Dear Friends of SSA:
The School of Scottish Arts reconvened in July of 2023 after a three-year hiatus and we’ve been thrilled with the growth and excitement of the program. We are also eager to once again engage the broader Scottish community in supporting this iconic experience for the young Scottish enthusiasts who represent the next generation of Highland culture in the United States. In the summer of 2024, 50% of our attendees received scholarship support from Clans, Scottish Societies, Games, and SSA Alumni. This is remarkable and heartwarming. There are only around 1200 Scottish Highland dancers in the United States, which makes it very important that we impress upon each generation the importance of perpetuating the art form, its traditions, and the way that SSA brings communities together.
Unfortunately, for the summer of 2025, we are going to need to suspend our camp
opportunity and begin preparations for 2026. As many of you are aware, the ScotDance
Canada Championship Series will run July 5-9, 2025 in Ottawa, ON, and the ScotDance
USA Championship Series follow July 9-13 in Santa Clara, California. The set dates for
SSA would have been July 3rd or 4th through the 10th overlapping both events. While
we understand that not all dancers attend these events, we do have both leadership
and attendees that are challenged by this scheduling. Furthermore, and most difficult to
navigate, is that our potential instructor base is minimized by attendance at one or both
of these important national competitions. We explored the dates following the
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games but as the community and college in Banner Elk
are still recovering from the devastating hurricanes last fall, they are unable to
accommodate our group on campus that week.
We are currently exploring the idea of a ZOOM meet-up just to make some connections
this summer with our SSA family and to begin the planning process for 2026 and are
open to any other suggestions you might have about keeping the SSA spirit alive this
summer. We appreciate your faith in the School of Scottish Arts and look forward to
dancing with you soon!
The SSA Organizational Team
Kathryn Austin, Madison Slack, Ruth Suehle