Branch Award für Ute Hoppmann-Lacour

Beim AGM-Wochende, 24.09.2026 - 26.09.2026 hatten wir die große Freude unserem langjährigen Mitglied und ehemaligen Vorstandsmitglied Ute Hoppmann-Lacour den Branch Award des Central German Branches zu übergeben.

Hier der Text:

This year’s Newcastle Festival marked something of a full-circle moment. Many will have seen the German 

Mixed Team’s performance – a new generation of dancers, now also stepping into teaching roles and bringing 

fresh energy to the Scottish dancing community in Germany. 

The participation of the German Team at the Newcastle Festival has had a profound impact in many ways. It 

has fostered lasting friendships, and many now-established teachers and musicians can trace their roots back 

to these early connections. The idea of the Bonn Spring Fling and Spring Fringe in 2017 also emerged from this 

environment.  

A driving force behind these developments was Ute Hoppmann-Lacour. She brought the German Team 

together, selected the dances that were to be performed, coordinated the dancers and trained the teams in 

Wuppertal-Vohwinkel. She also developed the first German Team contributions for the Newcastle display 

category, a task then taken over by Anselm Lingnau and Martin McWilliam. Time and again, she succeeded in 

bringing the right people together at the right moment. 

Ute’s personal journey in Scottish Country Dance began in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel in 2000, when she founded 

the Thistle and Shamrock Dancing Club where she has been teaching Scottish Country Dancing for more than 

two decades. She became a fully certificated SCD teacher at St Andrews in 2005 and returned there in 2018 to 

take part in the Tutors’ Course. Together with others, she also organised three Fun Dance Technique weekends 

at Wuppertal, attracting numerous international guests.  

Last but not least, Ute is one of the founding members of the Central Germany Branch, established more than 

22 years ago. Over many years until 2016 she served on its committee, first as Secretary and later as Chair. She 

also played a key role in transferring responsibility for the SCD courses taking place at the Kuckucksnest to the 

Central Germany Branch, after Carola Fischer had stepped down as host. 

It is therefore both fitting and overdue that we express our sincere gratitude to Ute Hoppmann-Lacour for her 

exceptional contribution to the German Scottish Country Dance community. We are delighted to honour her 

with the Branch Award. 

Text: Gisela Koehne, Central Germany Branch
Foto: Gisela Koehne