Talk:Contradancer's Guide to Successfully Beginning Scottish Country Dance

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) in Edinburg, Scotland, was founded in 1923 by Mrs. Ysabel Stewart and Miss Jean Milligan. (More at: http://delval.rscds.us/1reelscot.html)


 * Also see www.rscds.org
 * info@rscds.org
 * Telephone: [+44] (0)131 225 3854
 * Fax: [+44] (0)131 225 7783
 * Address: 12 Coates Crescent,
 * Edinburgh, EH3 7AF, Scotland,UK

The RSCDS is an international organization and would take grave exception, I am sure, to this entry as it now stands linking the Contradance tightly to Scottish Country Dancing. There clearly is a relationship between them, as there is to the English Country Dance, and, more distantly to other group dances such as the Morris, and the many dance traditions of Europe. But the Scottish rightly consider theirs to be a unique and separate tradition unto itself that is more tightly maintained to this day and most.

As it happens, I have been a Scottish Country Dancer for more than 50 years and had the privelege of dancing with, and being taught (briefly) by the Founder of the modern RSCDS by Miss Milligan, herself. On more than one occassion I have heard her proclaim in no uncertain terms, "Scottish Dancing is NOT 'folk dancing' as there are NO folk in Scotland! These dances derive from the French ballet!" And, indeed they do, as any teacher certificated by the RSCDS will tell you.

Here is a brief excerpt from the Scottish Country Dance entry in the English Wikipedia:


 * ...in 1923 the Scottish Country Dance Society (SCDS) (affectionately called "the Society") was founded in Glasgow with the goal of preserving "country dances as danced in Scotland" (this was only recently changed to read "Scottish country dances"). The SCDS began to collect and publish the remaining dances as well as reconstruct (or reinterpret) dances from old sources that were no longer being danced. In the process, the dances and technique, which might differ considerably depending on where in Scotland a dance would be collected, were strictly standardized, which from the point of view of preservation was of course a terrible thing to do, but which paved the way for universal "compatibility" between dancers from (eventually) all over the world. The efforts of the SCDS became quite popular, and its influence on the training of physical education teachers meant that most Scottish children would be exposed to at least a minimum of SCD during school. The Society achieved Royal patronage in 1947 and henceforth became known as the RSCDS (for "Royal" Scottish Country Dance Society)."

Another account states:
 * The Edinburgh-based society was founded in 1923 when two Scottish women, Mrs. Ysabel Stewart and Miss Jean Milligan, worried that with the advent of the radio and phonograph the old dances were fated to die out, put their heads together and decided to collect and preserve them. Today, boasting over 25,000 members, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society is a worldwide organization whose purpose is to encourage this colorful tradition among people of all nationalities. There are branches throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies and Hong Kong and Japan.

My preference would be to have a specific entry for Scottish AND an entry for the Contradance, which also has a long although perhaps less well documented provenance. With references and cross  links between them and among other related group dances.

A close reading of the history of group dancing will show that a number well preserved, common figures and dance patterns go back well over 1,000 years and are to be found in the dances of the Eastern Europe, Greece, the Middle East, and Scandianvia.

Frankatca 01:33, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Review: Great first draft, needs tweaking and I'd like to help
Contra dancers have a head start in learning SCD, because they already know many of the figures, although in slightly different forms and by different names, and they know how to move to the music as part of a team of dancers. They know that dancing is fun, and they've already learned eye contact, covering, handing, how to form a longways set with the music at the top, and timing figures to eight bars of music. What they will find intimidating are the steps, particular music for particular dances, re-learning figures and handing in SCD style, and having to remember the dance from a talk-through before the music starts instead of relying on a caller. But experienced contra dancers will incorporate the additional elements of SCD more quickly than beginners who have never done set dancing to Celtic music.

There is always a moment of epiphany in learning SCD, when new dancers realize they're not thinking about the dozen things they're doing at the same time, just dancing effortlessly, with joy. This may happen during the third class, or the twentieth, or later, but it'll happen sooner if the beginner is an experienced contra dancer. Contra dancers already know the learning shortcuts: dancing with a more experienced partner, ignoring the feet and looking up, taking cues from other dancers, hearing the music tell what to do, and concentrating on being in the right place at the right time. Groking the steps comes last.

What I tell my beginners is to remember how they learned to drive. They had to juggle many things at the same time—controlling the car, remembering the traffic laws, watching the other drivers, avoiding suicidal deer—but at one point the new driver had a moment of epiphany, a realization that the driving was automatic and there was no conscious effort to align the hood ornament with the center line to stay in the lane. That's the moment of epiphany in driving. The difference between contra and SCD is in the extras: SCD driving is a stick shift, and parallel parking is required.

I am a professional editor with twenty-six years of SCD experience, who started contra dancing twenty-four years ago. I wrote something like this for a beginners' class I taught about fifteen years ago. This is a good first draft and is well organized, but it needs corrections and it needs citations. I will do that as time permits, probably in sections. My first task will be to dig out all my references from a deep box piled with unorganized books and ghillies and tapes, so please be patient. Or maybe I'll just do a quick-and-dirty copyedit.

Dee Fraser (discuss • contribs) 17:52, 8 March 2011 (UTC) Dee Fraser, 8 March 2011

Another deserted book?
I have been using Random book to check what is available on Wikibooks. This is the first random book I found that is not about computers/software/technology and I was eager to check it out. However, I cannot make any sense of it, and it appears this book which was started in 2005 has long been abandoned by the person who started it.

After painfully forcing myself to read it, all I have learned is that Contra is a form of dance that is different and easier to learn than Scottish Country Dance. I guess this book is meant to cater only to those living in Scotland (I don't) who have access to commercial outfits that give people dancing lessons, I think?

Not sure what else to say. Ottawahitech (discuss • contribs) 14:03, 26 January 2024 (UTC)