The club needs over 30 programmes each year, and many of these are provided by club members.
The Programme Convener welcomes and encourages members to submit suggestions or complete programmes - this applies equally to new members and to long-standing members.
Guidelines for Atholl Programmes
The Atholl SCDC Constitution requires the committee to have guidelines for dance programmes, and that the Programme Convener ensures that programmes accord with the guidelines. These guidelines are set out below.
In presenting these guidelines, the committee recognises that many good programmes will not meet them entirely. It therefore grants the Programme Convener discretion to allow programmes which do not meet the letter of its guidelines, provided that the deviation is modest.
There may be a need to modify a submitted programme if it deviates substantially from the guidelines or if it includes dances which have already featured several times in the current season.
The Programme Convener is expected to be fair and consistent when providing a critique of a programme, but his/her decisions on programmes are final. The committee does not intend to get involved in this matter.
1. Programmes should typically follow the Atholl format of J/R, R/J, S, J/R, R/J, S, J/R, R/J, interval, J/R, R/J, S, J/R, R/J, S, J/R, R/J, but minor variations, such as substituting an additional strathspey for a reel or jig, are acceptable. 2. The first dance on both halves should have minimal or, better still, no setting. We need to look after our joints! Some of us may have stiffened up during the interval. 3. The first dance of each half of the programme should not be too ‘heavy’ or too ‘challenging’. 4. Programmes should include a mixture of 2, 3, 3/4, 4 and 5 couple dances. 5. Four and five couple dances should not be adjacent to each other on the programme. We don’t want people forced to sit out for a long period. For the same reason, programmes should not have an excessive number of such dances. 6. Undue repetition of the same formations should be avoided. 7. Each half of the programme should include at least one dance which is challenging in some way: for example, it may be complex, or unfamiliar because it has not been danced recently at the club, or it may be totally new to the club. New dances are always welcome. 8. There should normally be no more than one dance in each half which needs to be walked out: typically because the dance is new to the club or has a recent history of going wrong. Devisers should be prepared either to ‘walk’ the dance themselves, or to ensure that their deputy fully understands any little twists that ‘make’ the dance, but may not be immediately apparent from minicribs. 9. The last dance should not require much brainpower. Devisers are encouraged to select a dance that finishes with a circle. However, this should not exclude such old favourites as the Irish Rover, the Duke of Perth, or those with appropriate ‘going home’ names.
Lists that may help you.....
Click here for a list of dances you might like to use to finish your programme. These tend to end on circles, or perhaps to have appropriate names for a last dance.
Click here for a list of dances that you may wish to use as a main feature of your programme - with a walk-through if necessary. This list includes some dances which will be new to the Atholl when they appear on your programme
How to submit a programme
Simply hand it to a club officer or committee member on a Tuesday night or send it via the 'Contact Us' facility on this website