Pandemic Dancing v1.0 in Washington, USA by Gina Roen

This article was printed in the September 2021 edition of The Internaitonal Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Newsletter

When the global pandemic came to our 55+ community in western Washington, our previously active and social lifestyle came to a grinding halt. Gone were the Book Club, Baking Guild, Card Games, Movie Night, Craft Groups, Happy Hours. Even our small gym was off-limits inside our closed Community Hall. Folks were anxious to do something. ANYthing! I was approached to start a dancing group that could meet outside and socially distanced for safety.

During my 30+ year teaching career, I had danced off and on with the San Diego Branch of RSDCS. (Thank you, McLaughlins, Evans, Buchans and Drews!) For the last 15 years of my career, I included teaching my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders “The Kingston Flyer” to perform for our annual school Open House. It was a big hit and easily tied to our curriculum.

I was sure my dance days were over after retiring to the Pacific Northwest in 2018. The nearest SCD group was nearly an hour away in Tacoma. Then, I found out about the International Branch’s travel program to be based in Utrecht, Netherlands for Spring of 2019. I dusted off my gillies and met my sister there for an unforgettable experience. I was out of shape and out of confidence, but everyone was so accommodating and generous of spirit, we had a great time.

Fast forward to May 2020. Neighbors from the Ovation at Oak Tree community were invited to our outside patio for an introduction to Scottish Country Dancing. Eighteen folks showed up! I had rewritten “The Kingston Flyer” with no touching and lots of distance. It worked! In honor of our local train, we christened the dance “The Oak Tree Flyer” and our dance group was born. We have danced every week for the last 16 months. Here’s how we did it:

* We landed on Saturday mornings at 10:00am for our dancing. Masks were required.

* Class was only one hour. We took frequent “breathing breaks”.

* Warm-up stretching was done with folding chairs for support and was brief because most folks walked to our venue.

* We danced on textured concrete, so the good support and comfort of sneakers kept us safe.

* We adapted contact figures like right hand turns to bending elbows to have hands near, but not touching. Similar for hands across, circling, crossing, etc. We substituted back-to-back for contact turns when possible. Down the middle and up was often a ladies-first chase and return. * We began with VERY simple dances like “The Ox”.

* Dancers were provided written lesson reviews and technique briefs as well as links to appropriate You Tube videos and the DSAH lessons.

* We used familiar-dance walk-throughs as part of our warm-up.

* We incorporated a Scottish Country line-dance as a technique review.

* When weather was cold or wet, we were able to dance under the patio cover which had heaters in the ceiling. We only needed the heaters until we warmed up.

* We were all vaccinated by the end of March, so we dropped our masks and began using disposable gloves to learn the feel of contact dancing. By June we had dropped the gloves and shared a large bottle of hand sanitizer. Gloves and masks are always acceptable, but not required.

We are a consistent group of 8-10 dancers who have now mastered about nine dances and will soon perform for our neighbors. We are so blessed to have danced the pandemic into the background! Many thanks to the Society for the accessible materials and to my sister, Dr. Noel Chavez of the Chicago branch for her support, encouragement, materials, and advice. Next up: Pandemic Dancing v2.0!

A NOTE FROM WASHINGTON’S WEST

When I danced with the IB in Utrecht, my form was poor, at best.

So I enjoyed the people and the place, even if I didn’t impress.

Fast forward to 2020 as we hunkered down, depressed.

Would we ever get to dance again? Would our gillies forever rest?

My neighbors got wind of my dancing past and my imagination they soon pressed.

Could I devise a dance so safe it would foil the Covid pest?

I took the one dance I knew by heart and gave it a twist, turn and jest.

Before we knew it, we were dancing outside, though the masks made us all want to rest!

We’ve danced every week for 16 months with me leading the class—who’d have guessed?

Sometimes we were 3 dancers, sometimes 10, but we always did our best.

I’m sure we’re not the only dancers to put Social Distancing to the test,

But we showed up in the rain, wind and snow, because we knew we were blessed.

Blessed to be together, to be moving and learning with zest,

To dance for all those who couldn’t, became our ultimate quest.

So, thank you SCD, for your dancers, your teachers and all the rest.

Thanks for your joy and your support. Thanks, and all the best!