Upper-body postures in Canadian stepdancing are typically relaxed but upright, allowing occasional arm movements that flow with the rhythm of the dance, or hands on hips.
[3] Stepdance steps vary according to the "Celtic" tune type played, such as jigs, reels, strathspeys, clogs, hornpipes, two-steps, and polkas.
French Canadian or Quebecois stepdance originates from the lumber camps and villages of Quebec, taking influence from Irish and Breton dance.
[5] Large waves of Gaelic immigration happened all throughout the 18th-20th centuries, sometimes by force of their landlords, and other times voluntarily, in hopes of establishing a better life and cultural freedom.
These solo dances were the precursor to what would become the lively percussive steps now pictured at the mention of “Cape Breton stepdance.” The popular percussive steps brought over to Cape Breton by these Gaels continues to be passed on generationally, primarily in the home, and this informal style of transmission was able to continue on the island well into the twentieth century, until around the nineteen seventies, when formal classes started to become a more common transmission method, alongside the tradition of learning from family and neighbours.