Scottish country dance
[4] The first two types (also called quick-time dances) feature fast tempos, quick movements and a lively feel.
Well-executed steps improve the look of a dance greatly, however their mastery involves quite some time and dedication and also a certain level of physical fitness.
This is important because the figures often require many of the participants to be correctly positioned; it is difficult for the whole set to achieve the dance if some dancers are mislocated.
"Covering", another common term, calls for moving dancers to progress in unison; this briefly forms lines, squares etc.
Interaction with a partner and the other dancers (e.g. smiling, verbal cues, giving hands, encouragement) is an essential part of SCD.
The importance of couples within this framework, the practice for correcting mistakes, the acceptance of embellishments, and the tolerance for differing choreography varies by SCD community and occasion.
Most Scottish country dances are "progressive", i.e., after one repetition of the figure sequence the couples end up in a different place in the set.
In fact, the figures and arrangement of modern Scottish country dances, while derived from a 300-year tradition, make it difficult to generalise.
Many newer dances feature new ideas such as partner changes (you dance with a new partner on each new time through the dance, as in "Nighean Donn" (by Peter Hastings) or "Caddam Wood" (by John Mitchell)), palindromic structure (the sequence of figures is similar seen from the end to the beginning as it is seen from the beginning to the end, as in "The White Heather Jig" by Cosh), fugues (the sequence of figures for each couple is intricately intertwined to resemble the structure of a musical fugue), canons (a new couple begins their time through even though the couple before have not finished theirs yet) and others, such as John Drewry's "Crossing the Line", where the bottom of the set becomes the top for the next time through.
During the early 20th century, SCD still had a part in social entertainment especially in rural Scotland, even though the number of dances within the active repertoire was quite small.
The efforts of the SCDS became quite popular, and its influence on the training of physical education teachers meant that most Scottish children learn at least a minimum of SCD during school.
Fairly soon after the inception of the SCDS people started inventing new dances in the spirit of the older ones but also introducing new figures not part of the collected canon.
Modern SCD has evolved considerably from the early 18th century, with the constant devising of new dances, new concepts, informal variations and entirely new ideas appearing.
Active communities can be found throughout the world – in the rest of Britain, continental Europe, Canada, and the US as well as Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with occasional groups in places as diverse as Russia, South Africa, Argentina, and Hong Kong.
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in August 2010 made a study[5] of seventy women between the ages of 60 and 85 years; half were Scottish country dancers and the remainder participated in other physical activities such as swimming, walking, golf and keep fit classes.
They all compared favourably with average fitness levels for women in their age range, but the Scottish country dancers were shown to have more agility, stronger legs and to be able to walk more briskly than people who took part in other forms of exercise.
(In some communities, SCD and other, the 'ceilidh' is not a dance party, but more of a 'talent show' or 'slam' where guests may present poems, songs, or skits for the enjoyment of all.)
