Scottish Ceilidh Dancing

Say goodbye to squashed feet, sore toes and dizzy heads with Scottish Ceilidh Dancing. Guiding you through intricate dance steps and various hand holds in simple, straightforward language, this book introduces you to the exuberant world of the Dashing White Sergeant, the Gay Gordons, the Gypsy Tap and the Lucky Seven, to name but a few. All your old favourites are here and, with over fifty dances, there's something for everyone, from the simple routines of the Dinkie One-Step, to the more adventurous Southern Rose Waltz and the Posties Jig.

A new book of dances is always a delight, and this book is set to inspire the dancer, the caller and the teacher of social dances. There are new dances, well-known dances, and dances that Greig does differently in this book and thus it is an adventure of dance. The calling hints come in very handy for the inexperienced caller. The only up-to-date collection of the best in Scottish dancing.

A perfect introduction to the world of Scottish dance written by the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, including a short history of Scottish dancing. The book takes you through simple ceilidh moves to more complex formations and set dances, illustrated through diagrams and photos.

Scottish Dance Beyond 1805 presents a history of Scottish music and dance over the last 200 years, with a focus on sources originating in Aberdeenshire, when steps could be adapted in any way the dancer pleased. The book explains the major changes in the way that dance was taught and performed by chronicling the shift from individual dancing masters to professional, licensed members of regulatory societies. This ethnographical study assesses how dances such as the Highland Fling have been altered and how standardisation has affected contemporary Highland dance and music, by examining the experience of dancers and pipers. It considers reactions to regulation and standardisation through the introduction to Scotland of percussive step dance and caller-facilitated ceilidh dancing. Today’s Highland dancing is a standardised and international form of dance. This book tells the story of what changed over the last 200 years and why. It unfolds through a series of colourful characters, through the dances they taught and the music they danced to and through the story of one dance in particular, the Highland Fling. It considers how Scottish dance reflected changes in Scottish society and culture. The book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduates in the fields of Dance History, Ethnomusicology, Ethnochoreology, Ethnology and Folklore, Cultural History, Scottish Studies and Scottish Traditional Music as well as to teachers, judges and practitioners of Highland dancing and to those interested in the history of Scottish dance, music and culture.

Dance Legacies of Scotland compiles a collage of references portraying percussive Scottish dancing and explains what influenced a wide disappearance of hard-shoe steps from contemporary Scottish practices. Mats Melin and Jennifer Schoonover explore the historical references describing percussive dancing to illustrate how widespread the practice was, giving some glimpses of what it looked and sounded like. The authors also explain what influenced a wide disappearance of hard-shoe steps from Scottish dancing practices. Their research draws together fieldwork, references from historical sources in English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic, and insights drawn from the authors’ practical knowledge of dances. They portray the complex network of dance dialects that existed in parallel across Scotland, and share how remnants of this vibrant tradition have endured in Scotland and the Scottish diaspora to the present day. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Dance and Music and its relationship to the history and culture of Scotland.