Beginner Resources and Advice for SCD? (when far from a local group)

[WildThistles]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a situation I find myself in. Throughout my state, there is a wide network of a variety of country and folk dances, including Scottish country, English country, and contra. I've attended the contra dances in my city several times, and I love it so far. I'd love to try out, and try to learn, some of the other kinds of folk dance in my state. Unfortunately, there is no Scottish country group in my city that I know of, though there is one in my parents' city. I was wondering if anyone has any resources, or advice, for beginning to learn the basics of Scottish country dancing on one's own? I plan to try to attend in my parents' city the next time I'm around there when a meeting is happening, but that opportunity may not arrive for another several months. Thank you in advance for any help or insight!

[ASinclair]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a situation I find myself in. Throughout my state, there is a wide network of a variety of country and folk dances, including Scottish country, English country, and contra. I've attended the contra dances in my city several times, and I love it so far. I'd love to try out, and try to learn, some of the other kinds of folk dance in my state. Unfortunately, there is no Scottish country group in my city that I know of, though there is one in my parents' city. I was wondering if anyone has any resources, or advice, for beginning to learn the basics of Scottish country dancing on one's own? I plan to try to attend in my parents' city the next time I'm around there when a meeting is happening, but that opportunity may not arrive for another several months. Thank you in advance for any help or insight!

Go to this Internet site => https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/

It contains dance descriptions and links to Youtube videos of people doing the dances. Also, lots of technical information about footwork, handing, etc.

Allen Sinclair FSA Scot
Past President
Greensboro Scottish Country Dance Society


Dancing is the poetry of the foot.
John Dryden

[WildThistles]

Go to this Internet site => https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/

It contains dance descriptions and links to Youtube videos of people doing the dances. Also, lots of technical information about footwork, handing, etc.

Allen Sinclair FSA Scot
Past President
Greensboro Scottish Country Dance Society


Dancing is the poetry of the foot.
John Dryden

Thank you so much! I will definitely check this out and get to learning the terms and basic steps. A technical dictionary is perfect.

If it's okay to inquire in this thread because it's not a huge question enough for it's own thread. The group near my parents, on the site I found out about them on, had the note "Please wear soft-soled shoes such as leather dance shoes, ghillies or ballet shoes. No street shoes are allowed in the dance room." Do you have any idea if soft-soled flats which aren't dance shoes would suffice?

[OC Richard]

If you get into Scottish Country Dancing it's best to get a pair of the ghillies that are made specifically for dancing. Besides being the right shoe they're really cool looking!

There's some French influence, ballet influence, in RSCDS dancing so you'll need to point your toes which requires a very flexible shoe.

I'm sure you've already checked out the Florida RSCDS https://rscds.org/branches-and-groups/orlando-florida

Scottish Country Dancing is social dancing, so my advice would be to literally jump right in and start dancing with a class.

In my opinion the technique is secondary to having fun dancing with people.

Also I would advise, if possible, visiting as many different classes, as many different teachers, as you can.

When I was an avid RSCDS dancer I was regularly attending three classes a week, three different teachers.

One reason was just to dance as much as I could with as many people as I could.

The other reason was that each teacher had his/her own way of teaching, their own emphasis.

On Monday nights it was all about technique. That guy was a certified Highland Dance teacher as well as Country Dance teacher. We might spend a month working on one dance. He ran the local Demonstration Team and he wanted every single point of technique to be flawless.

Tuesday nights were as different as could be imagined! That guy had one goal: he wanted his students to be able to show up at a Monthly Dance on a Saturday night and know as many dances as possible. Far more important than footwork to him was being in the right place at the right time for your partner, the phrasing of the dance. We generally learned three dances each night.

Thursday night was in the middle. We'd learn a dance a night.

These three classes made for rapid progress as a dancer, and within a year I could show up at a big dance and know most of the dances.

Good luck and have fun dancing!

[WildThistles]

If you get into Scottish Country Dancing it's best to get a pair of the ghillies that are made specifically for dancing. Besides being the right shoe they're really cool looking!

There's some French influence, ballet influence, in RSCDS dancing so you'll need to point your toes which requires a very flexible shoe.

I'm sure you've already checked out the Florida RSCDS https://rscds.org/branches-and-groups/orlando-florida

Scottish Country Dancing is social dancing, so my advice would be to literally jump right in and start dancing with a class.

In my opinion the technique is secondary to having fun dancing with people.

Also I would advise, if possible, visiting as many different classes, as many different teachers, as you can.

When I was an avid RSCDS dancer I was regularly attending three classes a week, three different teachers.

One reason was just to dance as much as I could with as many people as I could.

The other reason was that each teacher had his/her own way of teaching, their own emphasis.

On Monday nights it was all about technique. That guy was a certified Highland Dance teacher as well as Country Dance teacher. We might spend a month working on one dance. He ran the local Demonstration Team and he wanted every single point of technique to be flawless.

Tuesday nights were as different as could be imagined! That guy had one goal: he wanted his students to be able to show up at a Monthly Dance on a Saturday night and know as many dances as possible. Far more important than footwork to him was being in the right place at the right time for your partner, the phrasing of the dance. We generally learned three dances each night.

Thursday night was in the middle. We'd learn a dance a night.

These three classes made for rapid progress as a dancer, and within a year I could show up at a big dance and know most of the dances.

Good luck and have fun dancing!

Thank you! That does sound really fun. Unfortunately my town doesn't have a RSCDS group or other SCD group from my knowledge. Perhaps I'm just being impatient, but it sounded fun to at least try to learn some of the basics in my room until I could manage to make it to a city with a group. The technique vs sociality aspect does sound similar to my experiences with contra dance, another social dance that's a really good time.

[Pleater]

You could browse You Tube for recordings of dancing - though probably best to check the place and date of the event shown as they are important.
What was normal in my youth would be regarded a far too formal these days, and normality now would have raised a few eyebrows back then.
What it is to grow old.

Anne the Pleater

[OC Richard]

What was normal in my youth would be regarded a far too formal these days, and normality now would have raised a few eyebrows back then.

That's interesting!

I was dancing throughout the 1980s in the "greater Los Angeles area". BTW at that time the Los Angeles Branch of the RSCDS was the largest in the world, I think it was over 500 members. (Later it splintered into several small branches.)

We had a mix of formality.

Our monthly dances were quite informal. Gents in kilts and polo shirts or t-shirts and ladies in whatever they preferred for comfort. We danced to recordings.

A couple times a year were the big formal dinner-dances, a huge ballroom with crystal chandeliers, table-cloths and settings, a live dance band, dance-cards, men in Evening Dress and ladies in dresses with tartan sashes.

Dinner over, the tables were shoved to the side and the dancing began. Jackets and sashes were jettisoned as needed.

For the ladies it took ingenuity to acquire dresses that combined elegance with coolness and freedom of movement. Many made their own.