Mabou step dance school an ‘absolute inspiration’

July 15, 2024

Melody Cameron is surrounded by dancers as she leads school participants in a lesson. Contributed photo

As the Mabou School of Cape Breton Step Dance enters its sixth year, it owes its very existence, at least in part, to a town in Italy.

The husband-and-wife team of Derrick and Melody Cameron expect to once again welcome upwards of 40 participants to this year’s school, which will be held July 22 to 26 in Mabou. But it was Barga – billed as ‘the most Scottish town in Italy’ – that provided a lot of the inspiration for the school almost a decade ago.

The couple traveled to the Tuscan town, which has a population of about 10,000 and deep connections to Scotland, in 2015 and 2016, after Melody was invited to teach at the Barga School of Scots Dance, Song and Music. The school not only provided instruction but encouraged participants to explore what the area had to offer.

It was that ‘full immersion’ focus that inspired Melody to decide she’d like to try the same thing in Mabou.

People step dancing in a circle in a small room.
The week-long school culminates in a Cape Breton house party for students and dance tutors with live music. Contributed photo

“It was so eye-opening,” recalls Melody, a fiddler and dancer who brings more than 40 years of experience to her school.

Up to 40% of Barga residents have Scottish relatives because a great number of people from the region immigrated to Scotland at the end of the 19th century in search of work. Derrick and Melody took full advantage of the opportunity to explore the area, and Melody came away with the idea that the same type of school could work in Cape Breton.

So, the planning began in 2016, and in 2017 they launched their first week-long school, with more than 30 participants. With between 30 and 40 students each of the next two years, the school was interrupted by Covid in 2020 and 2021, before picking up where they left off in 2022.

Dance instruction at the school runs from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm each day, and that early end to the day is a big key to the success of the school, as it provides students with the opportunity to explore the local communities.

“When you combine what the school has to offer with what the community has to offer, I think that the students get more out of the week than they expect,” says Derrick, an experienced guitarist who looks after much of the administration of the school, as well as some of the music. “I think they find it’s a deeper experience than they expected.”

“You make them aware of all the places where they can eat, all the places that have music, the dances, the local artisans, the hiking trails and the beaches,” he explains. “The school schedule isn’t so full that they don’t have room to go and explore at their leisure and enjoy what the area has to offer.”

Melody is joined all week by dance instructor Jenny MacKenzie, who will also offer the participants a yoga session on Thursday. Guest instructors for the five days include Cheryl MacQuarrie, Dawn Beaton, Gerard Beaton, Harvey Beaton and John Pellerin.

Each day will also feature a different guest presentation, providing more historical context to local traditional dance and music.

Enrolment in the school also gets participants a free tour of Glenora Distillery, admission to the Thursday night Glencoe Family Square Dance and a Cape Breton house party with live music. Along with MacKenzie’s yoga session, other activities offered in association with the school this year are a dance exercise program with MacQuarrie and the Tuesday Night Ceilidh at the local parish hall.

Students have been travelling to the school from many parts of the world, perhaps none further than Heather Clarke of Australia, who attended last year. Heather, a historian who studies the dance traditions of her native country, says she had seen videos of Cape Breton step dancing but had never experienced it herself.

“I’ve been involved in step dancing for most of my life and have been aware of the unique tradition of Cape Breton for a long time,” she says. “I’m a member of the Instep Research Team in the UK and have often come across references to Melody’s school. I also heard about it through the Scottish country dance community.”

Heather says it was a “dream come true” to get the chance to attend the school, noting that the experience offers so much more than step dance instruction.

“We were immersed in the culture of Cape Breton— fantastic music, song, dance, and friendship,” she adds. “I was delighted by the number of extremely accomplished teachers who taught us throughout the week. All of them were great educators, warm, patient, and friendly.”

“I haven’t come across anything akin to the Ceilidh Trail anywhere in the world. It would be brilliant if Australia valued its heritage and culture in this way. It was an absolute inspiration!”

Another participant who attended the school in each of its first three years is Rhonda Gillrie, who has operated the Danceology dance school in Alberta for 40 years. She says Melody is doing so many things right, and it has inspired her to look at things like music selection differently when it comes to her school.

“I grew up doing highland dancing,” she explains. “Kenneth MacKenzie will come in and play his pipes and he’ll play the highland way, and then he’ll play the Cape Breton way, and there’s so much joy and lift in the music, in comparison to the highland way.”

Rhonda says the experience of the traditional square dance was also an eye-opener, particularly the fact that all ages are encouraged to take part, noting that it’s a very encouraging atmosphere.

“I’ve soloed at the dances,” she recalls. “I soloed my first year. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing.”

“In Alberta, we would never feel comfortable enough to do that, never!”

capebretonstepdance.com