Fèis Latharna

Oban bay in the sun

When the fabulous Debbie Mackay (drama tutor) pulled up in her nippy, wee MG to give me a lift up to Oban, the Easter Fèis was off an exciting start! This was to be my first year of teaching at Fèis Latharna. I was added to the tutor list (comprising some 20 tutors) just a couple of months ago when Ewen MacPherson (Fèis organiser) received a call from the Gergel School in Kiev who wished to send five pupils to the Fèis in Oban on the request that there was a step-dance tutor. Scottish step-dancing in Ukraine – an unlikely combination one would think – however, you only need to type in a quick search into youtube to discover the many talented, young step-dancers over in Ukraine. And so, strengthening the dance element of Oban's five day festival of traditional arts for 8-18 year olds, step-dance was added to the choice of tuition alongside highland dance, song, fiddle, clarsach, accordion, whistle, chanter, piping, pipe-band drumming, percussion, guitar, art, drama, football and shinty! Phwah! 

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As we arrived at the primary school on Monday morning there was a buzz of parents dropping of their children and negotiating an assortment of instruments, packed lunch boxes and shinty sticks in the main door. Smiling committee members directed us to the common room for a cup of tea and sorted us out with all we needed to know before we were off to our first classes! Each day I had the Ukrainian group in the morning and then two groups of beginners in the afternoon. It was nice to have a mixture of levels. I could work on advanced steps but also teach very basic steps, to the younger ones in the afternoon, with the hope that they will continue and I will have started a fresh group of step-dancers. 

Me with my beginner class before the Feis concert... guess the colour theme!

Five students from the Gergel School (Kiev)

It was a fantastic opportunity to work with the Ukrainian students. They already had a lot of steps so I was able to focus on precision of footwork and rhythm as well as introduce them to a few more intricate steps. They were accompanied by their dance tutor from Ukraine, Vera Gergel. Like myself, Vera initially learned step-dance by attending summer schools at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye. She now passes her steps on to her pupils, at the Gergel language school. In addition to this, the Gergel School also invite musicians and dance tutors from Scotland over to Ukraine to teach workshops and the students partake in céilidhs and Burns suppers as part of their cultural experience. 

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Mr Adam Sutherland and his fiddle!

On the Monday evening there was a tutors' showcase at the newly re-opened Phoenix cinema in Oban. After discovering that the stage was carpeted, which wouldn't have provided much of a sound board for step-dancing, I quickly rummaged around the backstage rooms and found a rather small piece of ply-board. 

For the last session of each day, the great fiddler Adam Sutherland played for our dancing and gave the advanced pupils an opportunity to respond to a live musician. This is an important aspect of the dance-music symbiosis which has been very much part of the stylistic evolution of traditional music and dance simultaneously. Dancing to a live musician allows the dancer to improve their listening skills and provides a spontaneity, and furthermore an energy or presence, which can't be realised in an audio recording. This session provided them with the opportunity to consolidate the steps we had been working on and, with the drive of Adam's bow gave us the lift we needed at the end of the day.

Darren MacLean, Adam Sutherland and John Summerville

It is said that when Highland emigrants were clearing the forests in Cape Breton they would step-dance on the stumps of the cut down trees. Well, this was certainly my opportunity to practise my neat steps, close to the floor and within tight boundaries! The evening kicked off with big Donald MacPhee giving us a blast of the Highland Pipes after which each tutor took it in turn to give a short demonstration. With only a couple of near ankle breaks I made it through a strathspey/reel set, accompanied by Adam on fiddle. 

My wee piece of dance floor at the Phoenix Cinema, Oban.

Me (Sophie Stephenson) step-dancing with Adam Sutherland on fiddle.

A highlight of the week was the family céilidh, held in the Argyllshire Gathering Hall. The array of talented tutors performed throughout the evening in a rotating céilidh band as boys, girls, toddlers, teenagers, mothers with sons and fathers with daughters all took to the the dance floor. It was so delightful to see so many young people dancing with such enthusiasm and with such good knowledge of the dances! I was impressed that, considering the average age would have been about 10, the dance flowed more smoothly than any dance I had witnessed during my four years at University and reminded of me of school céilidhs in Fort Augustus. From dancing feet to smiling faces, the dance floor was brimming with fun and enjoyment. In between dances the gathering were treated to Gaelic songs from Darren MacLean, a Sailor's Hornpipe and a Seann Triubhas from Eilidh MacInnes and I did a spot of steps-dancing (this time with slightly more floor space!). Eilidh Munro also played a beautiful set of tunes on the clarsach for which the children huddled around the stage to listen. 

Struan Thorpe (whistle and chanter tutor), ready for participants' concert!

Pipes and drums get concert off to a start

The final event of the week was the participants' concert on the Friday afternoon. My beginners classes were excited about performing in front of their friends and family and so I put a wee routine together for them. For something a bit different, with the Ukrainian students, I put together an acapella body and foot percussion piece which incorporated both Ukrainian and Scottish step-dance which was a lot of fun. For another set, we also arranged steps into figures with a few twists and turns. The finale piece of the Fèis concert brought together the elements of language, song and music with all the participants (totaling over one hundred children!). Starting with the Gaelic song 'Le Cheile', the piece brought together the group work class, the Fèis choir and finished with the pipes and drums. A perfect ending to a great week!  

And so this blog has become rather longer than expected but I hope that, for those of you who have never experienced a Fèis before, I have shared with you some of the magic of Fèis Latharna, as a glimpse of the Fèisean movement in general, and the social and cultural impact of these intensive 5 days of learning, performing and playing with others which were so very much part of my own childhood. 

View from window as we had dinner with tutors and committee members on Thursday evening.

When I was growing up in Fort Augustus, every Easter holiday, my mother would make the 4 hour round trip daily to take my brother, sister and I through to Fort William for Fèis Lochaber. I can still remember the excitement each morning as we queued up for our name badge in anticipation of the jam packed day of music, dance and drama ahead. We had the same excitement at the end of the day as we got in the car and would spend the entire ride home telling my mother all we had done that day. It was here that I picked up many of my steps from Jane MacNeil and Frank McConnell and also had my first opportunities to try out new instruments and participate in Gaelic language and song. Gaelic wasn't offered at my local school and therefore exposure to the language at the Fèis was a rare opportunity when growing up. The Fèis was hugely important in my dance development as well as my great passion for our musical and cultural heritage. Since those years of attending Fèis Lochaber as well as my local fèis, Fèis Gleann Albainn, which was set up later, my passion has continued to grow and influence the paths I have taken. Whether as a profession or simply as a hobby, music and dance is a love which I will always have and treasure. Thanks to the Fèisean movement, and all it brought with it, there is now a cultural climate in which Gaelic culture thrives. The biggest gratitude on this part must go to all the communities and committee members of localised Fèisean who work so hard to ensure that they continue each year.