Scottish Dance Awards - Sunday 18th May 2025

Last weekend, I had the honour of attending the Scottish Dance Awards! This prestigious event was held in Glasgow and celebrated all the amazing dance work happening across Scotland.

Attending awards ceremonies is definitely a step out of my comfort zone; I'm much more familiar with dancing around the studio in t-shirts and joggers! However, it was fun to get dressed up and attend a formal event.

Running RMB Dance single-handedly means that I attended the awards alone, unlike almost all of the other dance schools there which had teams of teachers/ staff. I admit I found this challenging intially, walking into a room not knowing a single person, but I always encourage our dancers to challenge themselves so I took my own advice! I need not have worried, because everyone was so welcoming and it was great to connect with teachers from across the country and chat all things dance!

Not only did I attend the awards, I attended as a finalist! I'm extremely proud that RMB Dance was a finalist in the category "Best Dance School for Community Engagement". This award recognises the dance schools that go above and beyond to make a difference in their communities.

I think this particular award category is a lovely one for us, as it recognises what we have achieved together. Although I do run RMB Dance as the sole director/ teacher, it's the children and families who access our classes that make up our team, and they are what have enabled us to achieve what we have.

Whilst we didn't win this time, to be one of only ten dance schools in the category - from the hundreds across the country - is a huge honour! We're a small dance school in the heart of Edinburgh that started during the pandemic and hasn't even been open five years. Many of the schools there last week have been open three or four times longer!

I'd like to think that our journey and success so far shows that anything is possible. Whilst we faced much adversity in our early days, there is always a way forward. We're a little (but growing!) community that has passion, joy, and a desire to help others. So now the aim is to keep going, keep dancing, and to keep spreading joy 💜

Well done to all the award winners and finalists last week; what a wonderful evening it was!