Up until a few days ago, I knew little or nothing about the intricacies of Scottish folk dancing, as readers were (rightly) quick to point out. In last week’s column, I mistakenly used the terms “step dancing” and “Highland dancing” interchangeably. They are actually two distinctly different forms of dance. And I apologize for my ignorance.
With Highland dancing, the person dances on the balls of her or his feet wearing specialized shoes called “ghillies.” The folk dance involves a precise combination of steps and upper body, arm and hand movements. It is usually performed to the accompaniment of bagpipe music. Said to have evolved from military training exercises in 11th century Scotland, competitive Highland dancing blossomed during the Highland revival of the Victorian era in Britain. At the start, these competitions were for men only. However, by the early 20th century, women began competing, and today they dominate the sport.
Canadian stepdancing, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of steps. As local instructor, Lori MacMaster, describes it, “stepdancing is a fast paced rugged and energetic style of dance, usually performed to traditional fiddle music and requiring limited surface movement.” She went on to explain that the art form concentrates on rapid foot work and is performed on a smooth surface wearing shoes with special taps or clickers attached to the toe and heel.
There are three different styles of Canadian stepdance. The “Cape Breton” style is unique to Nova Scotia and is characterized by a stiff upper body, straight arms and quick footwork. In the “French Canadian” style from Quebec, the dancer’s arms are relaxed, but mostly immobile. And the “Ottawa Valley” style (the one Lori teaches) features flowing arm movements and aggressive steps danced high off the floor.
Lori first became interested in stepdancing when her parents René and Sherrill Trottier, who were living in Carleton Place at the time, signed up her and her two sisters for lessons. A natural stepdancer, Lori began her career as a professional dance teacher when she was only 13 years old. She had three students that first year, holding the lessons in her parents’ back office.
Years later she carries on the early lessons she learned from her teacher and mentor, Donna Lowe of Carleton Place. While Lori says the best age to start is around six or seven years of age, she maintains that, “the older they start, the faster they will learn.” She also teaches adults who, in her experience, love the exercise and the challenge.
If you’d like to see the Lori MacMaster Step Dancers in action, they will be holding a recital this coming Friday, May 1st at 7:00 PM in the Laggan School auditorium. There will be no formal admission charge. Lori is simply asking for donations that will be passed along to the Glengarry Memorial Hospital.
Breakfast roars back!
After last year’s dip in attendance at the Kenyon Presbyterian Church’s annual Spring Breakfast in Dunvegan — as you may recall the weather left a great deal to be desired — folks came out in droves last Saturday morning. Kenyon Women’s Association volunteer, Dona Addison, told me that they served a total of 115 breakfasts this year, including five take-out meals.
Dona was especially pleased with the show of support from the Glengarry Pioneer Museum. She says that many of the members of the Museum’s spring-cleaning crew fueled up by stopping by for breakfast at the church hall.
Just as spring flowers follow the rains, the next culinary event on the Dunvegan church’s calendar is a Traditional Ham Supper on Saturday, May 16th. I’ll have more information for you, as we get a bit closer.
“Milestone” year for cleaning bee
The Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s interim curator, Renée Homiak, was astounded at the response to her appeal for volunteers to help get the site ready for the 2015 season.
Last Saturday’s, “Spring Cleaning Bee” attracted over 40 volunteers… almost DOUBLE the number she had hoped for. Given the size of the work force, they made short work of taking down the window coverings, cleaning the various buildings, organizing exhibits and setting out picnic tables.
In addition to helping Renée get things ready for Opening Long Weekend, May 16th – 18th, the volunteers also took time to mark the milestone birthday of one of their group. Jim Tilker turned 70 on Saturday and everyone on hand took the opportunity to wish him all the best.
Spic and span… part 2
I sure hope you haven’t put away that “cleanliness is next to you-know-what” spirit. Because I’ve just been told that the Dunvegan Recreation Association is holding a Cleaning Bee this coming Saturday morning, May 2nd, at 10:00 AM.
The goal is to get the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24 back in tip-top shape. I’m told they already have most, if not all, of the cleaning supplies required. Nevertheless, if you have a favourite dusting or cleaning tool, please bring it along.
President Ben Williams tells me that the “bee” should only take an hour or two… depending on how many folks turn up to help. If you and yours can spare a wee bit of elbow grease, please give Ben a call at 613-525-4006.
Hotel gets a facelift
If you’ve ever passed through downtown Dunvegan, you’ve probably seen it: the brick building on the southwest corner of the crossroads. Over its long history, it has been pressed into many roles… from a three-storey hotel for long-ago travellers and an automotive repair shop/filling station to a “hippy” coffee shop in the 70s and a private residence more recently.
A few years ago, Chris Ami and his partner, Alexandra Manolesco, purchased the structure and the couple has been slowly making repairs to the time-ravaged building. The latest of these is the addition of a lovely, period-appropriate front door with sidelights. The restoration company they used even added some authentic touches to the brick header above the door.
While there probably isn’t room any longer given the width of County Road 30, it would be fantastic if the two-storey front porch that once graced the front entrance could be rebuilt next.
If you’ve never seen a picture of the hotel back in the 1800s, there’s one on my Dunvegan-Time.ca web site. It’s the photograph looking north towards the church, with the hotel on the left and the Star Inn on the right. If the picture’s not there when you visit the site, simply click on the photo that is there to change to the next frame. In all, I have a series of four historic perspectives of Dunvegan.
Chris and Alexandra are to be congratulated for respecting the proud history of their home.
Stop Hydro One sale
Mac Williamson alerted me to a new petition on the grassroots protest web site: www.change.org. It deals with the Ontario Liberals’ shortsighted plan to trade Hydro One assets for cash… not to pay down debt, but for infrastructure projects that will bury Ontarians under even more financial obligations.
As the preamble to the on-line petition puts it, “The privatization of Hydro One will only lead to higher electricity prices for the citizens and businesses of Ontario. Hydro One belongs to the people of Ontario and doesn’t need to be sold to have value. The Ontario government has a history of privatizing taxpayer assets which ultimately ends up costing taxpayers far more than any of the short term benefits which were achieved by the sales.”
As of last Sunday, April 26th, the petition has collected an incredible 30,000 signatures… 10,000 of which were added in just one day, April 21st. If you too are opposed to this “fire sale,” I suggest that you make your voice heard by adding your name to the petition and sharing it with friends and family.
I’d also recommend that you express your opinion directly to our MPP, Grant Crack. His constituency office in Alexandria is located at 90 Main Street South. The phone number there is 613-525-4605. And Mr. Crack’s e-mail address is: gcrack.alexandria@liberal.ola.org.
While it’s not practical to give you the link to the petition here, just Google the following search terms: “change.org, privatization and hydro one.”
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