Highland Dancing

These dances, such as the Highland Fling, and the Sword Dance, are generally solo performance dances, and are mostly danced competitively (although there are a minority, such as myself, who just learn and dance them for interest and during performances). With the constant pressure of competition, standards are extremely high, and they also enjoy a standardisation through the SOBHD, the SOHDA and the NZAHD (among others) which has allowed their spread throughout the world. As well as the Highland dances, the National dances, such as the Lilt, the Flora and the Blue Bonnets are similar and danced by the same dancers. I'm not enough of an expert to say what the difference is - they all seem to be in a similar vein to me. There are a few dances done by more than one dancer, the Foursome Reel, the Twasome and the Broadswords being three examples.

There are plenty of web sites around (see my collection of links), including

Highland X Press, highland dance, country dance and piping costume and equipment distributor. Includes pages for used costumes as well.
Highland Dancing: A Dancer's Guide - a very good site run by Andrea Navin. Lots of useful information.
HighlandNet, a series of pages which provide free and current information about Highland Games in the States and elsewhere. Among the info provided is specific data on dance competitions and, when possible, replicated highland dance entry forms which can be printed online and mailed to the event organizer.
Highland X Press, highland dance, country dance and piping costume and equipment distributor. Includes pages for used costumes as well.
David Coulter School of Highland Dance This site also includes a listing of teachers around the world.
Highland Dance Teachers' Association of England.
F.U.S.T.A, the Federation of United States teachers and Adjudicators.

Grand Chain

Highland Dancing