July 4-10, 2027
2027 Teachers
Tracey Applebee
Tracey Applebee was first exposed to Scottish Country Dancing growing up in Canada. Her mother, (who had received her certificate from Miss Milligan sometime in the fifties) would invite people over and they would dance to Jimmy Shand records in the basement.
As a teenager, Tracey and her family became active with the Windsor, Ontario Branch. With their encouragement , she attended TAC Summer School at Brock in 1985 & became thoroughly hooked on this hobby. Work moved Tracey to Cincinnati , Ohio, where she continued to pursue dance passionately with the Cincinnati Branch, obtaining her prelim in '87 and full certificate at TAC in '94.
Tracey has been an active teacher of the Cincinnati Branch since 1987. She has taught multiple workshops throughout Ohio and the Midwest, at Asilomar in California, and in the Canadian cities of Hamilton, Montreal and Windsor , Ottawa, and at TAC Summer School .
Tracey enjoys emphasizing the sociability, music and enjoyment of Scottish Dancing in her teaching.
Janet Johnston
Janet Johnston was brought up in Fife before moving to Edinburgh to pursue her nursing career. She's still there working in the Hemodialysis Out-patients area at the Royal Infirmary. She learned Scottish Country and Highland dancing as a child along with her sisters. She's attended St Andrews Summer School since the 1980's. and whilst there obtained her Teachers' Certificate and learned soft shoe Step dancing.
Janet shares the teaching of a Club in Stirling and enjoys dancing around Central Scotland. She has taught extensively around the globe for many years but this will be her first trip to Blue Ridge. She's looking forward to her trip.
Charles Liu
Charles was introduced to Scottish Country Dancing by his then girlfriend (now his wife). He was hooked after dancing for the entire evening of the Boston Highland Ball having only started Scottish dancing a couple of months earlier. After receiving his
teaching certification, he served as the chair of the Teaching and Music Committee of the RSCDS Boston Branch, organizing many workshops to promote dancing, share teaching ideas and cultivate new dance teachers. He now teaches regularly in several
classes of the Boston Branch, and has taught workshops in the New England area and beyond. He was a member of the North American team at the Newcastle Festival in 2025, and organized and coached the Boston Branch Team in the North American
Festival in 2026. In addition to teaching steps and figures, he likes to encourage dancers to pay attention to the music, interact with fellow dancers, and work together as a team as part of a dance. Besides Scottish dancing, Charles plays fiddle at Scottish
and Cape Breton sessions and for local Scottish dance classes.