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

[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.