Experience of a lifetime

There was a distinctly Limestone Coast flavour to the recent OzScot International at the Basel Tattoo in Switzerland with two students from Bell Studio of Highland Dance selected to perform alongside 98 highland dancers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and USA in what was an almost two week experience.

Two members of the Mount Gambier RSL Blue Lake Highland Pipe Band, two from the Naracoorte Pipe Band and a Hamilton based drummer were also part of the Basel Tattoo.

Lucy Edwards and Tilly Salmon were the dancers selected to perform and Bell Studio of Highland Dance principal Katie Edwards said it was an amazing opportunity for the girls to perform at such a high quality international event.

“I am so proud of the girls for not only being selected to perform with OzScot Australia – Australia’s premier performance team – but also for their commitment to learning the choreography and making sure that they were in the required physical condition to make it through such a demanding workload,” Katie said. “This has been an experience that will stay with them forever, and it has opened the door to more future international performance opportunities.”

Once selected to be part of the OzScot team, Lucy and Tilly attended a workshop in Brisbane at the start of the year to begin learning the choreography, and then continued learning it via video.

They then had one week of rehearsing with the rest of the team in Basel before opening night.

“Rehearsal days typically started at 8am and finished any time between 8pm and midnight, so it was a lot of work to bring everything together,” Katie said. “Lucy and Tilly performed in four items per show, which ran daily for 10 days.”

Pipe Major Ross Anderson and Piper Brodie Fennel were the Mount Gambier pipers who joined the South Australian Pipes and Drums band for the event, while the two pipers from the Naracoorte Pipe Band were Ed Coventry and Phil Shouksmith, and the drummer from Hamilton, Christine Smith, also joined the SAPD at Basel.

After the completion of the tattoo, Lucy continued on to travel throughout Scotland on the competition circuit, winning 16 top three placings, with her overseas experience culminating in the World Championship qualifiers at Dunoon.

“As expected, the standard of highland dancing was exceptional, and for Lucy to be able to dance in the home of highland dancing, alongside the best dancers in the world, was a dream come true,” Katie said.

Lucy and Tilly are now looking forward to expanding their overseas repertoire, with OzScot Australia headlining other events next year.

“This experience has ignited a passion for performance within both girls, and I’m sure this will only be the beginning of a highland dancing future filled with endless opportunities.”

THE LUCY EDWARDS STORY

“With my mum being a teacher and dancer herself, I’ve been involved in highland dancing for as long as I can remember. I love competing, but it’s the additional opportunities that dancing brings – choreography, teaching, tattoos – that have cemented my passion for the sport.”

And it is a passion that sees Lucy Edwards take three classes a week, a private lesson and twice weekly strength training and as you would expect as major competitions or events approach, that schedule intensifies.

It was during COVID that Lucy decided to join the OzScot Junior Development Squad (JDS) – the first step in the journey that saw her end up in Basel in July..

“From this, I was able to learn many of the steps used by OzScot in tattoos and represent the company twice at the International Festival of Highland Dance in Gosford,” Lucy said. “Being a part of JDS allowed for a smooth transition into senior tattoo work, which is how I came to be involved in the Basel Tattoo.”

That in vitiation to be part of the Basel tattoo kickstarting some serious preparations for both Lucy and Tilly with the video workshops, the in-person workshop and the building up of their strength and stamina to allow them to cope with the intensity of the 10 days of performances.

Safe to say, though, all the hard work was well and truly worth it.

“Basel was an amazing experience.” Lucy said. “It was incredible to be given the opportunity to dance at such a huge event, especially so early in my dance career. I loved the atmosphere and experience of competing at highland games in Scotland, too.

“It’s every Australian dancer’s dream to visit the home of highland, where you’re surrounded by Scottish culture, and the experience definitely didn’t disappoint. I especially loved competing in the World Championship qualifiers at the Cowal Highland Gathering – it’s a stage I’ve been watching online for years, so to finally be up there myself was amazing.”

The Basel experience now giving Lucy a taste for future opportunities at similar events.

“I would love to take part in some more tattoos, and hopefully visit Scotland again,” she said. “The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has always been a goal for me, so that could very well be in my future. Aside from that, I have a few major Australian championships that I’ll be working towards over the next year or two.”

THE TILLY SALMON STORY

Tilly Salmon has been dancing since she was five – following in the footsteps of her sister and in the end it was highland dancing that captured her heart after dabbling in all sorts of dance genres in her early years.

“I enjoyed highland dancing the most and I think this was because of the amazing community that I got to be a part of,” she said. “Most weeks I will have about an hour of dancing four nights a week. When we have nothing major coming up we often work through each step, breaking down the movements and finding any corrections. We often ease up the week before a major competition, practising softer dances and don’t practise as intensely. I also do a high intensity training session twice a week, which I started to be physically ready for Basel.”

Till had heard of OzScot and was aware of the opportunities it could afford a selected dancer in cities across the world.

“I heard about applications for this tattoo from my dance teacher and with a little bit of apprehension signed up,” Tilly said. “About a month later I received an email telling me I had made the team.

“We had to be very physically fit to perform in the Basel Tattoo due to the long rehearsal days and many performances. Additionally, Lucy and I attended a workshop late 2023 where we learnt some of the choreography.”

Tilly would do it all again in a heartbeat, though, cherishing her first major tattoo experience and eager for more.

“Being a part of the Basel Tattoo was one of the best experiences of my life,” Tilly said. “The team of dancers and the other performers were an amazing group of people and I was able to meet so many amazing people. I’ll admit that I was quite nervous about the whole thing but when I heard the cheers of the crowd in the first night, all my fears faded. It felt like such an amazing, once in a lifetime experience and I can’t wait for the opportunity to do another.”

And that opportunity could come as soon as next year.

“Applications have just closed for two tattoos in Cape Town and Virginia and I’m hoping to be selected for at least one next year.”

LOCAL PIPE BAND (ROSS ANDERSON)

The Basel Tattoo is held every year and is second in size to the Edinburgh Tattoo which is the biggest in the world. This year there were pipe bands from Australia, Singapore, South Africa and the UK. In total there is around 1000 performers including highland dancer’s, choirs, military bands and multicultural groups from around the world.

Playing in the tattoo was a significant commitment. Pipers had to memorise 24 tunes by heart some of which are reasonably complex.

Performances were daily at around 9pm and additional matinees were performed on Saturdays, while there was an additional street parade with other local pipe bands and brass bands which was televised and had an estimated audience of 100,000 people.

The tattoo was a great experience and we not only enjoyed playing with quality pipers from SAPD, but also other bands from Australia and overseas.

In addition, players were treated to tours of the local region, and the staff bar was a highlight with acts by tattoo bands and other local musicians each night performing.

The South East team really appreciated being invited by the SAPD and the fellowship of the other band members.

Brodie Fennel, at 19, was the youngest member of the South Australian Pipes and Drums contingent and at 24-years of age, Naracoorte’s Phil Shouksmith was the second youngest member of the SAPD.