Jura Gathering returns

The Jura Gathering will be back in Glasgow next month, at St Vincent Bowling Club.

The ceilidh dance, featuring Mod gold medallist Darren Maclean and the McDonald Family Ceilidh Band, will take place on Saturday November 12, starting at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £12. Those interested in attending are invited to contact organiser Charles Renwick on charlesrenwick5@aol.co.uk.

Scotland’s leading contemporary dance company, Scottish Dance Theatre, currently touring major theatres in London, Derby, Dundee and Aberdeen, managed time to call in at Ardrishaig Public Hall on Friday October 14, to perform ‘Ray’ for the Mid Argyll Arts Association, writes Anne Beckitt.

The choreographer, Meytal Blananu, has created an extremely interesting piece for seven dancers, taking from the Covid years of lockdown and innumerable difficulties the themes of isolation, vulnerability, protection, support, and the need for connection and communication.

There could be as many interpretations as there were members in the audience.

The dancers’ energy output was awesome but we also shared in light-hearted moments and calming sequences. Spectators too had times for involvement.

The question and answer session that followed at the end showed that folk had indeed felt intrigued and fascinated.

It is not easy to get artistes of such high calibre to our more remote areas but the resulting success proves, yet again, that the artistic director Joan Cleville can always be relied upon to produce brilliant challenging work.

The following morning three of the dancers stayed on to lead a dance workshop, which was outstanding – and hugely enjoyed by all who attended.

It was a clever development of themes from the performance, really stimulating and creative, as we know is always the case when working with SDT each year. We look forward to the company’s return.