Highland Dancer

What a surprise. Kathleen was at the Meadow Highland Games to compete in the Highland Dance Competition. Between Kathleen and me is her mother from North Carolina.

Kathleen is a Highland Dancer whom I know from the Scottish Country Dance group in Columbus. When Kathleen finished her doctorate from The Ohio State University, she moved to teach at a university in New York City on Staten Island. Kathleen is a warm, friendly, gracious dancer. All of us in the Scottish Country Dance group miss her. Kathleen's gracefulness from the Highland Dance crosses over into the social dance of Scottish Country Dance. She is the best dance partner for quick time jigs and reels to the more stately strathspeys. I am especially appreciative of the embellishment Kathleen taught me circling eight hands round and back during a strathspey. Whenever I dance this move, I'm reminded of how much we miss her! I wonder how she did in her competition?

Waiting

The stage for the competition was set up in the corner of a large vendor hall of the Meadow Highland Games. There were four large 3-tier bleachers which provided a nice enclave for the stage. Dennis on the left has already competed. Mark waits for his competition category.

Mark was not planning on attending the competition, but on a whim I emailed Mark mentioning that I already had a room reserved. I suggested that he had already prepared a competition set that he could use again during the current competition year. If he changed his mind, we could ride together from Columbus. A few days later, Mark texted me saying, "Look at your darn email!" He had responded right away, quickly agreeing to go. I had not checked my email, but when I did I was glad for the opportunity to catch up with a good friend.

Multi Media Presentation

Last night at the Mid Ohio Scottish Heritage Association meeting (MOSHA), I presented a slide show of my trip to Scotland and played several tunes associated with various people and places that I visited. During the day, I had checked out all of the equipment to make sure the LCD projector and computer and cords were working. But last night, of course, the projector kept saying "no signal"! It took several minutes to trouble shoot. The thing that finally worked was to unplug the cords and start over. Thank goodness for arriving early.

You need to pack a lot of stuff when you are playing the harp somewhere: harp, stool, strings, tuner and clip, set list, as well as other emergency equipment. Doing this multimedia presentation meant having even more equipment: computer, LCD projector, AVG connection cords, extension cords, stool for projector, screen, etc.

I sang "Both Sides The Tweed" while showing the Tweed River flowing through the city of Peebles. Corrina Hewat sang this song several years ago at the Ohio Scottish Arts School. Then, I played "Jolly Band of Shearers" as an example of a Bothy Ballad. I learned this tune from Sharon Knowles. I sang "Will Ye Go Tae Flanders" while talking about my lesson with Corrina Hewat and showing a photo of her neighbor Karine Polwart who sings this song on one of her albums. Next, I played the pipe march "High Road To Gairloch" while showing photos of the town of Gairloch that I passed through on my way from Skye to Ullapool to catch a ferry. This catchy tune was taught to me by Jo Morrison at the Ligonier Highland Games. I showed photos of the white sandy beaches of Harris and played "Harris Dance" which I learned from the Captain Simon Fraser Collection. I played Corrina Hewats arrangement of "Isle of Aigas" as a precursor for my insistent pursuit of finding the Isle of Aigas. Finally, I played the strathspey "Cawdor Castle" I learned from Dominique Dodge and relayed the legend of the Hawthorne Tree which remains still in the keep of the castle.

iPhone iMage

Linda McNair is amused at Sue Richards, me, and Arthur McNair all trundling out our iPhones. Thanks for the photo, Linda.

Into the Zone

This was one of the first times that I have very little memory of my actual playing. Did I get into that magical zone where you become the music. How did this happen? As Doug and I talked that evening and the following day, my euphoric bliss was still evident. Doug wondered if my trip to Scotland had allowed me to tap into those visual images and energy that is unleashed in the music. That made sense, and was one of my goals from my travels to Scotland.

I was also wondering if the significance of 9-11 played a role. As I was leaving my hotel in Somerset, other hotel guests were leaving to attend memorial services only a short distance away where United Airlines Flight 93 had crashed. As I gave my introduction for the song “Will Ye Go Tae Flanders?”, I was amazed at the intensity of emotion that swept over me. This song from the 1700‘s explores the grand dream of going off to war and the reality that ensues. This felt very close to the events that unfolded after 9-11 and continue still. 

The risk in talking about all of this- is that it was, somehow, a fluke. And I don’t want it to be a fluke. I want that heightened emotional impact that I felt to happen again and again. I think people in the audience felt it too. I want this experience to get repeated. Lots.

Melanie Sandrock

Melanie Sandrock is one of the organizers of this Scottish Harp Society of America sanctioned harp competition at the Ligonier Highland Games. June Sechrist provided lots of help on this day also. I got to see both of these friends and many, many others who I see regularly at The Ohio Scottish Arts School, The Harp Gathering, The Washington Area Folk Harp Society Fall Getaway, and other highland games.

Melanie brought an ensemble of young harpers that she teachers to compete in the Harp in Ensemble Category.

Ligonier Highland Games

Today, I attended the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania. I was awarded 1st place in the Solo Harp Category at the Master Level and 1st place in the Harp and Vocal Category. Sue Richards was the judge. Sue also taught a workshop in the morning and lead a harp circle in the afternoon. Observers to the harp circle were very enthusiastic and appreciative.