McConnell Highland dancers are going to Scotland in August / Photo: Meghan Cobb

By Meghan Cobb

Medicine Hat highland dancers are getting ready to dance in Scotland

Jun 12, 2022 | 2:27 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Karen Pillman starting highland dancing when she was four years old and continues to share her love of dance with young dancers at her school.

Pillman started the McConnell School of Highland Dance in 1995 and has taught hundreds of dancers in Medicine Hat during the past 27 years. This year she is taking seven dancers to Scotland to tour the dance’s home country and compete against some of the best dancers in the world.

Pillman went to Scotland to dance when she was 16 and says the experience was so life changing, she wanted to provide it to other dancers. This is the sixth group she has taken overseas to compete.

“You have some very, very dedicated parents who have done an enormous amount of fundraising, along with the community support, to allow these dancers to go,” says Pillman.

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Planning for the trip started in 2017 with the original travel date in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dancers are going to Scotland this August.

The seven dancers going to Scotland will take classes and compete in competitions and Highland games across the county.

The World Highland Dance Competition is taking place in Cowal, Scotland on August 25-27, 2022 so the competition will be broader than usual.

“All the dancers from around the world are attending leading up to World Championships,” says Pillman. “We’ll be competing against dancers from Canada, Australia, the US, Scotland, everywhere.”

COVID-19 not only delayed travel plans, but also made it difficult for the dancers to gather and practice ahead of the trip because of public health measures.

“It was hard,” says Pillman. “The highland dance community spent a lot of time on Zoom and in meetings helping and supporting each other.”

Dancers have had to make up for lost time leading up to the trip through extra practices and competitions. Pillman says the group has been travelling at least twice a month since October to compete.

Dancer Sophia Harris is going to Scotland with the group this summer. She practices every day and comes early to her classes to continue her training.

“I come early to help with the younger dancers,” says Harris. “I learn a little bit more and it helps with my technique.”

The dancers are spending a minimum of an hour and a half, twice a week in classes until they leave, along with countless hours of practicing at home, but for Harris, all the work is worth it.

“It’s really special because I love dance,” says Harris. “Over the pandemic it was really hard to not be able to be in the studio and do competitions.”

Three of Pillman’s beginner dancers make up the group of seven. 6-year-old Aurora Hohn has been dancing since she was two. She’s ready to compete in Scotland but says getting there will be the hardest part.

“I’m nervous,” laughs Hohn. “It will be my third time going on an airplane, and all the other times I was a baby, so I’m scared.”

Dancer Annalise Robins is looking forward to the opportunity to dance against a wider selection of competitors.

“I feel excited to see how other dancers from different countries do the steps that we know,” says Robins.

While Elora Linowski is ready to take in the sights of the Scottish Highlands.

“I’m looking forward to trying the new foods,” says Linowski. “And seeing castles that we don’t have here in Canada or Alberta.”

Whatever the dancers take away from the trip, Pillman knows it will be one to remember.

“For my dancers, all of them are new to Scotland,” says Pillman. “So, watching them get up there and live their dreams is going to be incredibly special.”