Meeting June
March 30th, 2016 June walks into the Empire Rooms with a flourish, totally at home and knowing she belongs. This grand entrance of hers we come to know and love. She never misses a beat, always loved her audience and possesses a wit and comic timing that had me captivated. She is the consummate professional,…
That Wee Black Box
April 16th, 2016 June arrives again with her sister Sylvia who brought a scrap book of family memorabilia. She has some lovely, precious stuff, including photos of June dancing, some of which I photographed along with some of the programmes. Again, spent well over two hours together. Showed June the footage of herself from last…
Meeting Marie
April 28th, 2016 “Our first meeting with Marie (pronounced ‘Marry’) Duthie is set up through email correspondence with her daughter Morna. Marie was one half of the Raymond Sisters. I travelled by bus to her home where she and her home-carer graciously entertained me, sharing with me Marie’s wonderfully neatly packed, labelled, and organized suitcase…
An Unexpected Direction
May 4th, 2016 “A meeting with Paul Hudson from Festival Theatre today. Bowled over by the vivacity, skills knowledge and energy of June and Marie, we begin talking about the potential and possibility of making a film with and about them and of them creating a live performance. A bold and unexpected direction has unfolded! …
Keeping Up
June 16th, 2016 “This was the second time meeting with Marie and another great one, managing to record some of our conversation. More singing and dancing, Marie is a brilliant and patient teacher and I promised I’d master the step she was teaching me for our next get-together.” “More information on The Raymond Sisters. ‘Anchors…
An Audience With… Is Born!
June 21st, 2016 “Met with Paul Hudson today and decided that these women were so stellar, feisty and full of vim and vigour that we would definitely aim for a performance as part of The Luminate Festival, and that they had so much knowledge to share that we should also aim for a book! We…
Seizing the Moment
July 7th, 2016 “We welcomed Marie in the main foyer, her first visit with us at the Festival Theatre, there was a buzz in the building, and a delight to meet someone who had performed on the stage of the old Empire. Martin Clark was with us filming and caught the moment on camera -…
Behind the Tabs
July 26th, 2016 June and her family at the theatre today, making a grand entry through stage door and feeling totally at home. We stayed backstage and first visited a dressing room to see one of June’s father, Roy Don’s, drawing framed on the wall and part of Festival Theatre’s archive. The whole family were…
Meeting Katie
September 19th, 2016 An exciting day as our new shoes arrive – both tap and ballet. Marie remarks that ‘they’re just like old friends’ and immediately starts dancing. June, who arrives once Marie has gone, decides to teach. It is Katie’s first day with us and she gets thrown in at the deep end, getting…
Working in the Now
October 10th, 2016 “Great to get dancing in Festival Theatre’s Studio Theatre today with Marie. An opportunity to really dance, because of space and the floor quality. What a great teacher Marie is, with clarity, precision, and patience. We tried to master the new steps, it will take some time though. It’s hard! Marie’s technical understanding and…
The Tap Mats Arrive!
October 17th, 2016 Hooray, our tap mats have arrived! We have purchased four, sturdy, hefty mets that are perfect for the carpet on the Empire Rooms floor. We can’t wait to get tap shoes on and give them a go! They sound great! Marie complains about no longer ‘having spring in her step’ and goes…
Meeting Doreen
October 24th, 2016 We had a few guests today, a PHD student in dementia studies at Stirling and Paula Lopez a producer from Brazil visiting Scotland as a delegate with Luminate. And we had the privilege of being on Festival Theatre’s main stage (a rare opportunity as it is so rarely ‘dark’) Marie again was…
Photos in the Handbag
October 31st, 2016 Both Marie and June brought in photos today. The one of Marie doing a back-bend on a pole, she is so bendy!, and the one of June in a Moxon Girls line up. June had hers in her handbag, in the frame, so I think had taken it directly off the wall.…
Meeting the Family
November 4th, 2016 Squeezed in an extra day this week as Marie’s family were up to visit and we organized a theatre tour for them with the wonderful Graham one of Festival Theatre’s multi-talented Front of House Staff. So many Festival Theatre staff love the building and its history it is a joy to be…
The Barre & The Bar
November 7th, 2016 We were in one of the Festival Theatre bars today and practised some of the steps we’ve been doing for a while now with our ballet barre at the bar! Marie’s tap dancing generates a lot of interest from cleaners, carpet fitters and any other Festival Theatre staff who happen to be…
Down Memory lane
November 14th, 2016 Tap dancer and dance lecturer Jo Turbitt came in this morning to meet Marie. The chat and the dance was great. Jo is really knowledgeable about the history of tap and really enthusiastic to know details about tappers who danced before her. Marie was keen to know about Jo’s hoofer American rhythm…
Taking Charge & Initiating Strikes
November 23rd, 2016 Today was the day of Marie’s tap class. Great to be in the Studio Theatre with dancers Lewis Normand, Lucy Clements who works at the Festival Theatre, Ellie Griffiths a theatre maker and to have Martin filming. Everyone was pretty much an absolute beginner but by the end of it with Marie’s…
Pies & Prossecco
November 28th, 2016 Today was our ‘big finale’ as June’s son Gavin has been calling it. It was the final event of this year and we made it a big one, inviting friends and family, and Festival Theatre staff to join us. Quite a party!! We started off having a chat over a cup of…
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
An Audience With... 