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.
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.
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 Mats Melin and Jennifer Schoonover explore the historical references describing percussive dancing to illustrate how widespread the practice was, giving some glimpses of what it looked and sounded like.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.
In the mid-nineteenth century Joseph Lowe, dancing master of Edinburgh, taught at Queen Victoria's Court, in autumn at Balmoral and Christmas time at Windsor. The Journal is an account of these visits - of Queen Victoria practicing her Scotch steps for the Reel, of Princess Alice who danced a fetching Spanish solo, of Prince Alfred who was talented on the violin, of the Princess who turned her foot inwards while dancing, of the spirited Lady-in-Waiting who begged for extra lessons, of the children's chest expander exercises, and of how many trout Mr. Lowe caught when he took the Prince of Wales fishing. Concerts are held, balls last far into the night; the musical and dance life of the court is glimpsed through a myriad of Lowe's comments (always discreet), and a cheerful family life is portrayed. After the Prince Consort's untimely death, Mr. Lowe no longer attends the court. Archives at Windsor Castle reveal that two of his daughters continued to teach there for a decade but no journal of the period has been traced to the family collection which contains the original Lowe manuscript.
