Category: Waltzing Parties
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A Record of Real Life
Grateful thanks to St. Anthony of Padua, or whomever inspired a kind person on the 26 Bus to hand my purple dance notebook to the driver. I felt excruciating loss for a few hours on Sunday evening and then an amazed burst of joy when I received word from Lothian Busses that they had my…
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St. Louis in Edinburgh
Traditional Catholic social dancing is a worldwide movement, and we in Scotland hear of exciting lessons at the American “Newman Guide Colleges” and at formal balls in, for example, St. Louis, Missouri. Last May, a visiting American student introduced me over email to the chief promoter of traditional Catholic social dancing in St. Louis, Anna…
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Friends with anyone who is friendly
The other day I was in the loft of a converted garage reading Chapter One of the newest Polish translation of C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy. I have read the Narnia stories umpteen times in English, so it wasn’t hard to understand. And I looked forward to the hero’s first sight of Narnians,…
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Snowdrops and Carnival
Coming home from Poland on Saturday was like flying from winter into spring. It is as yet very early spring in Scotland, mind you. Only two snowdrops in our garden have made their first appearance. Elsewhere I know there are floods of them. Snowdrops are the joy of a Scottish February. Carnival, which is in…
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A Year of Social Dancing 2025
In 2025, Mrs McLean’s Waltzing Party hosted seven dance parties and two ticketed dances, attended three outside dances and a ballroom dancing competition, and promoted umpteen dance lessons as well as nights out with the Edinburgh Jazz’n’Jive Club. We were guests at a tea party held in our honour, at which Mr McLean sang a…
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A Gaudete Sunday Waltzing Party
“We never know how many people we have until we’re in the room,” I told our fledgling waltzing instructors at After-Mass Tea. I encouraged them to do their best with the materials they had at hand. That’s my best advice to all dance organisers in smallish communities. No matter how well you organise–and I do…
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Winter Events 2025/6
There were 15 cheerful souls at our tea party on Saturday, and I thank the host very much for his hospitality. We feasted on sandwiches, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. We supped tea and coffee. The fair assembly patiently listened to my paper (which turned out to be longer than 10 minutes) and…
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The Tea Party, Etc.
The regular crowd at Mrs McLean’s Waltzing Party have been invited to a tea party on October 25, and I will be giving there a brief address on the subject of the history of social dancing in Edinburgh. If you aren’t in the WhatsApp group, but should be, send me a message Père Tabouret For…
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May I have this dance?
We held our third and last pre-Michaelmas Dance workshop yesterday, and I was delighted with it. For one thing, we had 8 women (and girls) to 11 men (and boys), a workable ratio. For another, I taught an addition to the basic waltz step (heel forward, toe back) and could see people getting it. (Incidentally,…
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La Maison de la Valse
This morning I am torn between admiration and despair, for I have seen some videos about the waltzing scene in Paris. A married couple called Charles and Hélène de Lauzun have a classical dancing school called La Maison de la Valse, and they organise spectacular balls. Even if you can’t speak (or read; there are…