Spring School of Scottish Dancing 2014
The Second Spring School of Scottish Dancing was organized in Vladimir from 1 to 4 May 2014. Vladimir is a small old town, located within two hours by train from Moscow. The town is a part of the Golden Ring of Russia.
More than 85 people from 12 cities (not including teachers, organizers, musicians and spectators) attended the School.
The school programme included workshops on Scottish Country Dancing for intermediate and advanced dancers.
The Dancing Proficiency Assessment (DPA) exam was held. This exam, developed by Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, is intended for all dancers. It helps dancers to evaluate their dancing skills. There are three levels of DPA, the exam of second level was held on the school. There were special course for those who wanted to pass an exam. 19 people took part in the course.
Our teachers were Malcolm Brown and Helen Russell, well known in Russia, and Mervin Short - a new teacher for Russian dancers. All teachers were very high level. Helen Russell is official RSCDS examiner, Malcolm Brown is one of the most experienced old school teachers, and Mervin Short is brilliant dancer and outstanding and thorough teacher with very strong technique.
There were organized workshops by Helen Russell on Ladies' Step and by Maria Zot'ko on Highland. Also we had a festival of Scottish Country Dancing demonstration teams. 5 teams (two teams from Moscow, as well as teams from Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod and Cheboksary) participated in the competition, and one team performed hors concours. The winner was "Sinn Araon" team from Krasnodar.
There were two social dancing evenings and Scottish ball, as well as city sightseeing tour and barbecue party. The tasty barbecue was made by leader of the Krasnodar team Anton Klinkov.
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