This site includes the postings from the Irish Aires email list. This includes a listing of Irish/Celtic events in the Houston area and other information that the Irish Aires radio program posts.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

01/06/05 - Scottish Country Dancing & More

January 5, 2005 SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE (SCDM): WEEKLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER http://home.att.net/~diannashipman OR http://diannashipman.home.att.net ******* IN THIS ISSUE: SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE (SCDM) * 7th Anniversary next week * Tonight * New Year's Eve Party * TV Stars: Dianna & Bud * Dancers Needed for Demos * Member News * BALLROOM DANCING ANYONE? * Photos on the web page: New Year's and surfin' snowman CELTIC CONCERT & CEILIDH: JAN 16 (SUNDAY) 2-6 pm * features RICHARD KEAN (bagpipes); HUGH MORRISON (accordian) GIBSON FAMILY DONATES SOUND SYSTEM BARBARA DOWNIE: BBC SCOTTISH ORCHESTRA SPRING WOODS HIGH SCHOOL SCOTTISH GALA FUNDRAISER THIS SATURDAY JAN 8 ATLANTA: SPRING WORKSHOP & BALL Feb. 25-27 CALENDAR PAGE http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/Calendar.htm INFO ON DANCING WITH SCDM ON WEDNESDAYS ******** SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE: NEXT WEEK: our 7th Anniversary and the start of our 8th year of dancing as "Scottish Country Dancing and More" TONIGHT: We were pleased to welcome new dancers LYNDA MURRAY (2nd visit) and AVA HUMME and returning dancer VALERYE BULL (see new listing for her under Member tab on website with photo from New Year's Eve party). We danced Canadian Barn Dance, The Atholl Reel, Green Burn, The Virginia Reel, Montgomeries' Rant, Tam O'Shanter, Laird of Atherton, Jubilee Jig, John McAlpin*, Bobby Brown's Canadian Breakdown* and J B Milne*. * = dances on the San Antonio Ball Program (April 2). There are 6 people so far who have expressed an interest in attending the ball; the San Antonio Highland Games are the same weekend. NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY With approximately 30 in attendance we had a fun time welcoming in the New Year to the sound of bagpipes on the bagpipe clock donated to the group by LARS SLOAN & AMERICAN BAGPIPES, followed by singing Auld Lang Syne led by TED HIRTZ. HUGH MORRISON played accordian for dancing and listening; his wife SARAH and his daughter REBECCA came and SARAH danced a few dances. KRISTEN JENSEN (who is a fiddler who lives in the Heights and is interested in Celtic music) along with her husband and her in-laws from France attended (although they didn't speak English we managed with hand signals and some translating to include them in many of the dances :-) A big thank you to LYNDA MURRAY who danced with us for the first time and even came early and helped with the decorations! and shared New Year's photos with us. During the course of the evening we danced: January Welcome, The Atholl Reel, Belfast Hornpipe, Bridge of Athlone, Circassian Circle, Laird of Atherton, Flying Scotsman, McDonald of the Isles (twice), Balgeddie Reel, Highlandman's Umbrella, Montgomeries ' Rant, Hospitality Circle, Kiss Me Quick and Go (a dance written by Dianna Shipman inspired by the Dick Dowling drink - more details in future issues), Lambeth Walk [sang Loch Lomond and Donald Where's Your Troosers], Green Burn, The Virginia Reel, swing dancing, and Reel of the Royal Scots. Refreshments included Drambuie brought by ED FULLER, Scottish gingerbread brought by CAROL YOUNG and Jamieson's donated by PATRICK MOORE, with many other delicious items. I'd say we got the New Year off to a good start - in more ways that one: TV STARS: Myself (Dianna Shipman) and Bud Norton had lunch at the Black Eyed Pea on New Year's Day and were photographed by Channel 11 along with other diners enjoying the traditional blackeyed peas to bring luck in the New Year - and we made the evening news! DANCERS NEEDED FOR DEMOS/PERFORMANCES: January 16 - Celtic Concert & Ceilidh (see article below), event 2-6 pm - dance around 3 pm January 22 or 23 or 29 or 30 - ED & CAROL YOUNG have asked us to perform at the Tremont House where Ed's parents live - let me know if you have a preference on dates. MEMBER NEWS CAROLYN MADDOX writes in part about the "My Soldier program": "I saw an article in the newspaper about it and I signed up. I don't know if any of you are interested in participating but I thought I would share it anyway. Check it out. The website tells about it:http://www.mville.edu/mysoldier/index.html " I've added/updated several member pages on the website: * VALERYE BULL new member page at http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/wsb/html/214220/view.cgi-.html * ED & CAROL YOUNG composite photo of new granddaughter CARTER VIOLET BISHOP-YOUNG added under "Ed Young" and at http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/wsb/html/93998/view.cgi-image.html--SiteID-754929.html * JANELL MACAFEE HAMOR added photo (Hamor and Macafee Family) of recent additions to her growing herd of Highland cattle, standing knee deep in snow! at http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/wsb/html/141039/view.cgi-image.html--logo.html Janell writes in part: Here is a picture of our newest Highland Cow additions...in the snow. Jancy Clancy is 5 years old...she is due to drop a calf anytime now...that means within the next 2 months. And Mayflower is 6 months old. . . Happy New Year to all." BALLROOM DANCING ANYONE? SHARON MICHAELS is in the preliminary stages of planning ballroom dance classes (she's been a guest instructor with us) and asks: what type of dance class do you think would be of most interest- perhaps to . . . your group - foxtrot, cha-cha, more waltz patterns? I'd like to get an idea of what you might be interested in and then plan the where and when. Dianna's Note: If you're interested let me know at diannashipman@att.net and I'll pass the info along. PHOTOs on the website: *New Year's Eve: Dianna Shipman & Bud Norton (courtesy of LYNDA MURRAY) *Snow in Galveston: Snowman with Surfboard (click for larger images) We dance on Wednesdays in the Heights and always welcome new dancers and musicians. For more details see the end of this newsletter. ************* CELTIC CONCERT & CEILIDH: JAN 16 (SUNDAY) 2-6 pm Location: Knights of Columbus, 2616 Louisiana, Houston, Texas Map: http://www.kc803.org/kc_map.html Tentative schedule (times approximate): *2 pm Guitar stylings of JULIAN TRIBE & Singalong CELTIC CHORUS OF HOUSTON *2:30 - 4 pm Scottish Country Dancing & Ceilidh Dancing with live music by HUGH MORRISON MEN OF HOUSTON MORRIS DANCERS & MUSICIANS *4:00 RICHARD KEAN on bagpipes *4:45 - 6:00 more dancing and session players / open mic ADDITIONAL ENTERTAINMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED! ************ GIBSON FAMILY DONATES SOUND SYSTEM A big THANK YOU to LYNNE & LAURA & ZIP GIBSON & FAMILY for the donation of a sound system! Lynne writes in part: "As you know Lloyd provided sound for the Gathering of the Celts each year and other Celtic events. The Gibson family decided to donate a sound system in Lloyd's honor (a Fender Passport) for the Irish and Scottish groups to use - in specific those which Dianna Shipman is associated with like the Celtic Chorus and her Scottish dancing as well as the Session players . . . It has 2 mics, 4 inputs with additional stereo inputs, 250 watts. It will be housed with Dianna Shipman." a memorial placque will be affixed to the system Dianna's Note: A WONDERFUL WAY TO HONOR LLOYD'S MEMORY! and we'll certainly put it to good use! - Dianna *********** BARBARA DOWNIE: BBC SCOTTISH ORCHESTRA Barbara announced tonight that she's accepted a position with the BBC Scottish Orchestra and will be moving to Scotland Feb. 15 - we're certainly sorry to see her go but wish her well in her new position! *********** SPRING WOODS HIGH SCHOOL SCOTTISH GALA FUNDRAISER THIS SATURDAY JAN 8 2045 Gessner, Houston, Texas 77080 Map: http://swhs.springbranchisd.com/about/map.html Spring Woods High School is the only High School from Texas to be invited to American High School Theater Festival http://www.ahstf.com as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland August 1-15, 2005. They will perform Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance at both festivals. They will go to the International Thespian Society Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska in June 2005. The total cost for both Festivals for about 35 students, directors and chaperones is about $5,395 per person. . . They hope to raise enough funds in time. For more info contact Gwen Evans: Evansg0115@aol.com Dianna's Note: ROBERT & FIONA WYLIE, who have played for our dancing, hope to be able to attend and perform for them. *********** ATLANTA: SPRING WORKSHOP & BALL Feb. 25-27 Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Atlanta Branch Spring Workshop Teachers: John Middleton, Vicky Goodloe Musicians: Muriel Johnstone & Calum MacKinnon http://www.mindspring.com/~atlbrnch/soc05dillard.htm early bird discount deadline is Jan. 15 ********** CALENDAR PAGE (details on all items listed below can be found on the webpage at: http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/Calendar.htm) Note: I've now established a permanent page for the calendar so it will not change each month but always be the same. THE COMING WEEK: 6 THURSDAY * Houston Highland Games Association MEETING * CONTRA DANCE Oxford Hall 7 FRIDAY * Swingin' in the Cafe Houston Swing Out 8:00 PM BORDERS 3025 Kirby 713.524.0200 January 7 - 9, 2005 LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS Arkansas Country Dance Society and Arkansas Scottish Country Dance Society Weekend of Twelfth Night Revelries features traditional Scottish and English dancing Jan. 7 & 8 Contemporary Baroque Mercury Baroque and Dominic Walsh Dance Theater 8 SATURDAY * SPRING WOODS HIGH SCHOOL SCOTTISH GALA FUNDRAISER (see article above) * 3rd annual Houston New Year's Feis & Steppin' in the New Year Ceili McTeggart Irish Dancers of South Texas * CONTRA DANCE: HOUSTON AREA TRADITIONAL DANCE SOCIETY * HOUSTON FOLKLORE & FOLK MUSIC SOCIETY Second Saturday Concert: Jim Post presents his Mark Twain and the Laughing River * Celtic Voyage Bayview Duck at 8.00 PM. 9 SUNDAY * Men of Houston Morris Dancers * Society for Creative Anachronism Dancing * YOUTH ACTIVITIES: St. Andrews Youth Venturing Group * IRISH SESSION 6.15pm. Rudyards Pub 10 MONDAY * International Folk Dancing for beginners. HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS 11 TUESDAY * Celtic Chorus of Houston * Strings n' Things 12 WEDNESDAY * SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE! http://home.att.net/~diannashipman * Lloyd Ernstes' Wednesday Night Open Mike ********* COME JOIN US: Wednesdays, 7-10 pm SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE website: http://home.att.net/~diannashipman NEW DANCERS WELCOME - Families welcome (children must be accompanied by parent / guardian). $5 for those 14 and over; $2.50 those under 14 ($15 maximum per family) - fourth consecutive Wednesday free. Location: Oddfellows Hall, 115 E. 14th St. (Heights), Houston, Texas (3rd building on left traveling east from Heights Blvd. - 2 story red brick - entrance recessed about 15 feet from street - dancing upstairs). LINKS ON WEBSITE with map & photo MAP: http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/MapOddfellows.gif PHOTO OF HALL: http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/OddfellowsHall.jpg *************************** Dianna Dianna L. Shipman diannashipman@att.net Scottish Country Dancing and More Houston, Texas web page: http://home.att.net/~diannashipman phone: 713-522-1212
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