Day 4 at the Gaelic College of Arts & Crafts, Festival Club, St. Ann's, Cape Breton (11 October 2011) There was another nice-sized crowd at the Festival Club tonight and it was a perfect time for them to be there, because there was a wonderful highlight this evening. Sabra MacGillivray had a release party for her new DVD, Gaelic in the Feet: Scottish Stepdancing for Beginners, and if sales were based on the performance she gave, then she should have sold a lot. She started by showing her fancy footwork to "Tullochgorum," a long, virtuosic strathspey that she fit her steps to perfectly. Then she had some of her friends -- Blair MacDonald, Melody Cameron and Mac Morin -- come up to join her on a Scotch Four, which is done to reels. She followed this with one more set of reels, where her friends got up and did some solo steps. There was so much energy throughout the whole performance, I thought I might need my inhaler just watching! There were some fantastic musicians backing her up, too. The group included her brother, Troy, and friends Mac Morin, Kimberley Fraser, Andrea Beaton, Louis-Charles Vigneau and Cheryl Smith. Sabra's DVD is for beginners and can be purchased on her website. If you're looking to learn some Nova Scotia steps, check it out. She is known for a being a wonderful teacher as much as she is for her extreme talent in step dancing. |
Rambles.NET review by Kaitlin Hahn |