Back on the water

As for price since the end of the tie-up protest, MacDougall said, “as far as we know,” the price remained steady.
“It did not go up or down last week.
“You can look at that whatever way you want, but at least it did not go down … and there was rumour of it going down after Mother’s Day,” he added.
As for word of a price drop for this week, MacDougall said he could not confirm anything when he spoke to the Casket late Monday evening.
As for local catches, MacDougall said he has heard them described as “pretty decent.”
“The first haul [May 14] was incredible.
“We were all surprised at the number of lobsters that were still in the traps. There were of great quality; they were in great shape,” he added.
MacDougall said there was some concern, because the traps were unattended over the tie-up period, with cannibalism taking place between the fish.
“I can speak for myself and any fishermen that I talked to that they were amazed with the quality,” he added, noting the condition of the lobsters as a “positive.”
“Because the buyers could not use that as an excuse [for a price drop],” MacDougall said.

Damage done

Another factor since lobster fishers returned to the water has been a familiar one – the weather.
“Some fishermen locally lost a fair amount of gear over the weekend,” MacDougall said, noting some lost as much as 10 to 15 percent of their gear.
He added a lot of damage occurred “especially back of the Cape [George],” in areas such as Ballatyne’s Cove.

“They live for this all year. It’s a big opportunity,” program director Sally Clark said. “Of course it’s a performing art, so that’s what they want to do, is perform.”

Around 340 dancers ranging in age from four to university students will dance in a series of three recitals named Dance Mosaic.

The first recital is Saturday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m., followed by two on Sunday, May 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. All performances are at the StFX chapel auditorium. All are welcome to attend.

“What we decided to do was call it Dance Mosaic, because there’s not really a central theme and it’s all very eclectic,” Clark said.

Dancers will perform in ballet, pre-ballet, creative dance, tap, jazz, step, lyrical, African and hip-hop styles, she said.

In addition to the regular program, Clark said there are a dozen Grade 12 students who are graduating from school and are still part of the dance program who will be honoured at the recital.

“You have a lot of kids of every age, but by the time they get through the years, it starts to dwindle down a little bit because they get involved in other things,” she noted.

“These girls, they’ve all been in for a long time, since they were little, so they’re all going to do a special grad dance and we usually honour them on the last night,” Clark said.

“This is one of those things they’ve been with a long time and it means quite a bit to them and it’s pretty emotional when they’re leaving,” she added.

In addition to the work that teachers and students have put in, Clark said it would be remiss not to thank parents and volunteers for their efforts.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on the teachers and the dancers but the whole thing comes together because of a lot of other volunteers,” Clark noted.

She added board members are instrumental in looking after ticket sales and organizing venues, but that parents also volunteer their skills to pull together the costumes of dozens of dancers.

“We have some incredible seamstresses,” Clark said, mentioning two parents and seamstresses, Jennifer England and Mary MacLean, as key.

“They’ve sown whole classes full of 12 beautiful long dresses and eight tutus and 20 little costumes for the little ones,” she added. “You name it, it’s unbelievable how much they do.”

ACDA was incorporated as a non-profit in 1977 and held its first recital in 1978. Over three decades later, the same ideals remain.

“The whole essence of the dance association is not competition, because that is a whole other thing. It can mean exclusion of some kids, and we don’t exclude any children. The main purpose of the program is to include all,” Clark said.

“So this is our big opportunity to really show what we do,” she added.

As for support, Clark said community members have always been strong backers of the dancers at recitals.

“They turn out in force,” she said.

Tickets are on sale in advance at the chapel auditorium from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. all week, or at the door. Children/student/senior price is $10, adult is $14.

“I work with an organization called Rugby League Against Violence. I think my exposure in that program has really given me that encouragement to learn more,” she said.

Joseph was one of 15 emerging women leaders taking part in the Global Change Leaders program at the International Centre for Women’s Leadership through the Coady Institute this spring, and wrapped up her studies in Antigonish May 10.

“The one thing that I’ve learned is the asset-based training,” Joseph said of the most important tool she will use at home.
“I’ve never had exposure to a program like that, where you walk into a community, and instead of looking at what they need, you look at what they have,” she added.

“You’re never going to start anything when you look at the needs first. But you are able to start when you start looking at what they have in the community.”

The communities Joseph works with at home are often rural, patriarchal societies with ingrained culture or customs that are long-established.

“Men tend to be supreme or tend to be more superior than the women,” Joseph noted.

“We’re looking at gender-based violence, and there’s a lot under that, including domestic-based issues in the family, in the community. It’s all to do with attitude,” she added.

Rugby League Against Violence, co-founded in 2011 by Joseph and a partner in Australia who had used a similar program successfully in Australia’s indigenous communities, provides an opportunity for young people, and especially young men, to learn about violence prevention in a sports-based atmosphere.

“Men are usually the perpetrators of violence in Papua New Guinea. Because we wanted to use an interest that will draw light on the issues like violence, we thought using rugby league would be an effective tool,” she said.

Joseph is currently working with a local community in the capital city of Port Moresby, where a junior mentoring program teaches youth aged eight through 15 a combination of rugby league skills and programs on respectful relationships.

“We feel we have to start early, especially with the young children, because they are the future of the community,” she said. “If ever there has to be some change that has to come out of the community, we feel sure that it will come from the young generation that we’re starting with.”

Joseph said her organization also provides funding to rugby league teams in need of money if they agree to a code of conduct, which is enforced locally.

Being a woman in leadership can be a difficult task, Joseph noted.

“It’s not easy being a woman and dealing with violence,” she said. “As a woman, many times you are looked down on in society. Then again, on the other side of it, working together is the main way to go about it.”

“Some men would be reluctant to involve themselves if they just see women,” she added. “If you were able to combine forces with your male counterparts then you’d be more effective because of a balance of views.”

Overall, Joseph said her Coady experience has been eye-opening, with the “laidback” atmosphere of Antigonish making her feel at home.

“I feel really privileged. A lot of the women come from very different backgrounds with very different exposure and experiences. Although we are emerging women leaders, learning from them doesn’t feel like they’re emerging leaders because of the wealth of knowledge they have and experiences,” she said. “They come from these backgrounds and are able to do this and have come this far. It’s been amazing for me.”

The group formed around the 1979 International Gathering of the Clans, which was held for the first time outside of Scotland in Nova Scotia. Funding from that allowed two Ontario dance groups to visit, which was a catalyst for local dance instructors to start their own group.

Scott Williams, the first director for the Scotia Highland Dancers, said Murdo MacIsaac, chair of the highland dancing committee for the Antigonish Highland Society, along with instructors Janice Macquarrie, Gerarda MacDonald and Bernice MacDougall approached him for guidance.

“They were so impressed with the performance groups that came from away that they thought, wouldn’t it be great if we had a group like that. They were great at teaching and very creative. They created everything with the Scotia Highland Dancers,” Williams said.

Williams had been successful with his organization of the tattoo and volunteered to lend a hand in organization of the group.

For the next 11 years, the five gathered every Tuesday evening in Williams’ living room, planning, choreographing and even rehearsing small portions of the dances that would be taught to the young dancers.

While organizers worked behind the scenes, 40 young dancers from Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness and Richmond counties trained individually, as well as gathering for weekly practices as a group.

Antigonish native Clare Champoux was one of the dancers in the first squad, joining in 1979 at age 13. She stayed on as a dancer with the Scotia Highland Dancers until she finished her degree at StFX in 1988.

“We originally all competed against each other. That’s the thing with highland dancing, it’s an individual sport,” Champoux said.

“It was sort of a way to do something more like a team. We were part of this group that met every Sunday and practiced together for three hours and travelled together. It was kind of nice, it added that group feeling,” she added.

Champoux traveled extensively with the dancers, including tours to Scotland in 1981 and 1985, a performance at Epcot in Florida and tours of Nova Scotia and New England.

“It kept a lot of people dancing longer. I think you could lose interest in the individual competing easily but this was great, because it was fun stuff to do and great choreography. It was a way to travel as a team. It kept girls going a lot longer than had they not had something like that,” she said.

As the girls grew past their teens, graduating and leaving the area, Champoux said some took on careers teaching competitive highland dancing throughout the province or now have daughters involved in the activity, but many haven’t seen each other for years. A few recent events, like the Canadian championships held in Antigonish, have enabled small reunions of the dancers.

“We get together for things like that and I’m looking forward to this year, it will be a great reunion,” she said.

Community support was strong in the early years of the Scotia Highland Dancers, she added, with monthly fundraisers in each of the five counties drawing in needed travel funds. Even so, the task of creating their first kilts in the style of the Nova Scotia tartan, which would have cost nearly $400 if ordered from Scotland, ended up falling to their mothers, Champoux recalled.

“Some were better with a needle and thread than others,” Champoux laughed. “But they got 40 Nova Scotia tartan kilts made. We got our socks from Ireland but we had these handmade kilts and handmade vests. I remember mine was a lot heavier than my competitive one, but it worked.”

Mostly, Champoux said she must thank the instructors and organizers of the Scotia Highland Dancers for their early efforts in raising the group out of dozens of individual, competing dancers.

“It was because of their talent. We were so lucky. Gerarda and Janice were fabulously talented for choreography,” Champoux said. “And the time dedication for those people, it was pure volunteering. They did that for us, we were just lucky to be the kids around that got to do it. It was their vision and their volunteer work and their ability to want to do that that made it really good. We had the easy part.”