London Gay Pride 2007

[Martin S]

I'm not familar with the "Dashing White Sergeant" it must be an advanced dance.
Cheers
Jamie

Was this tongue-in-cheek, or are you really a newby?

Probably just a question of popularity; when I began SCD, we did Duke of Perth, the Eightsome and Dashing White Sergeant, time and again. Today, they hardly appear on any programs at all -- except perhaps at gay ceilidhs...?

Martin

[Phil]

Was this tongue-in-cheek, or are you really a newby?

Probably just a question of popularity; when I began SCD, we did Duke of Perth, the Eightsome and Dashing White Sergeant, time and again. Today, they hardly appear on any programs at all -- except perhaps at gay ceilidhs...?

Martin

Dashing White Sergeant and Gay Gordons seem to be done at evry ceilidh I've ever been to. The other favourites are Eightsome Reel, Duke of Perth (sometimes Strip the Willow), Hamilton House, Reel of the 51st Division etc.. In fact the first two are pretty universally known even by non-dancers as most get taught them at school here in Scotland.

[Panache]

Was this tongue-in-cheek, or are you really a newby?

I will have been Scottish Country Dancing for one whole year at the end of summer. So I am still quite a beginner. Some dances are finally starting to sink in and I can know them by name "Machines without horses", "Merry Reapers", "Gang the same Gate", and few others. I know we have done Gay Gordons in class so it is possible we have been taught The Dashing White Sergeant. But for the record I am a

Dashing White Sergeant and Gay Gordons seem to be done at evry ceilidh I've ever been to. The other favourites are Eightsome Reel, Duke of Perth (sometimes Strip the Willow), Hamilton House, Reel of the 51st Division etc.. In fact the first two are pretty universally known even by non-dancers as most get taught them at school here in Scotland.

Sadly I and my lovely wife have only gone to one official Dance with SCD. This was attempted after only 3 classes. Needless to say we were overwhelmed. We have decided to try and start attending them after we had a year's worth of classes under our belt. I have done Strip the Willow at a few Victorian balls in my twenties. A vigorous and fun dance that I remember fondly.

Cheers

Jamie

[Martin S]

Dashing White Sergeant and Gay Gordons seem to be done at evry ceilidh I've ever been to. The other favourites are Eightsome Reel, Duke of Perth (sometimes Strip the Willow), Hamilton House, Reel of the 51st Division etc.. In fact the first two are pretty universally known even by non-dancers as most get taught them at school here in Scotland.

I suppose this reflects the sad split between Scottish country dancing as promoted by the RSCDS (an over stylized non-traditional, but very pleasant dance form) and traditional dancing that continues in Scotland and parts of England, but is neglected elsewhere.

Martin (getting a bit off-topic ...)

[Phil]

I suppose this reflects the sad split between Scottish country dancing as promoted by the RSCDS (an over stylized non-traditional, but very pleasant dance form) and traditional dancing that continues in Scotland and parts of England, but is neglected elsewhere.

Martin (getting a bit off-topic ...)

I was at a wedding in England a few years back and the host (Scottish) had hired a band(English) to play Scottish dances. Trouble was nobody knew any of them, not even heard of them so nobody got up to dance. There is a bit of snobbery goes on with "Scottish Country Dancing" everywhere else but Scotland but, lets face it, all everyone wants is a good time with dances they know and they certainly don't want the kind of "po-faced" people who just want to tell them "Oh dear, you really should have done so & so, that's all wrong". Believe me I've heard it here in Scotland more than once and unfortunately it always seems to be English people never Scots who are only there to have fun. In less polite company a "Govan handshake" (head-butt while shaking hands) would be the likely response.