Book 54 Workshop – Sunday 21 September 2025, Swansea

In common with many other Branches, RSCDS South Wales recently put on a workshop so that dancers could become familiar with at least some of the dances in the latest RSCDS publication. Book 54 is a very accessible collection of dances, most of which lend themselves to being adopted by a wide range of dancers. We hope to include them on social programmes over the coming year and beyond.

Nineteen dancers and three spectators attended the workshop, and we spent an enjoyable afternoon learning eight of the eighteen dances in the collection. Many of the dances are pretty straightforward, but include a feature formation (or sometimes more than one) which is relatively unfamiliar, particularly to newer dancers. So in the course of the afternoon we covered Set & Rotate, the Knot, Schiehallion Reels, and the Targe, as well as lots of other more common figures.

One of the dances which we have particularly enjoyed has been the reel “The Yorkshire Rose”, which was devised by Trish Reid. Along with her husband Ed, Trish spent some years in our Branch, and now dances and teaches in Cheshire. We have found this dance delightfully simple but rewarding, and we have already taught it numerous times at various local classes as well as at the workshop itself.