To Anne from Eliz in Austin. (see below) Note from me: For those that may not be familiar, there are about four "traditional" types of Scottish dance. The Scottish Country Dances are very formalized and patterned. Much like ball room dance only more free spirited and energetic. The north American Square dances are direct decedents of SCD. The ceilidh dances are the same type of group dances but less ridge and as Eliz says below, subject to a multitude of local variation. There is also a Scottish Step Dance that has died out in Scotland, but still survives on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. It's very similar to the Irish Step dance you see in Riverdance. It's an individual dance, although there may be several people dancing at the same time. Highland Dance, see below, is also a solo dance. Originally war dances or victory dances. R From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Chennault Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 4:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [clangunnsociety] Need a Favor LOL! This network amazes me <g>. I knew I could count on you guys... I'm sure there is a copy at the grad school library at UT but with dance class on Tue and Thur, sewing our costumes on Wed, and rehearsal on Friday....and a little thing like my full time job during the day, I just don't have time to get down there. Tell her that "Wind on Loch Fyne" refers to the dance itself. There are some dances that are tunes also, like Mairi's Wedding. WoLF may have a tune by that name also although I don't think so. I'm not sufficiently conversant to answer Anne's question about Orcadian reels and strathpeys in terms of dance, but I'll do a little research. There is an Orcadian/Shetland version of the popular ceilidh dance "Strip the Willow. " Ceilidh dances have lots of local variations. As for Highland though (and forgive me for cutting and pasting in the interest of time) here is a brief but succinct answer: Highland Dancing is of military origin and was only performed by men up until the early 1900's. The Highland Fling is by far the oldest, dating back to the time of the Roman occupation of ancient Caledonia. Steps have changed throughout the millennia mostly due to the French influence in Scottish history, but the original meaning of the dance - a victory celebration - remains. Traditionally, Highland dancing is done to bagpipes. The version pipers play today dates back to the 16th Century, when the MacCrimmon family, pipers for the McLeod of Harris, worked out not only the form of the bagpipes, but also the intricate fingering on the chanter

I'll take the waltz - dance closer that way (grin) Marion > > > Note from me: For those that may not be familiar, there are about four > "traditional" types of Scottish dance. The Scottish Country Dances are > very > formalized and patterned. Much like ball room dance only more free > spirited > and energetic. The north American Square dances are direct decedents of > SCD. > The ceilidh dances are the same type of group dances but less ridge and as > Eliz says below, subject to a multitude of local variation. There is also > a > Scottish Step Dance that has died out in Scotland, but still survives on > Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. It's very similar to the Irish Step dance you > see in Riverdance. It's an individual dance, although there may be several > people dancing at the same time. Highland Dance, see below, is also a solo > dance. Originally war dances or victory dances. > > R