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14th August 2018, Gaelic writer, singer, actress, broadcaster and political campaigner, Dolina Maclennan will celebrate her 80th birthday with musical friends at a concert during Blas Festival on 15th September.<\/p>\n14th August 2018, Gaelic writer, singer, actress, broadcaster and political campaigner, Dolina Maclennan will celebrate her 80th birthday with musical friends at a concert during Blas Festival on 15th September.<\/p>\n
Brought up in Marvig, Lewis, Dolina was introduced to drama and the great Gaelic bards at Nicolson Institute and the rest, they say, is history! Dolina\u2019s career and musical life has so far spanned an incredible array of accomplishments; herself and Robin Gray were the first folk singers in the Waverley Bar which is still going strong today as the hub of folk music in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
Dolina sang for Scottish Ballet in the Gaelic production, An Clo M\u00f2r, which opened in the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow before touring mainland theatres as well as venues throughout the Highlands and Islands in 1970. She was also the first Gaelic speaker to present 12 Noon, a Scottish network lunchtime programme.<\/p>\n
Her first TV work was Beagan G\u00e0idhlig, the first ever Gaelic teaching series and her first major writing role was for the radio soap, Na Moireasdanaich \u2013 The Morrisons. She appeared in STV soap, Machair, which ran from 1992 \u2013 1998 and has had many more film, stage and TV appearances over the years, including the hit comedy series, Still Game.<\/p>\n
However, what Dolina is known for most is her role in the ground-breaking 7:84 Scotland production, The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil which changed the face of Scottish theatre and politics and toured Scotland and beyond in 1973-1974.<\/p>\n
Dolina, who is currently celebrating her 60th year performing at the Edinburgh Festival, commented: \u201cAs my birthday falls on January 1st, it is always hard to distinguish it from the usual Hogmanay celebrations; this year was no different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always have a dinner party with my best friends at 9 o\u2019clock on Hogmanay, never more than 8 very close friends. Then we wait, with everything clean and in its place and a bit of silence before the New Year and the welcoming of first footers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, being special, my daughter Jane and my friend Christine Grant Ross produced a cake with an 80 thingy on it. That\u2019s as far as it went for celebrations apart from family cards and gifts; I didn\u2019t feel like a big party because of the death, a few months before, of a beloved nephew. I feel like the Queen, having two birthdays.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, this is the very first time in all of my 80 years that I have been rewarded with what I always wished – that my birthday was on a normal day like 15th September! I am hugely honoured by the generosity of the Blas Festival and look forward hearing my favorite\u00a0singers and musicians and meeting old and new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helping Dolina celebrate her milestone birthday will be P\u00e0druig Morrison, Christine Primrose, Allan MacDonald, Seasaidh Lexy and a few others to be announced.<\/p>\n
Blas, which means \u2018taste\u2019 or \u2018sample\u2019, is organised by F\u00e8isean nan G\u00e0idheal in partnership with The Highland Council and will take place from 7-15th September.\u00a0 It aims to celebrate Gaelic culture and the thriving Scottish traditional music scene over nine days of concerts, c\u00e8ilidhs and larger events in venues across the Highlands and Islands.<\/p>\n
Other headline acts at this year\u2019s Blas, which takes place at venues from Bernera to Applecross and Portree to Portmahomack, include Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, two previous winners of BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, Mischa Macpherson and Br\u00ecghde Chaimbeul, Celtic rock group Wolfstone, who will perform at Blas for the first time, award-winning folk band Breabach, young electronic Celtic fusion group, Niteworks and the highly-acclaimed RURA.<\/p>\n