What does a person imagine when remembering Scotland? Of course, the traditional Scottish kilt, the sound of the Scottish bagpipes, high-quality Scotch whiskey … But Scottish dances are equally popular.
Kayleigh
The simplest dances in Scotland are polkas, waltzes, quadrills, etc. They do not require any special skills and abilities and serve only to have fun and playful time. Changing partners is often practiced in keili, that is, everyone can dance with all partners, without guaranteeing a separate dance to someone alone.
Scottish ballroom dancing
Sometimes they are also called Scottish country dances. The dance takes place in pairs, but the men and women diverge in two lines, opposite each other. There are more than 10,000 such dances, but four such pairs are enough for almost everyone. The principle of Scottish ballroom dance is that as soon as the music starts playing, one or more couples begin to move along predetermined trajectories, carrying out fancy patterns with their movements.
Highland
Solo, purely male dance. It is safe to say that it is one of the most spectacular Scottish dances. If in the previous dance the emphasis was on simple and unpretentious movements, then Highland means clarity and confidence in the movement of the legs, and the hands are needed here in order to depict the antlers of a deer. With the Highland, a man must keep his body straight, his hands are usually in the same position, and the dance itself is a series of jumps on half fingers. In Scotland, this dance is a kind of competitive dance, so a high level of performance and physical fitness is required from the dancers. In addition, it should be noted that no festival, for example, the Mountain Games, can do without this dance.
Ladys step
This dance is also solo, but, as the name implies, it is already female. And accordingly, he combines soft and graceful movements that show the plasticity of a woman's nature.
Cape Breton step
This is a Scottish tap dance that can be performed solo by both genders. Usually such a dance is performed at various holidays and parties. The manner of performance in this dance is called "Close to the floor", that is, all movements of the legs occur close to the ground or the floor, and sweeping leg swings show the unprofessionalism of the dancers.
Now there is even an official organization for Scottish dances - the Royal Society of Scottish Ballroom Dancing. It has about 25,000 members. And if we count among them those who dance "in Scottish" unofficially, then we can confidently say that Scottish dances are successful all over the world!
