Page 62 - RSCDS Toronto Golden Jubilee Book

Connections
Frances Gray
In 1994, I was invited by RSCDS Headquarters to sit the examination
to become an examiner of teacher candidates which I successfully accom- plished. Since then, I have had many experiences which I could relate ... one in particular stands out.
We were in Ottawa on the Examination Tour in 1995. During a break in the examination process, one of the can- didates approached me to ask if I was the mother of Cameron, Duncan and Donald, and I replied, yes I was. She then said that she had danced with my sons when I was teaching SC dancing in Lima, Peru! At that time she was a schoolgirl home on holiday to Lima from Scotland where she attended boarding school. All of this had been twenty-four years before!
This just goes to show what a world- wide family of dancers we are, all brought about by the two co-founders of the Society: Miss Jean C. Milligan (Dr.) and Mrs. Stewart of Fasnacloich.
I have taught and examined through- out Canada, USA, Australia, Peru and Scotland (St. Andrews) and the cama- raderie and friendship never cease to amaze me.
During the last several summers, I have been teaching at the Thistle School in North Carolina, always a fun week, and during "off hours" from classes, I have had the pleasure of golfing with Bobby Brown of The Scottish Accent which sometimes can be quite hilarious, but always great company and most enjoy- able—good golf, good times.
Rosedale
The View from the Kitchen – My fian- cée, Teresa, was teaching children at Rosedale, assisting Lorna Larmour and Moira Korus. I wanted to help,
too – not as a teacher, but I
could make juice and wash dish-
es and just be generally helpful.
Lorna warned I was about to
"get sucked into the Rosedale
vortex". Indeed I was, and it’s
been a merry whirl. Lorna left
to start a family, Teresa became
a Certificated Teacher, and now
she and Moira run the group.
Teresa and I married in 2006
– at Rosedale Presbyterian.
So there I am, almost every Saturday, doing my best in the kitchen. I love it! There’s such a positive energy to the place with great kids, interesting and helpful parents, and two dedicated, high-energy teachers. Parents help and hang out in the kitchen as well, and you know what happens in kitchens, people talk. Parents are an amazingly diverse, accomplished, and creative lot. We have shared much laughter, and sometimes tears, in the kitchen. Some of them danced at Rosedale as kids, some have been bringing their kids for years. Sometimes I leave kitchen tasks to a parent as I am dragooned to make up a set; often a few parents get cheer- fully press-ganged as well.
I don’t know the whole history of Rosedale, nobody does, but almost everybody who is anybody in Scottish Country Dancing seems to have taught there or attended there. Lorna did both.
When Rosedale has a Ceilidh day, the parents turn out and participate joy- ously. Tables are loaded with home- baked goodies and treats. The best treat, though, is to see the faces of the little ones light up when they dance with their dad, or show Mom how to reel! I remember the grandfather of two "new" dancing teens visiting from Europe, not speaking much English, no experience of SCD – and yet there he was, a big grin on his face, dancing Dashing White Sergeant with his grand- daughters. Bravo!
It’s been wonderful, too, to see the kids grow up – so fast! We all improve with age (don’t we?) but Scottish Country dancing helps youngsters develop, not just the graces of the dance, but quiet self-confidence and an easy ability
to be comfortable in a social setting. The Rosedale youth dance at concerts, seniors' homes, festivals and tea parties.
This year, four of the teens headed off to Summer School at St Andrews.
But, I've learned, there are a few storm clouds in the sunny history of Rosedale. It was once a thriving adult group but schisms developed, groups spun off, dancers dispersed and, sadly, only the children remain. Some kids have feel- ings about the church... they think it's "creepy" – do they sense ancient con- flict? Personally, I love the place, but I've had occasion to seek out nether regions of the basement and "creepy" is a pretty fair description. However, we've discovered treasures in dark corners. There were heavy boxes of reel-to-reel tapes and SCD records. The old Rosedale record player was there, too – not a flimsy Seabreeze portable but something more substantial, Swiss- made and built like a Russian tank. It's amazingly heavy (and it still plays!). What a lot of work for those slender Rosedale teachers of long ago! Today, you can put your entire collection of Scottish Country Dance music on an iPod and carry it in your pocket. What will music be like 50 years from now? Will there still be dancing at Rosedale Presbyterian? And, who will be helping out in the kitchen?
. . . Rob Lockhart
Miyuki Ikuse, Moira Korus, Teresa Lockhart, Theresa Malek
Moira & the Three
Stooges
Back in 2000, I was picking my mother up at her friend Mary's house. I stopped to say hello to her niece, Moira Korus, and learned Moira had just started taking a Scottish Country Dance class. Little did I know that this would make
a dramatic change to my life and to the lives of a couple of friends.
The next week I started my first class with Keith Bark; Moira was in the next
Evelyn Watkins with one of her Rosedale teams.
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