NGI Recipient: Aileen Ritchie
Session Attended: Royal Scottish Country Dance Society - Scottish Session I (2008)
I attended Session I of Pinewoods Scottish dance camp in July 2008 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was born and grew up in Scotland and although I have been a highland dancer since the age of 4, I have had minimal Scottish country dance experience. Despite this I was able to participate in all the dances and found people very willing to guide me through and dance with a less experienced partner. I attended the beginner country dance classes during the day and gained valuable knowledge that I was able to practice at the dances in the evening. In addition I took a class in ladies step dancing that was a new experience and I learned a new dance in the highland dance class.
Despite not knowing many others there I found everyone very friendly and welcoming at Pinewoods. There were many social events that I thoroughly enjoyed and the schedule was well thought out with a variety of different social and dancing events. I would highly recommend Pinewoods Camp to anyone, even with minimal or no Scottish dance experience. The surroundings, music, people and dancing made for a very enjoyable weekend.