|
|
A brief History of Scottish Highland Dance
|
There are only three traditional Highland Dances:
the Highland Fling, the Sword Dance, and the Seann Triubhas.
There are many national Dances:
The Scottish Lilt, Flora MacDonald's Fancy, The Earl of Errol, Strathspey
and Highland Reel, Strathspey and Half Tulloch, Sailor's Hornpipe, The Irish
Jig, Jacobite Swords, Village Maid, Blue Bonnets over the Border, Wilt Thou go
to the Barracks, Johnnie?, Scotch Measure or the Twa Some, The Broadswords, The
Highland Laddie, A Tribute to J. L. McKenzie, and The Cakewalk.
Highland Dancing is thought to have originated in the
Highlands of Scotland around the 11th Century, and were originally performed by
men and require a great deal of stamina.
The Highland Fling:
Fling is the oldest of the traditional Highland Dances, and
according to tradition, it is danced in one spot without traveling steps.
The steps are simple but must be executed precisely with positions being
strongly held. This dance is often considered to be the greatest test for the
Highland Dance. There are at least two origins to
this dance.
The date of its origin is not known for certain but
Highland men were probably dancing it before Christianity came to Scotland.
First, the Highland warrior, as a victory dance, performed
the dance after battle, on his 'targe', a small round shield.
Most targes had a sharp spike of steel projecting from the center, so
dancers learned early to move with great skill and dexterity.
A second interpretation is based on the deer or stage.
The upraised arms and hands represent the antler, while the feet dancing
from side to side and the body turning round suggests the movements of the stag
or deer. The dance was preformed either in
celebration of a successful stag hunt, or it is interpreting the rutting
movements of the stag, a kind of fertility dance.
The Sword Dance:
This dance is danced over two crossed swords. The origin dates back to 1058,
after a battle near Dunsinane, when Malcolm III, Canmore, (Gaelic for Great Head),
King of the Scots, after slewing his opponent and, overjoyed at his victory,
placed his bloody claymore, (a two-handed sword), and that of his enemy on the
ground in the form of a cross and danced in triumph over them.
The Highland warriors traditionally performed the Sword
Dance, on the eve of the battle using the warrior's sword and scabbard. The
sword and scabbard are crossed on the ground to define the dancing spot.
According to legend, the warriors that were able to dance the Sword Dance
without touching the sword with his feet would be successful in the approaching
battle.
Sometimes a dirk, a Highland dagger, was placed blade
uppermost in the ground and the dance was performed over it.
The Seann Triubhas:
Seann Triubhas, pronounced "shawn trews", means 'old',
'ugly 'or 'unwanted trousers' in Gaelic, and is the youngest of the Highland
Dances. This dance depicts a man kicking off of the
hated trousers, and the fact that he no longer has to wear them, but can return
to the freedom of the kilt. The movements of the
dance, the shake, shake, down of the leg, are visible attempts to discard the
hated garment. Many men dance it in tartan trews for
greater effect.
The wearing of Highland dress, the kilt or even the tartan
(except in Highland regiments), was banned under the penalty of death, after the
Jacobite Rising of 1745 and the subsequent defeat of the Highlanders at Culloden
by the English. The British Government enacted the following year, the Act of
Proscription. Forty years later, the Act was repealed.
The National Dances. Many of the National Dances
Scottish National Dances are sedate with elegant movements.
Traditionally, they were created solely to be danced by women.
Many steps are taken from classical ballet, and were originally
choreographed for women. The focus is more on grace
than brute strength and stamina, yet they require just as must stamina,
flexibility, strength, and agility. In modern
competitions, both men and women compete in the Highland and the National
Dances.
The Scottish Lilt
The Scottish Lilt typifies the Scottish National Dances,
and the dance is usually performed in a shortened version of the traditional
17th century women's attire (the arisaid over a white dress).
Flora MacDonald's Fancy
The Flora MacDonald's Fancy is danced in honor of Scottish
heroine, Flora MacDonald, who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie, (Charles Edward
Stuart), escape to the Isle of Sky, after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
The dance is a graceful variation of the Fling, and can be danced solo or in pairs.
The Earl of Errol
The Earl of Erroll uses ballet steps to create a flowing
movement with complicated footwork, and is perhaps the most difficult of all the
Highland and National Dances.
The Strathspey and Reels
There are actually four dances in this category; the
Strathspey and Highland Reel; The Strathspey and Reel of Tulloch; the Strathspey
and Highland Reel and Reel of Tulloch; and the Hulluchan. They are all very similar.
These are the only Highland Dances danced by one than one person: they are danced by a team of
four. The four weave in and out in a figure-of-eight pattern, sometimes performing what it
called a propell-pivot, the forerunner of the square-dancing dosey-doe. This dance was
performed in a church aisle to keep warm on cold winter mornings (or cold summer
mornings). Dancers are judged individually in this group dance.
The Strathspey and Highland Reel dance begins at the slow tempo of the strathspey.
Later, the tempo changes to the fast tempo of the reel.The basic step is the same step used
in Scottish Country Dancing combined with figure eight movements.
The Strathspey and
Half Tulloch is attributed to the movements of cold parishioners used to
stay warm. The parishioners were waiting outside the
Church one cold morning for a rather tardy preacher.
Jacobite Swords
Recently revived after almost being lost, it is danced by two dancers over a single set
(a sword and a sheath, crossed on the ground, as in the Highland Sword Dance) of swords.
The Broadswords
There are several versions of the broadswords dance. All are danced by four dancers,
over four swords. It is similar in style to the Highland Sword Dance. This dance
was, and still is, often danced in the Scottish Military.
Village Maid
This very balletic dance is one of the four dances (the other 3 being the Sailors'
Hornpipe, Blue Bonnets over the Border,and the Irish Jig) where the dancer steps one
the flat foot. In the rest of Highland and National dancing all the dancing is
done of the ball of the foot.
Blue Bonnets over the Border
This is a dance depicts a young woman trying to flirt and catch the attention of
a 'blue bonnet'. 'Blue Bonnets' was slang for a Scotsmen, so
named because of the blue hats they wore.
The Sailors' Hornpipe
The name is derived from and English wind instrument made from an ox horn.
The Sailor's Hornpipe is a traditional solo dance known throughout to the
British Isles.This dance, while using the basic format of Highland Dance movement and
positions the steps have been modified, to imitates life onboard of a British
Navy Ship. Some steps include hauling in the rope, climbing the rigging, clear
the deck, hauling cargo, and a drunken sailor.The outfit worn during this dance is made
of either white or blue garbadine, imitating a costume based on the historical British Sailors' uniform.
The Irish Jig,
The Irish Jig, while not a traditional Irish jig, but rather a spoof of the Irish Washerwoman,
(if dance by a female), who's husband has been delayed at the local pub and has squandered
all the money, and the story of Paddy's Leather Breeches, (if danced by a male), which have shrunk
because of a careless Irish washerwoman.
Another tale behind the story, says that the woman is angry
because the neighborhood boys have stolen the laundry she placed out on the line.
Tartan is not worn during this dance. Dancers wear an outfit of red and green solids,
and ware the Irish Jig Shoe, which is a hard sole shoe with a wooden toe and a jingle
on the heel and toes. The females dance in a pinafore dress while the males dancing in
knee britches.
Wilt Thou go to the Barracks, Johnnie?
This is a recruiting dance. A
recruiting officer would go into a village with a dancer as entertainment, or to
attract people to his temporary recruiting station.
Some say that each regiment had it's own dance, but today there is only one
widely practiced.
Scotch Measure or the Twa Some
When this is danced solo it is called the Scotch Measure.
When it is danced with two people, one dancer taking the male role and one the
female role, it is called the Twa Some. It depicts the traditional Scottish dating ritual.
The Highland Laddie
This dance was choreographed by soldiers in WW1.
A Tribute to J. L. McKenzie
This very balletic dance honors J. L McKenzie, one of the
founders of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dance.
The Cakewalk
The Cakewalk was introduced to inject a spirit of fun and self expression into competitive
dancing. It has its origins in the Deep South of America among the slave communities.
For entertainment, in the evenings the slaves would congregate and express themselves in whatever
way they could, be it dancing, singing or making music or telling a tale. For the best performance of
the evening a cake would be given as a prize. A very popular pastime was to caricature their
masters' little ways and this developed into a dance which today has become the Cakewalk.
|
|
|
