'The Pride of Dunblane' - Scottish Dancing tribute to Andy Murray a Hit!

Tributes to Andy Murray come in all shapes and sizes - cakes, flowers, and now a dance. Nearly 400 dancers filled Linlithgow Palace courtyard this week enjoying a new Scottish dance 'The Pride of Dunblane' written to celebrate Andy Murray’s achievements in becoming Britain's first Wimbledon men's singles champion for 77 years.

The dance represents the different stages of Andy’s Wimbledon journey, including the opening and closing of the Centre Court roof, the ever-present towel, and his incredible lob retrieval in the final. There is also plenty of scope for fist-pumping and shouts of “come on!”

The dance was the idea of John Carswell, organiser of the annual Linlithgow Scotch Hop dance, and written by internationally acclaimed dance devisor Ian Brockbank from Edinburgh, with Andy’s mum Judy showing her support by retweeting Mr Brockbank’s tweet about the dance.

Mr Carswell said: “I was watching Murray in the semis and just got the feeling that he would go on to win it so I thought that something should be done to honour this. I mentioned it to Ian and we both agreed that it was a crazy idea but that we could do something with it. It’s a bit of fun and a simple dance that everyone can join in with. Dunblane is only up the road and what Murray has done should be celebrated.”

Mr Brockbank, who has created more than 50 dances in Scottish traditional form, says: “I have followed Andy Murray's career since his Wimbledon debut, and I have always been impressed by his dedication and talent as he worked his way into the top four. This year at Wimbledon he looked like he could finally go all the way, so when John contacted me on the day of the semi-finals to suggest writing a dance the ideas started flowing. I tried to create a simple dance which everyone could enjoy so that Andy's achievements could be celebrated at ceilidhs up and down the country. It was great to see the Linlithgow Palace courtyard full of people laughing and dancing it.

The Pride of Dunblane was premiered at Linlithgow Scotch Hop on Wednesday 17th July. The instructions are available for free download from www.scottishdance.net and the Scotch Hop Web sites.

The Scotsman Newspaper sent along a photographer and published an article the next day. Deadline News also phoned for an interview and wrote an article as well. It was even mentioned in the Sun, as part of an article about the range of commemorative stamps.

Video of dancers enjoying it at the Dunedin Dance Festival is available on YouTube, along with an extended version including teaching the dance.

Elizabeth Foster, Executive Officer of The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, attended the premiere of the Pride of Dunblane and joined in the dance. She said, “It was great to be part of a country dancing tribute recognising Andy Murray’s wonderful achievement at Wimbledon. It really caught the mood of the people. I would hope to see the Murray family trying the dance out themselves in the not too distant future. The open invitation is there!”

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Edinburgh, Scotland