The following story was submitted by Jessica Bargen, marketing assistant of The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, and documents their Culture Days 2011 experience.
We are the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. The Tattoo hosts the words largest annual indoor show on earth, it is a blending of the traditional and the modern as we cohesively sew together performances between military and civilian performers from around the world. This was our first time participating in Culture Days, and we got involved because we saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community that has supported us for 32 years. Nova Scotia has a strong Celtic culture, and all of us as Nova Scotians can embrace this heritage, whether we have inherited it through birth or not. As Nova Scotians, we get the privilege of embracing it and making it ours, which is why the event that we participated in for Culture Days represented that Celtic heritage and taught it to others.
Our Culture Days activity was an interactive workshop for all age groups. We had a piping demonstration done by two of the Tattoo pipers, they spoke about the history of the Bagpipes, the variety of music that may be played with the pipes, and they illustrated all of this with examples of the music. We also had a group of Tattoo Dancers, who demonstrated and taught a variety of Highland dances while the pipes piped. Both the pipers and the Dancers explained their outfits and the meaning behind the Tartans and plaids. The tartan kilts all had meaning and represented different families, regions, clans or events.
The goals that we had for the weekend, was we really just wanted to get out there and interact with Haligonians one on one. Sometimes, we feel that the Celtic Heritage we have in Nova Scotia may be overshadowed and underappreciated. We set out to bring this back to the forefront of people’s attention.
It was beautiful to look around and see the faces of these children shining as they’re watching the dancers, moving to the beat with one another, and to see a little girl dancing in the aisles as she was trying to imitate every move that the dancers are making. It was a small enough group that for the Tattoo dancers to partner with every child, walk them through the steps and lead them in the movements. The one-on-one setting is allowed the children to learn a great deal.
We received positive feedback from the participants and are planning on participating again next year. The Tattoo loves getting out and interacting with our Haligonian audience, and we want to get a younger demographic interested in the Tattoo. Who knows, some of these children could become hooked on Highland dance and then join the team of Tattoo dancers once they grow up. We had a ton of fun at this event, and so did the everyone involved.
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