This week’s Trail Blazers feature pays homage to a local legend and her renowned school, The Kate E. Shaw School of Highland Dance.
“The Kate E. Shaw School of Highland Dance was a pillar of cultural performance art in Trail,” begins Addison Oberg, collections coordinator, Trail Museum and Archives. “Katie began her teaching career at the age of 15 in 1930 and continued to influence Trail’s youth for the next 75 years.”
Kate E. Shaw was born in Nelson in 1915. Her family moved to Trail when Kate was a young child.
From her teenaged years on, Kate dedicated her life to her love of highland dancing and to her students.
She taught children of all ages, levels and abilities, and never turned away any individual who wanted to learn how to dance. She produced many great dancers, dance teachers, and even champions.
Kate kept the traditions of Scottish heritage alive in the Trail community by instructing those willing to learn.
Other accomplishments include over 60 years of teaching Sunday School and over 40 years working with disabled people. She was on the board of managers with the Presbyterian Church, Secretary for the Caledonian Society, Executive Secretary for the I.O.D.E. and Secretary for the Elk’s Lodge.
In 1975, Kate E. Shaw was awarded Trail’s Citizen of the Year and was a recipient of a Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977. Kate passed away in 2007 at the age of 92.
Her influence on dance in the Trail community and beyond is still seen today.
- With files from trailsportshistory.ca
Read more: Kate E. Shaw dancers gather in Trail for reunion
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