Rebecca Blackhall-Peters

Excerpts from a Note from Larry Onotera, May 26

"A sincere and hearty THANK YOU to all the people who made our Whisky-Tea Dance such a success yesterday! It was a sell-out crowd and everyone I spoke to, said how much they enjoyed it. Thank you Voyageurs, we did it again! 

If you would like to join the Scottish Country Dance mass demonstration team for the BC Highland Games and need a ride or want to join a set, let me know and I will try to arrange it. Also for Dancing in the Park this summer, we are hoping to go to most of them so send me an E-mail or phone at 604-576-6371 if you need a ride. 

Our regular 7:30pm Tuesday evening Classes in September will start on the 9th of Sept/08. With our successful Beginners group this past year, we hope to encourage another group of beginners to start later in September as well. Keep your eyes and ears open for recruiting opportunities. Next year will be our 10th Anniversary, so we want to make it particularly memorable. If you have any new, good ideas or suggestions for improvements to your club, please, please, let us know."

The Fort Langley Voyageurs are one of the newest clubs in the area, starting in 1999 with three couples and an enthusiastic teacher in training. All got together one afternoon at the Fort Langley Community Centre and took some photos which a kind supporter made into a brochure. Different kinds of enthusiasm and support since then have produced a very successful dance club.

The brochure went to the local paper, leading to a photo shoot and a full-page article. The group waited for that first big night. Fifty people showed up, with only three couples who had danced before!

There is now a beginners’ class, a family class meeting in the afternoon, and a monthly additional technique class.

The Voyageurs sponsor two major events each year: the Christmas Dance, for which Alex Jappy has played for many years, and the Tea Dance at the end of the dancing season.

The instructor, Rebecca Blackhall-Peters and the initial group (Derek and Chris Bissett and Tony and Margot Popplewell) set some guidelines. The success of the club has come from sticking with these. The emphasis is still on dancing as an inclusive, fun activity. There shall be lots of hugging and laughing at mistakes. There would be no demonstrations of dancing, but there would be participation in appropriate community events. That led to dancing at Fort Langley Celtic Days, participation in the May Day Parade, dancing on Fort Brigade days and participation in other community group activities.

Another goal of the group is to support local music. All our major events have live music, and there is normally live music for the classes. Julie Smith now plays for us regularly.

Many factors have contributed to a successful dance club. Everyone, from the original group of six to the newest class member, however, recognizes that the most important factor in creating the enthusiasm, present level of skill, and willingness to participate is the fact that the class has an outstanding teacher in Rebecca Blackhall-Peters.

Based on an article by Derek Bissett in The White Cockade, May 2004