Image credit: Kent Simmonds/CFJC Today

By Marty Hastings

HIGHLAND DANCING

ScotDance Championship Series brings best of highland dancing to Kamloops

Jul 10, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Tartan was twirling, bagpipes were blaring, swords lay menacing, kilts were in full flight and fleet feet kept the beat in a colourful cacophony on Mark Recchi Way Wednesday (July 10).

Nearly 700 dancers and judges from Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the U.S. are in town for the ScotDance Championship Series, which wraps up Thursday (July 11) at Sandman Centre.

“This has been fabulous,” said judge Karen Baird, who is from Motherwell, Scotland. “It’s better than I expected. The standard has been amazing. It’s actually brought a bit of a tear to my eye today, if I’m honest.”

Alessandra Bruce-Fuoco of Lorena’s School of Highland Dancing in Kamloops claimed a bronze medal in the Canadian Championship on Tuesday, competing in the 21-years-and-over class.

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“You put hours and hours of practice into these four dances that you get a couple minutes to do on stage and it is pretty nerve-racking,” Bruce-Fuoco said.

“This is such a unique competition. It’s taking girls and boys and everyone from across the world and all of us are coming together for the joy of highland dancing.”

This week marks the first time since 2014 that the ScotDance Championship Series has taken place in B.C.

Co-chair Cheryl Rosborough noted the event was scheduled to be held in Kamloops a few years ago, but the pandemic quashed those plans.

“Kamloops has been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve been welcomed with open arms. The city has stepped up and helped in every way possible.”

Of the seven age groups in the Canadian Championships, four were won by dancers from B.C. — Paige Butler, Allison McBride, Annalise Lam and Rebecca Acob of Coldstream.

Local dancers Jennifer Watt and Meghan Ackerman earned fourth- and fifth-place finishes in their respective divisions.

“It takes guts to get out there,” Baird said. “And you feel for them if they make a mistake. Kids are different. They’re not machines. They’ve got hormones in certain ages. They’re not just going to perform like wee robots.”

Bruce-Fuoco said highland dancing is far more gruelling than many might think, as it requires stamina, balance, co-ordination, elegance, educated feet, strong legs, sharp concentration, rhythm and upper-body control.

Rosborough said pressure adds to difficulty.

“For the younger ones, it’s probably more about getting used to being on stage and getting over stage fright,” she said. “For the more experienced dancers, this is their national event. They’re going for Canadian titles.”

Crowds in the thousands sought refuge from temperatures hovering around 40 C in the Tournament Capital.

Baird said they were treated to a world-class event inside the cool confines of Sandman Centre.

“The talent that is coming through is just brilliant,” Baird said. “It’s a breath of fresh air to see the youngsters. You can see the joy on their faces.”