IT’S been a long wait already, but there’s just six months until Liz Barling heads over the Scotland with a group of Australians to perform at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
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The ex-professional dancer will be the assistant to Cheryl Roach (also Goulburn) to front a group of 26 young Australians from the age of 13 to 18 years old.
They come from as far as Western Australia, Tasmania and all states in-between to represent Australia at the event. Each individual dancer is responsible for working solely on their dance performances until the group can meet nationally, where each part will merge together to come one big production.
“It’s very similar to how the actual tattoo works itself,” Liz said.
“Basically there are so many different parts to making the performance whole – so the musos learn their part, and the dancers, then when they come together it should fit perfectly.”
It was after a Christmas concert last year that Liz was first asked to assist in the performances.
“I had just done a concert here in Goulburn and came into work the next day thinking how much I wanted to go home,” she said.
“Then the phone rang and I kept thinking how nice it would be if it was my receptionist telling me to go home early and have a day off.
“But it was actually my friend Cheryl, who I’ve stayed in contact with since high school days, asking me if I wanted to be involved with that Tattoo.”
The new venture has proved challenging for Liz, but she’s picking up some new tricks along the way; including interactive methods of teaching.
“Because some of the girls live so far away we organise schedules with them and then use dvds to show them how something is done, watch their techniques, and critique performances,” Liz said.
“There are thousands of performers including dancers, pipe bands, marching bands and instructors – that will all be there on the day.
“It’s the dancer’s responsibility to make sure they have their whole performance timed and perfected.”
The military style of dance works on timing, strict and sharp movements, and in-sync dances – all of which Liz said will take hours of practice to learn.
The dancers will perform 21 concerts at the weeklong festival, with each concert going for an hour and a half. This means the dancers will be performing for 31.5 hours.
Practice was held in Bathurst on the weekend with half the students being able to meet.
“Because Bathurst has strong Scottish tradition its home to OzScot Australia, so that’s where we meet to practice,” she said.
“On Friday afternoon I finished work at 12:15pm, and then I was on the train to Bathurst by 12:30pm.”
“It hasn’t really changed my lifestyle though. It was hectic before, it’s just a bit more so now.”
When she’s not on the dance floor you could find Liz working at Goulburn Osteopathy.
She said the skills in working at her day job tie in perfectly with her dancing career and aspirations.
“I’m lucky that I do have training in osteopathy because not only can I teach the dancers, but I can make sure they’re all ok out there,” she said.
“The stage is concrete surface with no give in it, so it’s important we make sure they’re all stable and healthy.”
Liz had a very similar role within the Tattoo that attended Sydney last year in which she worked with six students from the Goulburn region.
Liz has performed on the international dancing circuit before, but says, this is her biggest move to date in Scottish dance.
The first Edinburgh Tattoo took place in 1950 and has been a rich tradition in Scottish history to date.
“There has never been a tattoo cancelled,” she said.
“They literally perform whether rain, hail or shine. Within the whole 62 years it’s been operating they’ve never cancelled once.”
The performances are held in the car park of Edinburgh Castle where thousands of dancers engage in strict military performances.
More than 12 million people have attended the Tattoo since the opening.
There are performers from more than 40 countries.
It’s estimated that 217,000 people will watch the live streaming of the event in August, this year.