By Lisa Parent

Medicine Hat duo selected for Highland Dance scholarship event

Jun 30, 2023 | 9:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Highland Dancing has been captivating audiences with its precise footwork and vibrant costumes since the 11th century. Two young dancers are not only preserving its tradition but also mastering the dance form.

Isla McCrie and Elora Linowski have been chosen to attend a event in Calgary to compete for a prestigious scholarship. The two young dancers explained why they love Highland dancing so much.

“It’s just the style of dancing. It’s just so unique and different that I just love it,” McCrie said.

Linowski added, “it’s very unique, nobody else in my grade or my school does Highland dance and I just have that thing that is about me.”

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Every year, an examiner travels from Scotland to analyze dancers and choose a select few to attend the SDTA Highland Scholarship event. Linowski and McCrie were selected for the conference after receiving the highest ratings in their dancing and honours in their grade theory exam.

To get the scholarship, the girls will be judged on their dancing skills, and are also required to take a Highland theory test.

McCrie remembered the moment she found out she had been selected to attend the event.

“I was in shock I had no idea I had gotten this. I knew about my results in the examination, but I didn’t know that I had gotten nominated and I was just so surprised and happy,” McCrie said.

Director and owner of McConnel School of Highland Dance Karen Pillman played a large role in helping the two develop their dancing skills. She even assisted on weekends to quiz the girls for their theory test.

“I was pretty excited for them. They had worked really hard for their examinations this year. They’re in a difficult level now, so they were at my house on the weekends studying with me. They were doing extra classes, they were practicing at home and they were pretty nervous going in,” Pillman said.

But those nerves quickly fade away when the girls step on stage and the music starts. The two have already attended multiple competitions this summer, and are performing at big events such as Beat the Heat and the Medicine Hat Stampede.

Big moments like these become a bit easier with a best friend at your side. McCrie and Linowski say the best part of the upcoming experience is that they get to attend together.

“It’s just so exciting that I get to go with my best friend when it’s really hard to get nominated,” said McCrie.

“Well, we go to all of our competitions or most, and all of our classes together and we just really connected,” Linowski said about McCrie.

The SDTA Highland Scholarship event starts at the end of September.