The RSOBHD are saddened to hear of the passing of Anne McIlroy, a member of the RSOBHD Judges Panel, who passed away on Friday 10th April 2020 from coronavirus.
Anne McIlroy – Dancer, Teacher, Adjudicator, Competition Organiser, World Champion and Judge at our World Championships – had achieved so much that all highland dancers would wish to have in their biography. Nevertheless COVID-19 does not discriminate within our dancing community and even the great and the good are likely to succumb.
We like to believe that our background and training makes us, even into our later years, more fit to cope with illness and disease. How wrong we are as shown by this loss.
In the current circumstances we will not be able to show our appreciation of her life and achievements in person at her funeral. It makes it even more important to show through the RSOBHD that her contribution to Highland Dancing in so many ways was valued and acknowledged.
Another statistic and another data point becomes all too real a person, a colleague and to many dancers, particularly on Bute and the Cowal peninsula, someone to look up to and to admire. She may no longer be with us in life bit her story and inspiration will live on through her family, friends and students. She will not be forgotten.
Our thoughts are with Anne’s family at this time.