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Biography of Miss Joan Kirk: her teaching career and early i...

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1982.107-108*

Original Tape ID

SA1982.107

Summary

Biography of Miss Joan Kirk: her teaching career and early involvement with the Scottish Country Dance Society.

Miss Joan Kirk attended Dunfermline High School, where she learned the eightsome reel, the Circassian Circle, etc., but she didn't know that these were Scottish country dances. She first encountered the dance Petronella much later when she had an evening class of mill girls at Butterburn. After leaving school Miss Kirk trained [from 1913-15] as a gym teacher at Dunfermline College of Physical Education, where she learned English folk dancing, but no Scottish country dancing. When she left college she went to work in Berwickshire. It was a man's post, but the man was away at the war. She then came to Dundee and taught at various schools.

She attended a country dancing course in Glasgow run by Miss Milligan in about 1923, and joined the Scottish Country Dance Society. As a committee member of the Women's Educational Union, she put country dancing on the WEU programme. Miss Milligan came to teach it, and it was such a success that a regular class was started in Dundee. George Mechan mentions a meeting in Mather's Hotel at which the Dundee branch of the society was instituted. Miss Kirk trained as a teacher of Scottish country dancing.

Item Subject/Person

Kirk, Miss Joan

Recording Location

County - Perthshire

Parish - Moulin

Village/Place - Pitlochry

Language

English

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good