Argyllshire and Dunoon News

Dunoon’s first ever dance festival, which took place between April 6 and 9, has been hailed as a huge success by the young dancers who took part - and who are already looking forward to next year’s event.
Following a visit to Glasgow in February to see the prestigious Rambert Dance Company, the young local dance enthusiasts were excited to hear that dancers from the troupe would be coming to Dunoon to teach them the ropes during the festival.
Rambert’s Hayley Arundel and Kate Mummery ran a three-day session, with nearly 60 participants each day. The young dancers learned sections from the performance they’d enjoyed in February - Comedy of Change - and added their own ideas and choreography to create a special routine.
In addition, around 80 boys and girls joined Carrie Bland from Glasgow for a rousing session of hip-hop. Were they tired afterwards? Not so exhausted that they couldn’t participate in a Highland and ceilidh dance session run by Dunoon’s own Christina Cairns.
Last Friday saw the efforts of the young dancers displayed for a proud audience of parents and friends, under the close supervision of Hayley and Kate from Rambert.
Bright and cheerful in their purple Dunoon Dance Festival 2010 T-shirts, the group performed a twelve-minute contemporary routine based on the Rambert performance and looking at the evolution of communication.
Judging by their efforts, Dunoon’s certainly got talent, with plenty of graceful and skilled young contemporary dancers in the making.
Congratulating them on their achievements, tutor Hayley told the dancers: “You’ve done really well to learn this in just three days, which really isn’t long at all.
“You’ve put in a lot of hard work - be proud of it. We’re very proud of you!”
After the performance, Ronnie Cairns thanked all those who had been involved in making the festival such a success.
He added: “The Burgh Hall has been a fantastic venue for this event. When the project is looking for support in the future, please remember what a success this has been, and how much we need a venue like this.”
The young dancers who took part were very enthusiastic about the event, and for those who were too shy to speak to the Standard, their smiles said it all.
Iona Cairns said: “It was such a good experience to be able to work with professional dancers.”
Her friend Mhairi MacNeill added: “Getting to meet such amazing dancers has been brilliant, it was so good of them to give up their time to come here and teach us.”
Kirsten Alexander-McGarry said: “It felt great to be up there performing. Usually we would have to travel somewhere else to do something like this, but we were able to take part right here on our doorstep.”
Dava Sagenkahn of the McAslan Family Trust, which is behind the Burgh Hall, was instrumental in making the February trip to the Rambert performance happen and in making the festival idea into a reality.
She said: “It could not have been the fantastic success it was without the consistent, tireless support and hard work of Christina and Ronnie Cairns - covering  every detail to make sure things ran smoothly.  They really made it happen. 
“They were ably assisted by Shona McGarry and Christina Lambert who manned the hall throughout the four-day event and kept track of all the participants.”
She added: “Thanks, too, to Andrew Gibson for supplying music systems, the Abbots Brae Hotel for making Hayley and Kate feel so welcome in Dunoon, and all of the schools in and around Dunoon who supported the programme and helped to inform their students about the festival. 
“Lindsay Keddie who offered some great tips for getting the word out to the youngsters.
“Volunteers Anne McGillivray, Sonia Cowden, Laura Bissel, Gail Brown, Jodie Blincow, Diane Fletcher,  Margaret Fyfe, Linda Pursley, Debbie MacLean, Flora Christie, Jennifer Fisher, George Fagan,  Don McNeil, Jean Bell, Bruce Marshall, Gill Martin were also prepared to help out. 
“George McPhee from the Burgh Hall Project Group was also on hand to make sure the Burgh Hall was ready for the dancers each day.  John Cuddihy did a masterful job sanding the old floor and improved the condition immensely - it took many hours of hard work!
“A special thanks goes to those who allowed the youngsters to use St Cuthbert's Church Hall in Hanover Street to have additional space in which to dance.”
It may be all over for this year - but it’s almost a certainty that those young dancers who enjoyed the festival are still practising the steps and routines they learned, and looking forward to next year. In the meantime,visit www.burghhalldunoon.com and  www.christinacairns.wordpress.com to see the dancers in motion. And most important of all - make plans to take part in the second Dunoon Dance Festival next year!