Aberdeen
Dance Scottish in the Silver City
Some history of RSCDS Aberdeen
How it started ... 1925
“Country Dancing Revival – Bishop Deane and the oldest of the Arts” was the heading in The Press and Journal – the local North East paper – on 17 October 1925.
The article described the inaugural meeting of the Aberdeen Branch at the Palace Hotel the previous evening. 50 people attended and Mrs Stewart, one of the founders of the Scottish Country Dance Society, explained its main aims to an enthusiastic audience. By the end of that year there were 99 members with two classes being held weekly.
How it's going ... 2025
We are thriving with six adult classes and one for children each week, plus social dancing and formal dances through the year.
Frank Thomson, musician and Aberdeen member receiving the RSCDS Scroll of Honour from William Wiliamson, RSCDS Chair at the 2024 Autumn Gathering.
The header from
our 2016 website
Milestones
1925 ... In December of 1925, 14 candidates for the Teacher’s Certificate were assessed by Jean Milligan and they all passed.
1937 ... The Autumn School, now known to us as the Autumn Gathering, came to Aberdeen for the first time in 1937 and has returned here on numerous occasions since.
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1939 -45 During WW2 the Committee continued to meet and Teacher’s classes were held in 1942 in preparation for the resumption of classes. In 1943 classes began again. Post war was probably the period of greatest growth of Scottish country dancing, not just in Aberdeen but across the world.​
1995 ... The Minutes of Meetings and Newsletters from 1925 to 1995 were recently archived with the Archivist at Aberdeen City Council - this was to ensure that records of our Society would never die. They are planned to be made available through the City's own website and when they are, there will be a link from this site to the documents.
We do enjoy a slice of celebration cake!
Our 75th and 90th cakes
Aberdeen's role in the RSCDS
Part of the work of a later Aberdeen Committee was to review the dances for Book 13 and many of these are still danced today e.g. The Reel of the 51st Division. Today we have Book 53 and additional books with a specific focus. An Aberdeen member, Angela Young, was in charge of the publication of Book 53.
The Branch has always had a strong membership and Aberdeen members have played an active part in the work of the Society as a whole. The list of posts held by our members is extensive: Summer School Director, teachers at both schools and examiners who assessed those taking their certificates; convenors and members of the various committees and Jean Martin of Aberdeen was chairman of the RSCDS. The RSCDS Chairman 2024-2026, Gary Coull, is an associate member of the Aberdeen Branch.​
John Drewry, prolific dance deviser and RSCDS Aberdeen member, awarded the RSCDS Scroll of Honour in 1999.
Keith Rose's diagrams