If you have never seen or tried Scottish country dancing may we recommend it as an enjoyable way to take regular exercise. We hasten to add that country dancing is not the same as Highland dancing – no swords and no solo efforts.
Now, you may be looking forward to attending a ceilidh, Burns night or Hogmanay celebration later in the year. Well, we can help you out there by giving you the opportunity to learn some Scottish country dance steps while helping to get you in trim. Even if you have no pressing Scots sponsored engagement, just come along for fun.
As most dances are performed in ‘sets’ of six or eight people it is also highly sociable. You don’t need to bring a partner. Singles, couples or groups are all equally welcome. No special clothing is required. Just bring a pair of soft shoes (preferably non-slip) and yourselves. Rest assured, you will always receive a warm welcome from us Scottish country dancers.
To contact the Canterbury St Andrews Scottish Country Dance Group 'click' here and send an email
Canterbury College Sports Centre,
Dance Studio
New Dover Road,
Canterbury
We meet on Friday evenings at the Dance Studio, upstairs in the Sports Centre of Canterbury College.
Our new beginner's class starts on 25th September 2009. This Class is designed to teach basic steps and movements and will run from the Autumn Term to the end of the Spring Term. The aim is for dancers to be integrated into the main class of social dancing for the Summer Term.
For those of you who already know the pleasure of this activity, we have SOCIAL DANCING, (which follows on from the ‘Beginners Class’ in the autumn and spring terms) at the same venue from 8 – 9.45 p.m. In the summer term we all begin at 7.30 p.m. All dances are walked through. The cost is £2.50 per evening.
We hold dances during the year at the Littlebourne War Memorial Hall, near Canterbury. Listed below are the dates for dances to be held this year and next. We shall be delighted to see you there if you can attend.
Autumn Dance 31st October 2009
Spring Dance 10th April 2010
Summer Dance 3rd July 2010
Autumn Dance 20th November 2010
Here is Chairman Andrew with his new 'best friend', who is anxious to help him extort (oops, sorry) / collect money for 'Children in Need'. We are expected to contribute to the collection for any dancing mistakes that we make. As you can imagine the charity does quite well!
In 1962 a notice appeared in the local paper advertising a meeting
at the Friends Meeting House for those interested in forming a
Scottish Dance group in Canterbury. There were 6 people at this first
meeting, one of whom was Eileen Acott, and included two people
who had never danced before. From this small beginning the dance
group was formed.
Over the next year numbers attending the weekly dance meeting
gradually increased, but then the couple who started all this left
the area, taking their gramophone with them. Fortunately, Eileen
Acott had a record player. She acquired some records and took on
the teaching role and she continues to teach us over 40 years later!
The group first danced in St. Andrews United Reformed Church, hence our name but later went back to the Friends Meeting House.
In 1965 a small dance group formed at the new University of Kent at Canterbury and in 1968 Eileen began teaching both classes.
In 1977 the St. Andrews group was re-constituted for those people who wanted purely social dancing without much in the way of teaching/walkthroughs.
However, it was hard to sustain both groups and after another year and a half the University group (which was the beginners class) ceased to function mainly due to lack of interest from the students.
The St. Andrews group continued and by 1978 a dancing day school was held annually in the Dominican Priory, with a dance in the evening.
The first ‘public’ dance was to Bill Young’s Band at the ‘exorbitant’
rate of £10 (for the whole evening); the charge for dancers being
75p per head.
It was becoming more difficult to attract new members, so a
committee was chosen with Mike Armstrong as chairman, and things
began to look up. In 1979 a demonstration team was formed which
performed at various functions. In 1981 it was decided to
re-introduce a beginner’s class from 7 to 8pm, with an advanced
class for an hour and social dancing to finish.
Unfortunately, the few beginners melted away. Then calamity
struck! In 1983 Eileen had a serious fall and was concussed. She was
too unwell to teach for some 9 months, so it was ‘Do it Yourself’
time. With dwindling numbers, and virtually no funds, it was
decided to discontinue the Day School. The rest of that decade was a
difficult time for St. Andrew’s S C D G.
In 1991 Jean Smith took over as chairman and the early 1990s saw
a number of new members arrive. The Demo team was restarted
and with support from other clubs, particularly Isle of Thanet S C D,
our fortunes revived.
In the late 1990s the club flourished and Marion Dredge took on the
job of teaching the beginners, while Eileen still continued teaching
the main class. A larger venue was now needed and the club
switched to the Barton Court School before finally moving to the
Dance Studio at Canterbury College.
The new millennium dawned and September 2000 saw Andrew
Helbling elected as chairman.
2009 sees us still dancing. Members come to enjoy and improve their dancing with much fun and laughter along the way. So, on with the dance!
Eileen Acott
"Still Teaching"
Usually each July, at the end of our year Jenny and Andrew Helbling invite us to their home for the ‘Chairman’s Garden Prance’. A gloriously sociable evening of fun and dance.
