RSCDS Brighton Branch

More about Scottish Country Dancing

Scottish Country Dancing (SCD) is social dancing.

(If you think it is competitive you are probably thinking of highland dancing which is a solo display dance.)

In country dancing, the individual dances consist of steps and formations which we learn in our weekly classes. The individual dances we have learned in class are assembled into programmes for fun social evenings and formal balls.

Fast dances are Jigs and Reels, slow dances are elegant Strathspeys. The lively Celtic music inspires even beginners to fly joyously around the floor. We dance to driving strains played on the fiddle, accordion, flute, piano or drums - but rarely the bagpipes.

Selected videos of Scottish Country Dancing

• Polharrow Burn, one of the local favourites, performed at an RSCDS Manchester ball.
• The Reel of the 51st Division which was written by Scots prisoners of war in 1940 - there is a page about it in the Stories section of my.strathspey.org.
• A short example of a Strathspey, the slower style of dancing which allows us to carry out more complicated manoeuvres.

Dance structure

Generally we dance in sets of three or four couples usually facing each other in lines. Most dances are based around a selection from about 40 standard moves, figures or formations including: dance up and down the middle, turn or spin, poussette, right hands across, cast off, cast up, allemande, double triangles, teapots and setting to partner. Then there are the reeling movements: normal reels, diagonal reels, mirror reels, crossing reels, double crossing reels, Inveran reels, Schiehallion reels…

The figures or formations that make up each dance

Although this may sound daunting at first, you quickly pick up most of the figures necessary to do the dances. There are about a dozen basic figures which will get you through quite a number of dances, although many dances have their own quirks and specialities which make them unique and fun to dance. It is this variety of figures that makes Scottish dancing so enjoyable. And it's easy to have a good time, most people love it from the beginning. There are always experienced dancers around willing to help you learn new figures, both in practice classes and at dances.

Scottish Country Dancing is available world-wide, its popularity due to the way it combines aerobic fitness, skills and technique development, social interaction and teamwork, alertness and mental stimulation, as well as developing balance and poise. Also, as there are over 7,000 known dances and new ones constantly being written, there is no danger of coming to an end - there is always more challenge ahead to maintain interest and enjoyment for a lifetime.

Scottish Country Dancing is equally suitable for men and women, and was developed in a culture in which men took great pride in being fit and skilled dancers. Over 250 years ago foreign visitors were writing with surprise that the Scots were such enthusiastic dancers that they would quite happily “dance to a corner cupboard” until exhausted, purely for the pleasure obtained from their energetic dances and the lively, driving music. Ex-patriate Scots first took SCD abroad but now there are thriving Branches in Germany, Japan and elsewhere that were started by locals who just found it a great form of dancing.

SH, 2007

See also