’Tis the season to be jolly as they say, and we hope you’ve got your dancing shoes ready for the festive season. For our final story of the year, we thought we’d catch-up with one of our local young dancers, Kiera MacKenzie.

Hailing from Lochmaddy, Kiera first laced up her pumps as a nine year old and was taught through the Kerry MacDonald School of Dance.Kerry from Barra has been coming over to Uist regularly over the years and has taught many of our young dancers.

When I learned we’d go to the DI Kerry would come on the weekends and we’d do a Saturday and Sunday with her. I was quite late in starting. I actually started at the Fèis. That was the first time I tried it, and then I was hooked after that, and I never left it.

It was really good because it gave me something to do when I was younger and I loved fitness anyway. I loved running and everything. So it was really good for me.’

As a dancer, Keira mainly focuses on Highland and has also dabbled in Hebridean dancing. Eventually she hopes to try other styles of dance and she has been competing nationally and locally.

 

‘I went to the  Kingdom of Fife competition and some others in Stornoway this year, but next year I’m doing a few more. I’m doing one in Paisley and there’s one in the North of Scotland as well.

I really like performing, and I’ve done a few tattoos. I went to Colorado last year and I did one in Sweden in 2017 with the dance school. They were amazing.

You had to drink loads of water so you don’t pass out because of the altitude. It was incredible, really and I got to meet loads of people from different countries as well.

As Kiera plans for 2025, she is filling up her diary with plenty of dancing events and work. In order to become certified as a dancing teacher, Kiera will have to sit exams with two different dancing schools and exam boards. She is in the middle of studying this so keep an eye out in future for the Kiera MacKenzie School of Dance.

‘I’m in the middle of studying for that just now and we’ll hopefully have that next year and we’ll be doing teaching full time as well. 

The exams can be quite difficult. You’ve got to know a lot about each dance and all the steps. I’ve recently moved to a different dance school just now, so I’m with Màiri McLean.

When I get my teachers qualification I’d love to do more like dancing at tattoos. I might be heading for Belgium next year. I’m enjoying teaching at the moment as well.

In asking Kiera how she thinks the dancing scene is in Uist at the moment, she would say that the future is bright. 

There’s a lot of young ones coming into it. There’s big groups of them. We get ones from 3 years old right the way through to teenagers. There’s a lot around the four or five year old age group and there’s plenty more coming in.

 

There are big classes and it’s all going strong.

In closing our conversation, we asked Kiera ‘So what is it that you enjoy about dance?’ Her closing statements show how much she loves Highland dancing and we wish her a Merry Christmas and all the best in her future exams and dancing plans:

‘Dance is something… I don’t know how to explain it… it’s really good because you get your fitness side of it, but at the same time you have to, I don’t know how you put it, you have a passion for it. So I don’t know, I feel at ease and happy when I dance. You can totally forget everything else in the world. I’ve got lots of friends from all over who I’ve met from dancing and we keep in touch and see each other often which is great.

Also, It’s not boring. It keeps your mind going all the time because it’s quick and it’s fast and intricate. It brings people together like a big family, which I love. You always feel involved and you’re never left out.’