The Art of Scottish Country Dancing (Cultural Proof #4)

Location: GP Hall, Hillhead Student Village, Aberdeen

Date: October 27th, 2018

"Learn and practice a traditional craft, then share and/or teach the craft."  

         Having fun at the dance practice I attending at the beginning of the year and then participating in a ceilidh made me realize how enjoyable Scottish country dancing was. I've never been a dancer; my only experience was an exceptionally painful year in ballet when I was about four years old. However, something during the ceilidh really connected to me and made me want to learn more. After recognizing this connection, I decided to learn more country dances.
          Ceilidhs in Scotland are equivalent to dinner parties or BBQs in America. The gatherings did not originally begin as dances but were simply used to celebrate weddings or other important events. Dancing became more popularized by 1945, as it was featured in media and television shows more often. Now, the ceilidh is a social gathering staple in all of the UK, from Wales to England. It's hard to go a month without hearing of some type of ceilidh going on. During these gatherings, the band will call out a variety of dances to do and it has become a tradition and craft to learn and master these dances. Besides bagpipes and sheep herding, learning how to dance at these events are the most Scottish thing one can do. When questioned about ceilidhs, my flatmate from Wales proudly explained that children are taught dances such as the Flying Scotsman and Gay Gordons during their early years of school. While the popularity of the dance has grown, ceilidhs are just a subsection of the larger group, "Scottish country dancing". Many of these other dances can be performed at ceilidhs but are reserved mostly for balls, or larger, more formal dances.
          Having not grown up in the UK, I had a lot of catching up to do. Therefore, in order to learn and practice the traditional craft, I went to Scottish Dance Society lessons whenever I could and decided to attend as many ceilidhs and balls as I could as well in order to practice the skill in a more natural, fast-paced environment where I could really test how much I've learned. One of the techniques I learned from practicing country dancing is that a solo dancer's abilities are not as important as the group's abilities. None of the dances are solo and most involve a group of three or more. To really pull off a Strip the Willow, four pairs better be ready to work together and know which move is coming up next. Ceilidh dancing is not for the antisocial, nor is it for the unwillingly to accept their mistakes. Besides the aspect of teamwork, what drew me to this craft is the relaxed environment. For the most part, everyone is accepting of making mistakes and wanting to work as a team to get through the song.
          Although I'm only half way through the term, I feel that I've learned a lot in the weeks I've been here. I'm not always able to make it to every dance lesson but listening to the traditional music and going to ceilidhs still helps me get the dances down. So far, my favorite two dances that I've mastered are the Dashing White Sergeant and the Flying Scotsman. Now that I've mastered the basic, I taught and helped teach some of the others in the class I attended! The girl on my left in the picture (middle row, fourth from the right) taught me and I helped teach the man taking the picture with a couple different progressions. By the end of my time abroad, I hope to add a couple more songs to my repertoire.

Scottish Dance Society group photo (Facebook: AUSDS)

The Dashing White Sergeant is my favorite ceilidh dance! It is a fairly simple one to master and works great at large events, such as weddings! Learn it in the link below:
(Pro tip: If you want to get in a really intense workout, make sure you're the middle person in your group of three!)
https://ceilidhdanceband.scot/how-to-dance-the-dashing-white-sergeant/