Oz Scot Australia

http://youtu.be/RB6oWl30OpM

Congratulations to this very strong and talented team who presented this incredible item at every performance.

 They constantly had to adjust to music variations and, on the last night, dangerous slippery conditions  caused by the wet surface.

We would like to thank all the friends and family who travelled all the way to see the team perform in Basel – especially those who got drenched.

Thanks again to Cheryl for giving the girls the opportunity to travel and perform this wonderful choreography. Thanks to the beautiful girls in our  team, who committed to making this item at this Tattoo as good as they could get it.

Look forward to the next one …

Friday night at the Dress Rehearsal – this photo from Basel Tattoo Facebook Page

Sunday – Team photos

Photos from the Tattoo Wednesday

Our Team for Basel Tattoo has arrived and, although a bit weary, have been working hard at rehearsals for the first two days.

Practice on day 3 moved to the enormous Messe hall with the live band.

Thursday – first practice in the Arena

Friday – Practice and first Dress Rehearsal – to a full house !

Congratulations to all members of our team who have worked so hard in Halifax for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo 2011. You have done yourselves proud and received high praise for your performances. People find it hard to comprehend that prior to arriving in Halifax 2 weeks ago we had not danced together as a team. This is once again a reflection the hours of background preparation and creative vision of Cheryl and her small core team of talented musicians, choreographers and dancers, coupled with the dancers who arrive from all parts of Australia with energy and enthusiasm. Add to this the insight of the design for the ‘Pipes and Drums’ item, the didgeridoo and lighting for the Celtic Rock item and the bright, happy costumes for “In The Mood”, and the impact of the OzScot performances was compounded. It has been an honour for us all to work with Cheryl, and be a successful part of this very entertaining Tattoo.

Wednesday and Thursday at the Metro Centre – rehearsing, Dress rehearsal and taping for Canadian Television…

Friday – Canada Day !

Parade and Opening Performance

Saturday and Sunday – Matinee Performances

Our journey to Nova Scotia began with the volcanic ash cloud from Chile causing the cancellation of all flights into Sydney, and a snowstorm closing the Highway to the west.
Team members travelled for up to 20 hours just to reach Sydney on time.
Our flight to Canada cancelled, we were re-booked on a later flight via Los Angeles, and arrived in Halifax as planned on Thursday evening.
Friday has been spent at Saint Marys University, pulling the dances together and rehearsing.

Day 2 – started with rehearsals at the Naval Base, then moved to the Metro Centre for rehearsals until late, and fittings for our new outfits for the ‘In The Mood’ Item.

Some more rehearsal photos as our items come together (Monday) -

Tuesday -more practice and  first dress rehearsal

In June 2011 a team of 36 dancers will travel to Halifax, Canada for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Billed as the World’s Largest Annual Indoor Show, the Nova Scotia Tattoo will feature over 2,000 world-class Canadian and International military and civilian performers, presenting music, dance, acrobatics, drama and comedy.

Under the Direction of Cheryl Roach, the Australian Team will perform 3 items in each of 8 shows, beginning on Canada Day, 1st July. The highlight of their performances will be their feature ‘Celtic Rock’ item, which is a fast-paced mix of traditional and contemporary Highland Dancing, executed with military precision. This has been choreographed and developed by Cheryl and her team of local dancers.

The music for the feature item has been written by Pipe Major Roddy MacDonald, formerly Scotland, now Brisbane, and known World wide for his music. Roddy has especially written the music called ÖzScot Dancers. Roddy is joined by talented musicians Luke Moller on Fiddle and Cameron Roach on Percussion, both from Brisbane.

At the conclusion of the Nova Scotia Tattoo, several dancers will be moving on to Basel in Switzerland. They will be joined there by other Australian Dancers to form a team of 36 for the Basel Tattoo 2011.

The team will again perform ‘Celtic Rock’ at 13 shows in the courtyard of the Barracks in Basel, to an audience of 72,000.

A cast of over 1,000 representing 11 different countries will present their music and march sequences in one of the largest and most successful open-air Tattoos.

Basel 2011 will be the 10th overseas Tattoo that Cheryl Roach has taken her Team of dancers to. The OzScot Team is drawn from all States of Australia and the dancers are aged from 13-30. Cheryl and her Team are renowned in the Tattoo Worlds for their professionalism, work ethic and precision.

A team of 28 dancers performed at the Netherlands Military Tattoo in Rotterdam in September 2010. At this traditional-style Tattoo, held in the birthplace of all Tattoos, the OzScot team debuted a new item and costume. ‘Celtic Rock’ was developed to answer the brief for a combination of traditional and contemporary highland dance.     It begins with the music of the gentle ‘Sleeping Tune’and takes off with ‘Zeto the Bubbleman’ and ‘Electric Chopsticks’

In February 2010, dancers from every State of Australia came together with a group of  24 Edinburgh Tattoo Highland Spring Dancers to create a team of 120 for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Sydney. Under the Direction of Cheryl, the team performed ‘Streaming Reels and Other Stories’. The whole team  worked long, hard days in heat and humidity,to get the item perfect, and were rewarded with great success, praise and tributes.

Just days after Basel Tattoo, a team of 45 dancers arrived in Edinburgh for the 2009 Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The team danced 26 performances of the dance item ‘Tam O’Shanter’ together with the Edinburgh Tattoo Highland Spring Dancers, a colourful homage to Robert Burns 250^th Anniversary.  Our team also danced at 4 satellite Tattoos at Glasgow, Linlithgow Castle, Dumfries House Ayrshire, and Jedburgh, dancing our own work to ‘Streaming Reels and Other Stories’. This item was a great success for the dancers and was enjoyed by the audiences.