Annual Dance
Charity Ball 2021
Charity Socials
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 Fiona on St Andrews Day 2021 was Reach (https://reachuk.org). Shelley also donated homemade cards, and over £300 was raised on the night and Newark SCDS added £100 to the total making it a very successful fundraiser. Well done everyone! |
Newark Day School
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Day School Evening Dance
Despite the fact that the Day School 2022 was cancelled, the evening dance went ahead. The original programme was used with recorded music and, with time for an extra dance, a surprise choice was Father Connelly's Jig, a challenge successfully met by two sets of dancers!
Dance Festivals
The ASCDS Festival is organised by the Association of Scottish Country Dance Societies to promote Scottish Country Dancing, particularly in the East Midlands. The events in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to Covid-19, but the 2022 event - the 40th Festival - went ahead as planned on Saturday 07 May 2022 in Retford. Chris Dewhurst and his Scottish Dance Band provided the music. Newark was represented by two sets of dancers in the afternoon Massed dancing and some stayed for the evening Dance. The Newark team danced in one of the solos, having fun in a light hearted version of Ian Powrie's Farewell to Auchterarder, but for six couples. It was well received by the other dancers. A video of the demonstration can be seen at https://youtu.be/dUncacpb340
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 takes part, participating in a programme of massed dancing and demonstration dancing and then staying for a dance in the evening. The events on 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to Covid-19; the 2022 event took place on Sat 09 July with Susan MacFadyen and her Band playing for the dancers.
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 takes part, participating in a programme of massed dancing and demonstration dancing and then staying for a dance in the evening. The events on 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to Covid-19; the 2022 event took place on Sat 09 July with Susan MacFadyen and her Band playing for the dancers.
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. Easing of restrictions in 2021 allowed outdoor - distanced - dancing to begin in June, and to continue normally after restrictions were lifted. For the first time in many years, the full schedule was completed with no cancellations for bad weather, though some warm fleeces appeared on a couple of occasions! The 2022 season was a great success with warm sunny evenings. The year will be remembered as the first time a Garden dance was cancelled due to the high temperatures! It was the day Coningsby, about 30 miles from Newark, broke the record for the hottest ever day in the UK at 40.3°C.
Sadly, the 2020 Garden Dance programme was another casualty of the Covid-19 restrictions with no dancing possible. Easing of restrictions in 2021 allowed outdoor - distanced - dancing to begin in June, and to continue normally after restrictions were lifted. For the first time in many years, the full schedule was completed with no cancellations for bad weather, though some warm fleeces appeared on a couple of occasions! The 2022 season was a great success with warm sunny evenings. The year will be remembered as the first time a Garden dance was cancelled due to the high temperatures! It was the day Coningsby, about 30 miles from Newark, broke the record for the hottest ever day in the UK at 40.3°C.