Hi everyone!
My name is Laura Elliott, I'm 24 years old and I am from Chile.
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I'm a member and Dance Leader of Highland Dance Chile, which is a group of dancers that are part of Santiago Metropolitan Pipe Band. We are currently 6 girls of different ages and we practice every Wednesday and Saturday for performances and competitions throughout the year. The group started in 2002 when the Pipe Band needed a group of dancers for their performances. Back then, and without You Tube, Chilean highland dancers learnt by watching super low-quality VHS and by having some lessons once every two years at the South American Gatherings. Crazy!!
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As a Dance Leader (which is a rank that South American dance groups normally use) I am in charge of planning the practices and preparing us as a group for the upcoming competitions. I've been dancing since 2011, but before that I did Irish Dancing for 3 years. I started highland dancing because my family has Scottish roots so I always liked bagpipes and tartans. I remember that the first time I saw the Sword Dance I knew I wanted to do it, it is such a powerful dance (I must admit that now it is not my favourite dance at aaaaall).
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The last competition I was in was "Santiago Cup" which took place here in Chile. There were highland dancers from Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil and Chile, and the Judge was Susan Nase from Shot of Scotch Vancouver. We had such a great time!
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Highland Dance Chile is also a school. I teach highland dancing for teens and adults once a week and every student has the chance to audition to be part of the dance group.
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As South American highland dancers dance and compete under the rules of the Scottish Pipe Band Association of South America, we haven't got any official (SOBHD recognized) dance schools, so we mostly teach and learn without a specific regulation. However, every year more and more people are interested in highland dancing here, so I am now working hard to create a SOBHD affiliated body representative for South American dancers. That will be amazing!
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I hope you liked this blog! I invite you to follow me and the other chilean dancers at @highlanddancechile. I'll keep you posted about the next competition, this time in Patagonia Argentina!
Laura Elliott xxx
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