1. Links on Scottish Music and Dancing
One can find numerous links for Scottish Music and Dancing on the net!
Scottish Music
On our website you may hear some small samples of Scottish music in MP3 format, which were freely available on the net, particularly for those of you that have not had the opportunity of a Celtic music experience...
- Flower of Scotland from Frank Taylor, The Flying Scotsman
(http://www.theflyingscotsman.ca/)
- More samples will be added soon...!!
Scottish Dancing
Information from: www.scottishdance.org
These links on Scottish Dancing have been grouped into the following categories:
1. Informational Sites
2. Other Dancing Styles
Informational Sites
Strathspey - This site was probably the first major web site for SCD, and is the home page of the Strathspey mailing list, including a comprehensive archive of postings to that list. Anselm Lingnau also has links to other interesting pages.
DanceData - Alan Paterson has combined various dance indexes and produced a database program which allows you to find all the details on each dance, find all the dances devised by a certain person/in a certain book/with a given tune/containing certain formations/... So you could do a search for all 3-couple jigs devised by Roy Goldring which contain reels of four (there are three). Or you could ask who devised The Mercat Cross ... and find there are four dances by that name. Or... You can either download the program from Alan's web site or query it directly.
The Teachers Association of Canada (TAC) - an association of teachers of Scottish country dancing formed in 1958 to assist one another where possible. They provide a a wealth of resources and services, and membership is open to any teacher who has passed the Preliminary Test or holds the Teacher's Certificate.
Celtic Circle - This site lists groups and events in mainland Europe.
Inter-City Scot - This site provides the same service for North America, including events, classes, groups and links.
Stirling RSCDS This includes a good history of Scottish Dance section, if you can manage to navigate it. It can take a while to load, though, and you might like to turn off your speakers before visiting.
Other Dancing Styles
The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust - a national organisation which exists to promote, research, conserve and foster all of Scotland's dance traditions.
The Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing and Scottish Official Highland Dancing Association - umbrella organisations for highland dancing.
HighlandNet - a series of pages which provide free and current information about Highland Games in the States and elsewhere. Among the info provided is specific data on dance competitions and, when possible, replicated highland dance entry forms which can be printed online and mailed to the event organizer.
Mike's Community Forums - discussion forums and events calendar for ceilidh dancing.
Information from "The Edinburgh Scottish Dance Resource": www.scottishdance.net
Hints and Tips for SCD - Dance-floor etiquette
1. When joining a line of dancers, always join at the bottom end of the line - since it is counted from top to bottom, if you join in the middle you may make the count confused.
2. The first man in each line of dancers should do the counting - count down the line telling each couple clearly what position they are in in their set. Remember the ladies need to know as well. Once you have counted the line into sets, indicate clearly to the MC how many more couples are needed to complete the last set - in Scotland this is traditionally done by holding up as many fingers as couples needed. Also let the MC know when the line is complete - arms above head, crossed at the wrists, with hands in fists - and get back to place quickly (preferably up behind the line to aboid walking through the sets in the line). If you're not in a rush, once the line is complete, walk back up again counting backwards to check that you've numbered everyone correctly - this saves the bottom dancers yelling for a recount when you're back at the top busy studying the instructions.
3. If your partner is late coming into the line, stand on the men's side of the setduring the count. This ensures that one line holds the right number of people.
4. There is a long tradition that the men ask the ladies to dance and not vice-versa (except during a ladies' choice). I personally dislike this and am delighted to be asked to dance by a lady, but it is worth bearing in mind, particularly with older dancers.
5. It is considered bad manners to start forming up sets for the next dance before it has been announced. Wait until either it is announced or the band has played the first few bars of the tune.
6. Do not walk through a set of dancers - walk around instead.
It can be fun to embellish the dance if you are confident with your dancing and with the dance. Remember you can put other dancers off by doing this. You should only do embellishments (for instance twiddles or extra spins in turns) if you are sure both you and the other dancers in the set are okay with this. Be particularly courteous to beginners - they find the whole thing confusing enough anyway without you going out of your way to compicate matters.
Scottish Music
On our website you may hear some small samples of Scottish music in MP3 format, which were freely available on the net, particularly for those of you that have not had the opportunity of a Celtic music experience...
- Flower of Scotland from Frank Taylor, The Flying Scotsman
(http://www.theflyingscotsman.ca/)
- More samples will be added soon...!!
Scottish Dancing
Information from: www.scottishdance.org
These links on Scottish Dancing have been grouped into the following categories:
1. Informational Sites
2. Other Dancing Styles
Informational Sites
Strathspey - This site was probably the first major web site for SCD, and is the home page of the Strathspey mailing list, including a comprehensive archive of postings to that list. Anselm Lingnau also has links to other interesting pages.
DanceData - Alan Paterson has combined various dance indexes and produced a database program which allows you to find all the details on each dance, find all the dances devised by a certain person/in a certain book/with a given tune/containing certain formations/... So you could do a search for all 3-couple jigs devised by Roy Goldring which contain reels of four (there are three). Or you could ask who devised The Mercat Cross ... and find there are four dances by that name. Or... You can either download the program from Alan's web site or query it directly.
The Teachers Association of Canada (TAC) - an association of teachers of Scottish country dancing formed in 1958 to assist one another where possible. They provide a a wealth of resources and services, and membership is open to any teacher who has passed the Preliminary Test or holds the Teacher's Certificate.
Celtic Circle - This site lists groups and events in mainland Europe.
Inter-City Scot - This site provides the same service for North America, including events, classes, groups and links.
Stirling RSCDS This includes a good history of Scottish Dance section, if you can manage to navigate it. It can take a while to load, though, and you might like to turn off your speakers before visiting.
Other Dancing Styles
The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust - a national organisation which exists to promote, research, conserve and foster all of Scotland's dance traditions.
The Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing and Scottish Official Highland Dancing Association - umbrella organisations for highland dancing.
HighlandNet - a series of pages which provide free and current information about Highland Games in the States and elsewhere. Among the info provided is specific data on dance competitions and, when possible, replicated highland dance entry forms which can be printed online and mailed to the event organizer.
Mike's Community Forums - discussion forums and events calendar for ceilidh dancing.
Information from "The Edinburgh Scottish Dance Resource": www.scottishdance.net
Hints and Tips for SCD - Dance-floor etiquette
1. When joining a line of dancers, always join at the bottom end of the line - since it is counted from top to bottom, if you join in the middle you may make the count confused.
2. The first man in each line of dancers should do the counting - count down the line telling each couple clearly what position they are in in their set. Remember the ladies need to know as well. Once you have counted the line into sets, indicate clearly to the MC how many more couples are needed to complete the last set - in Scotland this is traditionally done by holding up as many fingers as couples needed. Also let the MC know when the line is complete - arms above head, crossed at the wrists, with hands in fists - and get back to place quickly (preferably up behind the line to aboid walking through the sets in the line). If you're not in a rush, once the line is complete, walk back up again counting backwards to check that you've numbered everyone correctly - this saves the bottom dancers yelling for a recount when you're back at the top busy studying the instructions.
3. If your partner is late coming into the line, stand on the men's side of the setduring the count. This ensures that one line holds the right number of people.
4. There is a long tradition that the men ask the ladies to dance and not vice-versa (except during a ladies' choice). I personally dislike this and am delighted to be asked to dance by a lady, but it is worth bearing in mind, particularly with older dancers.
5. It is considered bad manners to start forming up sets for the next dance before it has been announced. Wait until either it is announced or the band has played the first few bars of the tune.
6. Do not walk through a set of dancers - walk around instead.
It can be fun to embellish the dance if you are confident with your dancing and with the dance. Remember you can put other dancers off by doing this. You should only do embellishments (for instance twiddles or extra spins in turns) if you are sure both you and the other dancers in the set are okay with this. Be particularly courteous to beginners - they find the whole thing confusing enough anyway without you going out of your way to compicate matters.
Designed & maintained by
Panos Smyroglou
Panos Smyroglou
The Saint Andrew's Society of Athens
