CEILIDH
Ceilidh is a well-known dance that developed from “the old village hall dances in the more rural parts of Scotland and has been largely untouched by any formal attempt to standardize its execution and formations. Today it is still the case that in some rural communities what would be called a Ceilidh dance in Glasgow or Edinburgh would just be a dance.” It is a popular dance at weddings and festivals, and the dance is “very sociable, easy-going and good exercise when the pace increases.”
The dance is reportedly very accessible, “with just about anyone being able to get up and join in with minimal instruction. To ensure that Ceilidh evenings can be enjoyed by all, many Ceilidhs today are run by a caller who selects the dances to be done and provides basic instruction to ensure that the evening can be enjoyed by everyone.”
According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, “Most dances are done in couples or in sets of three, four, six, or eight.” Ceilidh dancing can happen “anywhere people want to get together and dance, from a kitchen to a large hall, and there has been a tradition of dancing on bridges and roads.” A band is traditionally needed in ceilidh dancing, one that plays at the right tempo and plays tunes to which they are suited to be danced. Reportedly, “Scottish country dancing is similar to Ceilidh dancing but they are usually a little more formal, complex and better well-organized.”
Some popular ceilidh dances are “The Gay Gordons,” “The Dashing White Sergeant,” “Canadian Bairn Dance,” “Highland Schottische,” “The Military Two-Step,” “St. Bernard’s Waltz,” and “Pride of Erin Waltz.”
If interested in accessing instructions on how to execute these popular dances, please refer to the following link: https://www.rscds.org/get-involved/ceilidh-dancing/popular-ceilidh-dances.
Reference Video: HotScotch Ceilidh Band – Traditional Scottish Ceilidh Dancing in Teviot Row, Edinburgh (YouTube)
STEP DANCING
According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, “Step-dancing is a form of percussive dance, danced in hard-soled shoes to music played at a particular tempo on pipes, whistle, fiddle or puirt-a-beul (mouth music). That is, beating one’s heels, toes and feet in as many ways as possible and imaginable, keeping time with the rhythms of the music in strathspey, reel and jig time.”
Step dancing was rarely seen or danced in Scotland until 1992. The dance form was kept alive by Scottish immigrants who traveled to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada in the 1700s and, now, subsequent generations of dancers in Cape Breton. There is research being done on the origins of Cape Breton step dancing; it is notably very similar to Irish step-dancing, and similar hardshoes are used for it. Whether the origins are in Scotland, Ireland, or Cape Breton, the tradition is very much part of the Cape Breton community now and is being practiced in Scotland in recent years
The dance steps of step dancing are notably meant to be “neat” and “close to the floor.” According to Sheldon MacInnes, Program Director of Extension & Community Affairs at University College of Cape Breton, “[Colin Quigley, well known researcher of traditional dance] describes the body posture of the dancer with the emphasis on movement from the knees down while the upper portion of the body is more relaxed and subtle and not to be a distraction from the footwork. The dancer’s main objective is to gain equal coordination of both legs and feet, a basic requirement of a good Cape Breton step-dancer.”
Reference Video: Cape Breton Step Dance: Mac Morin and Wendy MacIsaac perform during a Gaelic College Ceilidh (YouTube)
HIGHLAND DANCING
Highland dancing has historically been part of training in Highland regiments. According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, “The dancing requires strength to perform with continuous jumps, high leaps, intricate arm and footwork, balance and poise.” Highland dancing has been an important part of Highland Games, events held in warm months that put on a gripping sporting spectacle of champions and celebrate Celtic and Scottish culture and heritage. According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, “Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon has been host to the Scottish and World Highland Dancing Championships since 1934.”
According to Michael Newton’s A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World:
“Highland dancing was created from the Gaelic folk dance repertoire but formalized with the conventions of ballet, and required athletic rigor to be performed at competitions. Both of these ‘improvements’ have changed the nature and style of folk dance and usurped control from the communities which created them in their many diverse variations.”
Highland dancing typically involves young, kilted dancers and traditional Scottish bagpipes. The form has become very competitive, and therefore the “levels of standards [have] gone up immensely.”
Reference Video: Great Highland Fling performance by competitors at Kenmore Highland Games in Perthshire, Scotland (YouTube)
SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCES
According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland:
“In the 1700s, many country dances were held in grand, elegant halls and attended by prosperous members of society. Techniques were influenced by the dance styles of the period and the traditions of the reels danced in the Scottish countryside. Today, care is taken to preserve the technique of the dances whilst still enjoying the social aspect of the dance. Scottish country dances are still held in castles and stately homes and in city, town and village halls….”
Reportedly, “This dance form is done in sets, normally of 3, 4 or 5 couples, that arrange themselves either in two lines (men facing ladies) or in a square. During the course of the dance, the dancers complete a set of formations enough times to bring them back to their opening positions.” According to Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, “The music of strathspeys, jigs, reels, waltzes, polkas, and hornpipes all play a significant part in Scottish country dancing.” According to Michael Newton’s A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World:
“The Scottish Country Dance Society was formed in 1923 with the intention of ‘improving’ and standardizing Scottish social dance soth at people could have a single corpus of dance no matter where they were. Teachers, armed with books of dance positions (influenced by ballet aesthetics) and formations, could then ‘correct’ undisciplined village dancers and iron our local variations that existed across Scotland.”
Reference Video: “Dance Scottish” with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (YouTube)