Branch News
MOST RECENT NEWS
December 2025
On Friday 5th December 2025 St Mary's Melrose club held their annual dance in the Corn Exchange Melrose. Despite the very bad weather a good number turned up for the dance, some from the Duns area and Newcastle. Lyn arranged a mixed programme with some easy dances but also some more challenging ones. Her calling was as usual very clear and precise. The musicians were Alasdair Macleod and Colin Dewar who played some great tunes and have been booked for next years dance
November 2025 On the 15th November a Day School was held from 10.30am until 5.00pm in the Corn Exchange Melrose. The morning comprised of 2 classes - the first being a class being suitable for beginneers and the second for more experienced dancers. The teacher for the day was Rachael Shankland and she was accompanied by Stuart Anderson on his accordian. The classes were followed by an afternoon dance when Stuart was joined on stage by Judith. Rachaels enthusiasium and encouraging manner were inspiring and her choice of dances went down very well. Her teaching was excellent as was Stuarts playing. Attendees came and went to whichever parts of the day were most suitable for them with numbers around the 40 mark. All together a successful day.
August / September 2025 Four Autumn classes were held in the newly renovated hall at Galashiels Parish Church. The three teachers were ably supported by musician Stuart Anderson and the classes were well attended. All the dances taught were from RSCDS Book 54 and so hopefully, if the dances appear on future programmes, we are all prepared.
February 2025
Friday 7th
More than 60 dancers attended the Committee Dance held in the Corn Exchange Melrose. Recorded music was supplied by Ian Shepherd. The aim of this event was two fold -firstly to encourage the participation of new / less experienced dancers a simple programme was arranged and each dance was walked while being recapped, secondly to raise money for childrens events ( ceilidh, festival) held by the branch. A raffle with prizes donated from each class added to the success of the evening.
November 2024
Saturday 23rd
Despite storm Bert, over 30 country dancers made a valiant effort to get to Selkirk Parish Church on Saturday 23rd Nov. for an afternoon of Scottish country dancing. The special afternoon was to mark the end of the centenary year of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and the identical programme of dances with an international theme was simultaneously danced throughout the world. Refreshments were provided by the Selkirk club and the music by Lynn Kemp.
Friday 22nd was the annual dance held by the Drumlanrig club in Evergreen hall Hawick. A good number turned out for an easy night of dancing to recorded music. Tea & coffee supplied by the club was available at the interval.
A very successful day school was held on Saturday 9th in the Corn Exchange Melrose. The teacher was Gillian Hardstone and musician was Stuart Anderson, both working hard to ensure that the day could be enjoyed by everyone. The day comprised of 3 parts - class 1 focused on steps and technique and was aimed at less experienced dancers, - class 2 covered more unusual dances involving more complicated formations, part 3 - an afternoon dance of 14 dances. The format of morning classes followed by an afternoon dance met with universal approval.
April 2024 Friday 5th was the date of the final branch dance of the 2023/2024 season. The spring picnic dance was held in the Corn Exchange Melrose and 60+ dancers attended. The evening began with a bring your own two course supper and this was followed by a programme of 16 dances - all recapped and some walked through. This was the second year for such an event and it is currently proving to be more popular than the formal ball which was the predecessor.
March 2024 A Scottish country dance festival organised by youth coordinators Margaret Pritchard & Maureen Buckley took place in Galashiels on 27th March. Details are on the youth page and the photo gallery.
January 2024 All classes have resumed and are working through dances on the programmes for the Committee Dance and Gala Club Dance both to be held in February. Selkirk Childrens class entertained the residents of Riverside Care home where they performed a programme of 4 dances and were warmly received.
November 2023 A new day school format was introduced - 2 morning classes each of 1hr 15 mins followed by an afternoon dance. The teacher, Margo Priestley, was faced with a class of 50 mixed ability dancers but her wealth of experience enabled her to cope admirably. She was accompanied by Stuart Anderson and they played a huge part in making the day a great success.
A group of 8 dancers from the branch attended the Autumn Gathering in Glasgow. Margaret Pritchard represented the branch on the Sunday morning panel session where the topic was "Ideas and Best Practice for Branches in encouraging membership" She ably reported on her experience with youth dancing.
October 2023 During Selkirk Childrens Day School, a video was taken of a dance and this would be submitted to HQ as an entry to Festival of Dance through the Decades.
A group of people who dance throughout the Borders have recently posted videos of their performances in Melrose Parish Church on Thursday afternoons of dances not previously available on-line.
A well attended Scottish Country Dance with music by Ewan Galloway was held at the Corn Exchange, Melrose on 13th October to celebrate 25 years since the BGH class was founded by Dr Ian Shepherd.Originally held every week in the BGH gym as a way of encouraging fitness, the class had to move when the gym became part of the outpatients area and went initially to Tweedbank Community centre. Over these 25 years the class has also been proud to have made donations of several thousand pounds to local charities. It is now held weekly throughout the year at Melrose Parish Church Hall on Tuesday afternoons from 2 pm and is open to all. Report by John Smith
August / September Classes 2023 Prior to the resumption of local classes, the Branch held 4 Tuesday evening classes to cover a selection of dances from Book 53. These classes were aimed at dancers with some experience rather than beginners and were well attended by dancers from throughout the Borders.
July2023 "Come and Try" session was held on Sunday 23rd July in Wilton Park Hawick. Anne Bell organised the event and she was well supported by Hawick dancers and a few from further afield. The bandstand provided shelter for the dancers and the spectators were seated in gazebos - so the inclement weather was not too much of a problem. Annes programme of simple dances encouraged several spectators to join in and hopefully some of them will join a class in the autumn. A worthwhile exercise which could be repeated!
BGH1 hosting Finnish students. RS&P Branch were contacted by HQ regarding a group of 23 Finnish students and their 3 teachers who were spending time in Scottish Borders with their Summer High School from Helsinki learning about Scottish culture. They were looking for an opportunity during their visit to participate in Scottish dancing and we were pleased to organise an afternoon of ceilidh / easy Scottish country dancing which they joined in with enthusiastically. The students demonstrated a variation of a conga which everyone joined and finished with a demonstration of the Macarena.
