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This is by no means exhaustive yet, but I welcome suggestions, comments and further tips. Just drop me a mail at ian@scottishdance.net.
I explain some of the terminology below.
At the moment I have the following dances:
You may also like to try the following dances:
Notes for musicians wanting guidance on what to play. I have tried to give an indication of suitable tunes along with each dance, together with number of bars and number of repetitions where this matters.
In general, the dancers continue until the band take pity, but if not specified, a good length for the 16-bar dances is probably 4-6 times 32 bars (i.e. 8-12 times through the dance); for 32-bar dances like The Dashing White Sergeant, Pride of Erin, Circassian Circle, Lucky Seven it would be 6-8 times through; for set dances like Strip the Willow, continue until the original couple is back to the top (should be roughly 8x32 for a 4-couple set).
There is a tradition at ceilidhs of repeating each dance; if you do this, err on the side of fewer repetitions in each set, so maybe 8 times through the 16-bar dances (4x32), 6 times through the 32-bar dances, etc.
A good source for suitable tunes is Taigh na Teud's Scottish Ceilidh Collections - these are available from Amazon, Scotland's Music and good Scottish music stores around the country.
Formation: in threes around the room facing anti-clockwise, man between two ladies.
Music: 6/8 pipe march.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1: | Nearer hands joined, touch the left heel then the left toe to
the floor, bouncing on the right foot with each touch. |
| 2: | All skip to the left for one step. |
| 3-4: | Repeat 1-2 with the opposite feet. |
| 5-8: | Skip forward for two steps, then backwards for two steps. |
| 9-10: | Set on the spot facing forwards. |
| 11-12: | Still setting, the man raises his arms and the ladies turn
underneath. |
| 13-16: | Skip forward for two steps, then backwards for two steps. |
Formation: couples around the room facing anti-clockwise, ladies on the right.
Music: 2/4 or 4/4 pipe march (not 6/8) or scottische.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-2: | Starting with the outside foot, walk forward for three steps
and hop (or kick). |
| 3-4: | Walk backwards for three steps and hop. |
| 5-6: | Skip sideways away from your partner (men towards the centre of
the room, ladies towards the edge) for two steps and clap. |
| 7-8: | Return to partner and join in ballroom (waltz) hold. |
| 9-12: | In ballroom hold, skip sideways to the man's left, lady's right
for two steps then back again. |
| 13-16: | Use four step-hops to polka anti-clockwise round the room. |
Formation: Large circle round the room, ladies on the right of their partner.
Music: 32 bar Reels.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-4: | Hands joined in a circle, all advance for four steps, retire
for four steps. |
| 5-8: | Repeat. |
| 9-12: | Drop hands, ladies advance and retire. |
| 13-16: | Men advance, turn round and walk out to the next lady CW (the
one who was on their left; the one who is now to the right of their
partner as they view). |
| 17-24: | All spin with new partners |
| 25-32: | Hands crossed in front (right to right and left to left),
ladies on the outside, promenade ACW around the room. |
Formation: four couples arranged around a square, lady on the right of the man. Couple with their backs to the music are couple number 1, couple on their left number 2, couple opposite number 3 and couple on the right number 4 (ie numbering clockwise).
Music: This is normally danced to tunes in common time (32 bar and the dance is 64 bars long) but can be and is sometimes done to jigs (6/8 tempo).
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8: | End couples (1 and 3) take ballroom (waltz) hold and dance across the
set, men passing back to back, then dance back again, ladies
passing back to back. |
| 9-16: | Side couples (2 and 4) repeat. |
| 17-24: | End couples dance right hands across in a star (wheel), then left
hands back again. |
| 25-32: | Side couples (2 and 4) repeat. |
| 33-40: | End couples dance the basket: make a small circle in the middle,
men joining hands behind ladies' backs, ladies' arms on top
of men's. In this
formation, circle round to the left. With sufficient speed,
the ladies' feet can lift off the floor (there's
a good
video of it on YouTube). Remember to leave time to land and get back to place! |
| 41-48: | Side couples (2 and 4) repeat (getting the hang of this?). |
| 49-56: | All join hands and circle round to the left and back. |
| 57-64: | Take promenade hold with partner (right hand in right, left in left,
both in front of you) and dance anticlockwise
once round the set. |
Repeat ad lib.
Note: sometimes the circle is to the left only; in this case it is for the full eight bars.
Note: sometimes the caller misses out the promenade to allow 24 bars for the basket - this allows time for landing and changing over...
Formation: three facing three around the room, man between two ladies or lady between two men.
Music: The Dashing White Sergeant - 32 bar reels, starting and ending with "The Dashing White Sergeant".
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8: | Join up in a circle of 6 and circle round to the left for 8
steps (4 bars) and back to the right. |
| 9-12: | The person in the middle turns to the person on their right and
sets to them, then turns them once round right hand (variation - both
hands). The other partner stands still. |
| 13-16: | Repeat with the other partner. |
| 17-24: | Using elbow grip, turn 1st partner, then 2nd partner, then 1st
partner, then 2nd partner. (Variation - dance a reel of three, giving
left shoulder to 1st partner to start). |
| 25-28: | In the lines of three, advance towards each other (two skip
steps) and retire. |
| 29-32: | Both lines dance forwards, one line raising their hands in an
arch and the other line dancing underneath, and dance on to meet the
next set of three coming in the other direction. |
Formation: four couples arranged around a square, lady on the right of the man. Couple with their backs to the music are couple number 1, couple on their left number 2, couple opposite number 3 and couple on the right number 4 (ie numbering clockwise).
Music: Lively reels, played 40 bars for the first time through, plus 8 lots of 48-bar repetitions (phrased 24+24), plus a final 40 bars. So that's 464 bars: 40 + 8x48 + 40. "The Deil Amang the Tailors" is commonly used for the first and last 40 bars; other tunes often used include "Soldier's Joy", "Mrs MacLeod of Raasay", "The Fairy Dance", "The Mason's Apron".
| Bars: | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Chorus: | ||
| 1-8: | All join hands in a circle and circle round to the left for 8
steps (four bars) and back. | |
| 9-12: | Ladies join right hands in the middle, and hold partners around
waist, and all dance right hands across in a star (wheel). | |
| 13-16: | Swing round (couples still holding around the waist) so the men
join left hands, and dance back with a left hand star. | |
| 17-20: | Face partners and set twice. | |
| 21-24: | Spin partners (turn RH). | |
| 25-40: | Giving right hands to partner to start, dance a grand chain
around the set (keep going in the same direction and give right hand,
then left hand, then right hand, ... until you get back to place). If
you get back early, spin until the end of the phrase. | |
| Figure - repeat 8 times | ||
| 1-8: | 1st lady goes into the centre of the set and sets while the
others circle round to the left and back. | |
| 9-16: | 1st lady sets to partner, turns him, sets to opposite man and
turns him. | |
| 17-24: | 1st lady turns partner, opposite man, partner, opposite man
(variation - dance a reel of three with partner and opposite man, giving
left shoulder to partner to start). | |
| 25-32: | Repeat bars 1-8. | |
| 33-48: | Repeat bars 9-24 with side men. | |
| Repeat Figure with 2nd lady, 3rd lady, 4th lady, 1st man, 2nd
man, 3rd man, 4th man in the centre. | ||
| Chorus: | Repeat the 40 bars of the start of the dance. | |
There are several versions of this, but one common one is:
Formation: Longwise sets of 4 couples, men on the right and ladies on the left as viewed from the band. Couples number from nearest the band.
Music: 32-bar Reels, either 4x32 or 8x32 - Freeland Barbour wrote "Duncan's Return" for it, but I don't think it's official.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 1st lady, followed by 2nd and 3rd ladies, dances across the top of the set, behind 1st man, in front of 2nd man, behind 3rd man and across the bottom and back to place. |
| 9-16 | 1st 3 men repeat around the ladies. |
| 17-24 | 1st couple join both hands and side-slip (gallop) down the room for 8 slip-steps (4 bars), then back up again TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SET (4th place). |
| 25-32 | All join hands on the sides and sideslip down the room and back up again. |
Finish in the order 2, 3, 4, 1, ready to start again.
Formation: couples around the room facing anti-clockwise, ladies on the right.
Music: 2/4 or 4/4 march. E.g. "Scotland the Brave", "The Gay Gordons".
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-2: | Right hands joined over lady's shoulder (man's arm behind her
back) and left hands joined in front, walk forward for four steps,
starting on the right foot. |
| 3-4: | Still moving in the same direction, and without letting go,
pivot on the spot (so left hand is behind lady and right hand is in
front) and take four steps backwards. |
| 5-8: | Repeat in the opposite direction. |
| 9-12: | Drop left hands, raise right hands above lady's head. Lady
pivots on the spot. (The man may set). |
| 13-16: | Joining hands in ballroom hold, polka round the room. |
Repeat ad lib.
For scottish country dancers, the grip in the first eight bars is allemande hold.
Formation: couples in a circle around the room, ladies on the outside, men on the inside, joined in ballroom hold with partners.
Music: Schottische.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Men with left foot, ladies with right, point toe in 2nd, bring
foot up in front of shin (3rd aerial), point in 2nd and bring foot up
behind calf (3rd rear aerial). Bounce on supporting foot on each of
these four beats. |
| 3-4 | Step onto that foot, close other foot behind, step onto the
original working foot again, and close original supporting foot behind
calf. |
| 5-8 | Repeat 1-4 with other leg. |
| 9-10 | Repeat 3-4 (ie step, close, step, hop). |
| 11-12 | Repeat 7-8 (ie 9-10 in other direction). |
| 13-16 | Polka as in Canadian barn dance - step, hop, step, hop -
rotating clockwise and following line of dance anticlockwise around the
room. |
Repeat ad lib.
There follow chapter, verse, chorus and encore on the "Schottische" (for whom it may concern !) from Charles Gore:
Formation: Large circle round the room, ladies on the right of their partner.
Music: 32 bar Reels or Jigs.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8: | Hands joined in a circle, circle round to the left (8 bars/16 steps). |
| 9-16: | Advance into the centre and retire twice. |
| 17-24: | Dance a grand chain around the circle, starting giving right hand to
partner, left hand to the next person, right to the next, and so on,
continuing in the same direction around the circle
and counting aloud until you reach "seven". When you reach seven,
do not pass, but stop with that person. Men are travelling anti-clockwise,
ladies clockwise. |
| 25-32: | Spin that new partner, finishing back in the large circle, lady on
the right, ready to start again. |
Repeat ad lib.
Once the dancers have the hang of the dance, the caller often varies the number of hands, 8, 9, 10, etc.
Formation: couples around the room facing anti-clockwise, ladies on the right.
Music: 6/8 pipe march.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-2: | Lady with hand on man's shoulder, man with arm around waist,
touch heel then toe of outer foot to ground twice, bouncing on the inner
foot with each touch. |
| 3-4: | Walk forward for three steps then turn towards each other to
face in the opposite direction. |
| 5-8: | Repeat in the opposite direction. |
| 9-10: | Facing partner and joining both hands, bounce on both feet,
then kick the right foot across the body (to the left), followed by the
left foot across the body (to the right). |
| 11-12: | The man raises his left hand and the lady turns underneath
(dropping the other hand). |
| 13-16: | Polka around the room. |
Formation: couples around the room facing anti-clockwise, ladies on the right.
Music: 32 bar waltzes.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-4: | Nearer hands joined, swing the inner leg (and joined hands)
forward and back, then walk forwards. |
| 5-8: | Repeat in the opposite direction. |
| 9-10: | Facing partner, both hands joined, and heading clockwise, cross
trailing leg over leading leg (ie right over left for ladies, left over
right for men), then point with leading leg. |
| 11-12: | Repeat in opposite direction. |
| 13-16: | Take four steps anti-clockwise, pulling leading shoulder back
to face alternately away from and towards your partner with each step. |
| 17-24: | Joining both hands, swing together (slightly to the right of
partner) and away, then change places, turning the lady under the man's
left arm while doing so. Repeat. |
| 25-28: | In ballroom hold, take two steps anti-clockwise, then two
clockwise. |
| 29-32: | Waltz round the room. |
Formation: Longwise sets of 4 couples, men on the right and ladies on the left as viewed from the band. Couples number from nearest the band.
Music: 32-bar 4/4 reels or 6/8 jigs.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8: | 1st couple cast behind their lines to below 4th couple, turn once round by the right hand,
and cast back up behind their lines to original place. |
| 9-16: | 1st couple with 2nd couple, and 3rd couple with 4th couple dance
right hands across in a wheel (star) and back with the left. |
| 17-24: | All join hands in a circle. 1C dance down under an arch made by 4C, then cast back up to the top, making an arch over the other dancers. Other dancers follow as appropriate. Keep hands joined throughout this movement! |
| 25-32: | 1st couple cast behind the lines to the bottom of the set (below
4th couple) and turn by the right hand to the end of the phrase |
Formation: couples around the room in ballroom hold heading anti-clockwise, ladies on the outside.
Music: waltzes.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-4: | In ballroom hold, take three steps sideways towards the lady's
right, man's left, then stamp both feet. |
| 5-6: | Take two steps sideways in the opposite direction. |
| 7-8: | Take two steps towards the centre of the room (lady heading
forwards with right foot then left foot, man backwards with left foot
then right). |
| 9-10: | Take two steps back out (same feet). |
| 11-12: | Lady turns about on the spot under the joined hands. |
| 13-16: | Waltz onwards round the room. |
Music: 6/8 or 9/8 double jigs. E.g. "The Irish Washerwoman", "The Curlew", "The Jig of Slurs" for 6/8 and "Drops of Brandy" for 9/8.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 1st couple spin RH. |
| 9-20 | 1st lady turns 2M LH, partner RH, 3M LH, partner RH, 4M LH. |
| 21-24 | Spin with partner RH to the end of the phrase. |
| 25-36 | 1st man turns 4L LH, partner RH, 3L LH, partner RH, 2L LH. |
| 37-40 | Spin with partner RH to the end of the phrase. |
| 41-52 | 1st lady works down men, while 1st man works down ladies,
turning 2C LH, partner RH, 3C LH, partner RH, 4C LH. |
| 53-56 | Spin with partner RH to the end of the phrase. |
Music: 6/8 or 9/8 double jigs. E.g. "The Irish Washerwoman", "The Curlew", "The Jig of Slurs" for 6/8 and "Drops of Brandy" for 9/8.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 1st couple spin RH. |
| 9-... | 1st couple work down the opposite line (ie of the people of the
opposite sex) turning side person LH, partner RH, next side person LH,
... |
| When 1st couple reach the bottom, they spin to the end of the phrase, then join the side lines. |
A new couple starts every 16 bars.
Formation: couples around the room in heading anti-clockwise, nearer hands joined, ladies on the outside.
Music: That tune...
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| Slow march | |
| 1-8 | With nearer hands joined, walk slowly along the line of dance |
| 9-16 | With nearer hands joined, walk slowly against the line of dance
back to starting point |
| Waltz | |
| 17-20 | With nearer hands joined, facing along line of dance, balance away from partner and back towards partner twice. |
| 21-24 | Waltz along line of dance. |
| 25-32 | Repeat bars 17-24. |
| Polka | |
| 33-36 | With nearer hands joined, facing along line of dance, balance away from partner and back towards partner twice. |
| 37-40 | Polka along line of dance. |
| 41-48 | Repeat bars 33-40. |
Formation: couples around the room facing each other, both hands joined, ladies on the outside, men with backs to centre.
Music: waltzes.
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Step to the side along line of dance (man with left foot, lady
with right) and swing other leg across. Step back and swing other leg
across. |
| 3-4 | Step, close, step to the side along line of dance. |
| 5-8 | Repeat in the opposite direction. |
| 9-12 | Step, close, step to the side along line of dance and then back
again. |
| 13-16 | Take ballroom hold and waltz along the line of dance. |
This seems actually to be a family of similar dances - probably word-of-mouth having lead to variations. One variety is:
Formation: Longwise sets of 4 couples, men on the right and ladies on the left as viewed from the band. Couples number from nearest the band.
Music: "Hoedown" reels, e.g. "Turkey in the Straw".
| Bars: | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | All advance and retire, then turn partners RH. |
| 9-16 | All advance and retire, then turn partners LH. |
| 17-24 | All advance and retire, then turn partners BH. |
| 25-32 | All advance and retire, then dance back to back with partners
(do-si-do). |
| 33-40 | 1st couple join both hands and side slip down the middle and
back. |
| 41-48 | 1st couple, followed by 2nd, 3rd and 4th couples cast off to
the bottom; 1st couple make an arch and the other three couples dance up
to new positions. |
Finish 2,3,4,1, ready to start again.
One variation has bars 33-40 expanded - slip down to the bottom (4 bars) and strip the willow back up again (12 bars), followed by the cast and arch figure on bars 49-56. Another has two advance and retires to start, followed by the three turns and do-si-do all together in 16 bars (9-24). Another is advance and retire, turn RH, turn LH, back-to-back, followed by 33-48. There is also a 64-bar version which I can't remember at the moment.
The basic shape seems to be:
Comment from Sylvia Miskoe, band leader in Concord, NH USA:
In the US when you have a live band and are doing it the American way, you play a jig for the first part where dancers are doing things with their partners. Usually 32 bars worth. Then when the strip begins the music changes to a reel like Rakes of Mallow of Mrs McLeod. When the march/cast off/up the center starts the music changes to a march like Yankee doodle, Hail Hail the Gang's All Here, or even Ode to Joy. The musicians have to pay close attention to the caller and the dancers because often the strip can take more than 32 bars and the march can be short.
Ballroom hold has the man facing the lady, lady's right hand in man's left, man's right hand on lady's waist, and lady's left hand on man's right shoulder.
Line of dance (LoD): the direction a normal waltz (polka or whatever) moves around the floor (anti-clockwise around the room).
Anti-line of dance (Anti-LoD): the opposite to LoD.
Setting
The basic idea of a setting step is to spend two bars admiring your
partner (or someone else) while shifting the weight from foot to foot. To be
more precise (something alien to the ceilidh dance ethos, but hey!) the step is
the pas de basque:
Note the phrasing with 4 beats in the bar, even though you only do things on three of them. Best practised to a reel (4/4 - "egg and mustard") rather than a jig (6/8 - jiggety jiggety).
cast off or "cast to 2nd place"
A cast takes you behind the standing person/people (or where they would be if they were standing) - "off" takes you "down" the set (away from the band, towards the higher numbers), up takes you "up" the set. Unless otherwise stated, you only move one place down or up. eg:
/--1M 1L--\
| |
\->2M 2L<-/
3M 3L
4M 4L
Cast off one place (also in this instance cast off to second place) - note if 2nd couple are still there they will get run over.
Reel of 3 Reel of 4
Think of a reel of three with an extra person and an extra loop. Four dancers in a line, middle dancers facing out, outer dancers facing in.
/ /
Out1 Mid1 Mid2 Out2
/ /
Bar 1: Out1 & Mid1, and Mid2 & Out2 Pass RS.
Bar 2: Out1 and Out2 pass LS while Mid1 and Mid2 turn around
to face in.
Bar 3: Mid1 & Out2, and Out1 & Mid2 Pass RS.
Bar 4: Mid1 and Mid2 pass LS while Out1 and Out2 turn around
to face in.
Bars 5-8: Repeat (heading in opposite direction) back to place.
Except where otherwise indicated, all content on this site (including text, images, dance descriptions and any
other original work) is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
This page is maintained by Ian Brockbank