PEEBLES High school had a notable win at this year’s Secondary Schools Dance Festival in Galashiels.

In a strong pool, dancers from the school were delighted to win in the Scottish Country section of the event. “It was a fantastic atmosphere and we’re glad it went so well. We’re so happy,” beamed Peebles High School pupil Gemma Tilly. Classmate Rebecca Greenhou attributed the success to additional work put in outside of regular school hours. “We have been training for a couple of weeks at lunchtime,” she said. “We don’t mind giving up the time, as we love what we do.” Teacher Susan Hunter was keen to stress the social aspect of the event: “The cups are not important, it’s getting the girls out of school and with their friends and seeing how girls from other schools dance,” she said. The festival provides an opportunity for pupils to display a variety of dance styles, from Scottish Country through to Creative Dancing.

“We had five secondary schools partaking today and we’ve got about 150 Dancing Scottish pupils and 300 Dancing Creative, so the turnout was exceptional this year,” said Performing Arts coordinator Olivia Roper. Sheila Whiteford, Chair of Scottish Borders Dance Community believes a key part of the festival is the sharing of ideas and dance techniques. “The pupils can come and share their dance skills they have been working on. Also, quite a few of them have extra curricular clubs, so they are producing pieces in those clubs and bring them here to show and share with other schools.”