If long walks aren’t for you, if you’ve had one too many tennis matches ruined by a sudden downpour, or if you’re just looking for a more interesting way to keep active — have you considered Scottish country dancing?
Retford and District Scottish dancers meet weekly on Tuesday evenings during school terms and enjoy a wide range of dances together. Some are old, some are new, some are fast and some are slow, though speed can always be adjusted to the right level for you. This form of social dancing has a number of steps and movements which can be put together in many different ways — so once you get to know the basics, learning new dances is easier every time.
For every dance, you’ll be working with a partner within a group, but you don’t need to supply your own — they change partners for every dance and try to pair newcomers with more experienced dancers who can help you through. All you’ll need to bring is a pair of flat, comfortable shoes, a mug for a cup of tea, and a sense of humour — the ability to tell left from right would be advantageous but is not required!
Scottish dancing has been proven to help burn calories, improve fitness and balance, and aid memory and concentration. It’s also a worldwide community and the group think it’s a lot more fun than jogging — so why not go and give it a try?
Their first session for the new term will be on Tuesday 3rd September, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, and will be entirely free to attend. They will be dancing at Westhill Community Centre, Cheyne Walk, Ordsall, DN22 7GA, and hope to see you there! They’ll focus on the things you need to know to get started, and then give you a chance to try out some dances so you can see how it all fits together.
For further information about the Retford group and to let them know you’ll be attending, you can contact Bill on 01777 705182 or email retfordrscds@gmail.com.
If you’d like to know more about Scottish dancing in general, www.rscds.org/get-involved is the website of their parent organisation and contains lots of helpful information, along with some videos of what it looks like — when it goes well…