Nora Kindness

Nora Kindness is awarded a Scroll of Honour in recognition of her many years of dedicated service and outstanding loyalty to the RSCDS, for her contributions in preserving the standards and traditions of Scottish country dancing, and for her joyous encouragement of young and old alike to increase their knowledge and enjoyment of Scotland's heritage of dance and music. 

A founding member of the Scottish Dance Society of Cincinnati in1958, Nora Kindness has done everything that she could to encourage and promote Scottish Country Dancing in Cincinnati.   She became the group's teacher within the first few meetings and in order to improve her own high standards of teaching and dancing, travelled to Canada to attend classes and workshops, when none were available nearby.   In 1967 she obtained her RSCDS Teacher's Certificate.  Throughout the subsequent decades she has encouraged and mentored over a dozen teachers in Ohio alone.   Over the years she has continued to attend workshops and classes world-wide, and spent this past summer at the TAC Summer School dancing and networking with other teachers and dancers from around the world.

While she has never held "high profile" jobs outwith the Branch or been invited to teach large workshops world-wide, Nora Kindness can rightfully be credited with the establishment of RSCDS groups and branches throughout the Midwest.   Nora Kindness has taught in Cincinnati continuously since 1958 and travelled regularly throughout the years to Kentucky, Indiana, and other nearby states to help teach classes, encourage struggling dance groups, support infant workshops and branches, and assist in promoting the educational aims of the Society.

Indeed through her quiet persistence and gentle encouragement she has planted the seeds for all of the RSCDS groups and RSCDS teachers in Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Cincinnati) Kentucky (Louisville and Lexington), Indiana (Madison and Indianapolis) and Tennessee (Nashville).   In addition to her teaching and encouragement of innumerable local dancers and teachers, she has served as the Teacher's Association of Canada (TAC) Area Representative for Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky for more than twenty years.

A profound advocate for the RSCDS and TAC, the impact of Miss Nora Kindness on the "right spirit" which exists in the Scottish Country Dance groups and teachers throughout the Midwest cannot be overstated.