takes me back to my school days in Edinburgh when such dancing was a compulsory subject, along with rugby of course. I think we occasionally got the two mixed up and serious bruises could result from either!
Indeed.
We had to learn the dances in school too. There's been many a time a Dashing White Sergeant ended up looking like a scrum.
I played a few SCD ceilis shortly before the pandemic with a group formed for that purpose. I must say that specific dance form did not appeal to me in any respect. But Scottish tunes are Scottish tunes, and the music part was fun. It was evident the dance form takes strength, conditioning and balance to do well, as with ballet.
You are indeed entitled to your opinion.
I have taken Country Dance lessons in the past and found it to be wonderful, whirling fun. It was mentally and physically demanding and very refined (at least it was meant to be). I have also played the accordion (with my dance band) for many local Scottish Country Dances and it requires great discipline to play the dance music well. I found there is little margin for error in playing at the correct tempo, the right number of bars and ideally starting with the "original" tune. However, the dancers were always appreciative of the efforts.
As I hope was plain, my comment about ballet referred only to the strength and skill it calls for to do SCD proficiently. There's toe-pointing. There's pirouetting. There's balancing on tiptoe. Those who do it well have conditioning akin to ballet in a way distinct from the conditioning called for by regular ceili sets or American square-dance or contra dance, or the riotous group dancing at a Cape Breton Saturday night ceili. SCD is more stately and controlled, and uses different muscles.
I understand OB. I should explain for those who don't know, that in the strictest sense there is a difference between Scottish Ceilidh Dancing and Scottish Country Dancing.
Scottish Country Dance
In simple terms a Scottish Country Dance involves (mostly but not exclusively) Jigs, Reels & Strathspeys in sets of multiple couples. The tempo is fairly restrained and the technique is refined. There have been hundreds of different SCD dances devised over the years.
Scottish Ceilidh Dance
Ceilidh dancing tends to be more informal. There are many couple dances (Gay Gordons, Canadian Barn Dance, Military Two Step etc) as well as selections of Scottish Country Dances (in sets) like Strip the Willow etc. Therefore the Ceilidh dances will include Marches (2/4, 4/4 & 6/8), Waltzes, Two Steps, Jigs, Reels, Schottisches, Polkas etc. Dances are usually played/danced faster than Country Dances. There doesn't tend to be any Strathspeys at a ceilidh. Ceilidh dancing is what would usually occur at a wedding or party etc. It is very inclusive and great fun for all levels of ability.
I just found it aesthetically cloying.
You are not the first person to feel this way about Scottish Country Dance.
It is quite common for many Scots to say similar things about SCD and all the paraphernalia. However, I prefer to see the unbridled joy that the Scottish dance and it's music brings to so many people - it's humbling at times to behold.
Now I personally love the Scottish Country Dance vibe. Sure it does present an idealised vision of Scottishness that is from another time and perspective. To be fair we probably have Queen Victoria to thank for packaging and popularising much of this Highland ideal. I think she did a rather sterling job with the whole thing!
You know, I was looking at a tune by the legendary James Scott Skinner the other day. It was a pastoral air called
Our Highland Queen written especially for Queen Victoria
. I was studying the old manuscript on the Aberdeen University archive and I read a note at the top of the piece and it said:
"The blue bell may forget to spring, The cold cease to blow; But Deeside men can ne'er forget the loyalty they owe".
Perhaps it highlights the sentiment of those times.
Here's the Strip the Willow played in Country Dance Style (not the
@saundersbp school ceilidh version)...
