MORE RISKY is a concert/dance of West Swedish music in Kilmorack Hall. In the event word-of-mouth does the trick and pulls in a dozen people for the dance workshop (polskas, engelskas and reels) and a healthy crowd, with a good number of children, for the evening ceilidh – to make truly a day to remember.
 

Tango Siempre, which went down well in Beauly last summer, do equally well this summer at Hootananny, although the fiddler has difficulty concentrating while the trio at a nearby table chatter incessantly through the music – but, hey, maybe the same happens in the bars of Buenos Aires. There is a demand for follow-up dance classes (now set for 16 September in Maple Court Hotel).
 

Children’s puppet shows usually get a decent turn-out, although audiences can vary from 10 to 100 for little apparent reason. Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre return this summer with one old favourite “Indian/Native American Tales” and a cracking new show “The Magic of the Mummy”. The first attracts 30 to the spanking new theatre at Glenurquhart High School; the second attracts the same number to the small Culduthel Hall.
 

Life in a Box 2003

This summer some strange blips occur. Can it be the good weather that has led to the cancellation of the African drama project and several Multi Activity Days? How come only one child shows up for a Magic Workshop in Culloden, that attracts large numbers in Nairn, this in spite of the venue doubling up on the postering? And yet “Life in a Box”, which one had expected to be hard to fill, books up almost immediately.
 

The feedback forms tell us that people like the activities, the leaders, the venues and the selection. What they don’t tell us is why people stay away. Maybe one’s own children, with their lethargic holiday habits, screen fixation and unwillingness to make decisions, could help point the way.  (Note: Must check with Eden Court, whose extensive summer activities programme we have advertised in our brochure, to see if they have had the same spotty results.)
 

Little time to draw breath before we embark on several new projects. Some 34 new media artists respond to the advert for the 7 short-term residencies in the Highlands, including Merkinch, and the Arts Officers have their work cut out in drawing up the shortlist. Lochaber will pilot the scheme, with the other areas, following suit over the following year and a half.
 

“Local Motion”, the NOF funded Out of School Activity programme in Inverness and Nairn, aims to integrate sports and physical arts and will have a small team ensuring its spread to all primary schools over the coming 3 years. We will, no doubt, learn a lot en route.
 

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