Dame Catherine kicks up her heels

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 3

Dame Catherine kicks up her heels

By

ROBIN CHARTERIS

in Edinburgh The Mayor of Auckland, Dame Catherine Tizard, won the hearts and minds of many Commonwealth sports officials by dancing an impromptu Highland fling for them at a reception in Edinburgh. As a lone piper marched in to a reception held by the Auckland 1990 Commonwealth Games organisers, Dame Catherine kicked off her shoes, flung up her arms, and presented what Scots acclaimed at a “bluidy guid fling indeed.”

She had officials and athletes in stitches as she leapt and jigged above the carpeted floor of the upmarket Sheraton Hotel.

“I manage to disgrace myself whenever I hear the pipes,” she laughed afterwards. “I learnt to do an eightsome reel with the Matamata Caledonian Society before I could do a foxtrot

“Mind you, with a 38inch bust I certainly

shouldn’t do the fling in public any. more,” she said.

Whether she should or not, the Auckland leader did — and achieved popular acclaim for both herself and the Auckland Games with her performance.

Guests, who included leading administrators from many of the Commonwealth nations as well as more than 50 New Zealand athletes and - officials, found the sight of a dancing Mayor intriguing.

One Canadian official said, “If that’s the sort of way things are going to go at Auckland, I’m cer-, tainly going to be there.”

Dame Catherine and her elder daughter, Mrs Anne Culpan, aged 35, are in Edinburgh, to promote Auckland’s staging of the next games, after earlier visits to Auckland’s sister city, Los Angeles, and to a ball at New Zealand House in London to raise funds for the Aotea Centre in Auckland. The Mayoral dance came near the end of the

Edinburgh function after the main speaker, the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, had left.

He told guests that the New Zealand Government was right behind the Auckland Games.

“We are strong supporters and we will make our contribution,” he said.

Mr Palmer spoke only briefly — enough at the Edinburgh Games had already been heard from politicians, he said. Other speakers included the president of the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Sir Lance Cross, and the chairman of the 1990 Auckland Games Organising Committee, Mr Joe McMenamin. Entertainment included an audio-visual presentation about Auckland, and items by the London Maori Club and Dame Catherine.

“What a pity Geoffrey Palmer hadn’t stayed,” she said later. “He and I could have had a fling together.”