mid August when evenings were getting short, saw a dance shared with the Grantham U3A group; a great social occasion with enough dancers for four sets.

Sadly, the 2020 Garden Dance programme was another casualty of the Covid-19 restrictions with no dancing possible.
It is hoped that some outdoor dancing may be possible during summer 2021, but it is entirely dependent on the Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time.