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Here’s where we’re collecting news from the FSCDC e.V. – notes on classes, reviews of events, and other (hopefully) interesting items. You can restrict the view to specific years or use the search field to find items containing a certain keyword.

Important: We don’t have the time to make every blog item available in both German and English. This means that most of them are only available in German.

2023

Class: Widder und Wallabies

Nach dem Bonner Ball haben wir wieder freie Valenzen für die Programmgestaltung – diese Woche vor allem einfache, einstiegsfreundliche Tänze, aber mit Pfiff. Ein Strathspey für die Fortgeschrittenen darf jedoch auch nicht fehlen – genausowenig wie Rowan das Schaf, das heute seine Abschiedsvorstellung in Frankfurt gibt.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · June 6, 2023, 11:57 p.m. · Foto: Billy McCrorie ( CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Mountain Calls!

Und wir - begleitet natürlich von Rowan, dem Maskottchen der RSCDS Young Dancers, das gerade bei uns zu Gast ist -, folgen dem Ruf zum Bonner Ball sehr gerne. Schließlich gilt es mit den Tänzer:innen von Skua Dubh den 30. Bonner Ball (und das 21. Mal Bonner Ballmusik mit Christine und Anselm) zu feiern.

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · June 4, 2023, 4:33 p.m. · Foto: Skua Dubh SCD group, Bonn

Class: Mit allem und Schaf!

Heute ist Rowan das Schaf nochmal zu Gast, und wir machen einen neuen Anlauf auf Rowans Tanz! Außerdem: Pas de basque satt und Bergiges von Applecross bis Schiehallion.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 30, 2023, 11:42 p.m.

Class: Rowan's Welcome (Take 1)

Heute abend tanzen wir mit einem besonderen Ehrengast: Rowan das Schaf ist zu Besuch! Das Maskottchen der RSCDS Young Dancers ist anläßlich des 100. Jubiläums der Society auf einer Reise um die Welt und besucht auch uns in Frankfurt und Mainz.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 23, 2023, 11:51 p.m. · Foto: Maria-Theresia Schwarz

Class: Zytglogge!

Schottentänze sollten funktionieren wie präzise Schweizer Uhrwerke. Odr? Wir widmen uns heute nicht nur der tänzerischen Umsetzung dieser Maxime, sondern auch noch ein paar anderen Tänzen von Kanada über Schottland bis Neuseeland.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 16, 2023, 11:48 p.m. · Foto: fd@clustertec.com ( CC BY-SA 3.0)

Class: Fähre zu den Drakensbergen

Mehr Tänze vom Bonner Ballprogramm plus Material für die Grundlagen – sowohl für unsere Einsteiger:innen als auch die Fortgeschrittenen. Phrasierung und Covering kann man schließlich immer perfektionieren! Auch wenn “der Berg ruft”.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 9, 2023, 11:45 p.m. · Foto: Diriye Amey ( CC BY 2.0)

Class: Rest and be Thankful

Nach einem Ball, einem Themenabend, drei Wochen Osterferien und einem Rhein-Main-Mini-Social ist es höchste Zeit, dass der normale Unterrichtsbetrieb wieder anfängt. Schließlich gibt es Ballprogramme zu üben und auch neue Tänzer:innen wollen integriert werden.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 2, 2023, 11:40 p.m.

Back again: Minisocial!

Das letzte Rhein-Main-Minisocial fand Anfang März 2020 statt. Dann kamen die COVID-19-Pandemie und noch ein paar andere Änderungen in der Schottentanz-Szene im Rhein-Main-Gebiet, so dass die eigentlich ganz erfolgreiche Serie unterbrochen wurde. Jetzt ist es aber Zeit, das Konzept wieder aufleben zu lassen.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · April 25, 2023, 11:52 p.m.

Bonn Spring Workshop

Morgens, halb elf in Deutschland - genauer gesagt in Bonn. Ein schöner Frühlingsmorgen. 40 bis 50 Tänzerinnen und Tänzer haben sich in der Luthergemeinde in der Bonner Südstadt eingefunden.

Posted by Dirk Holger Meinecke · April 23, 2023, 5:45 p.m.

52nd Frankfurt Spring Ball

Good morning, good morning! Als wir aufwachen, scheint die Sonne. Gute Abwechslung zum Schnee beim letzten Ball am 2.4.2022. Und die Sonne begleitet uns auch auf der Fahrt zum Ballort in Mühlheim-Dietesheim. Als wir gegen 9:30 Uhr in die Hanauer Straße einbiegen, sehen wir schon von weitem die große schottische Flagge am Fahnenmast vor dem Pfarrheim St. Sebastian wehen und den Tänzer:innen den Weg weisen.

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · March 26, 2023, 2:43 p.m.

CGB Spring Workshop

Man hat mich gebeten, etwas über den Frühjahrskurs der Central Germany Branch im Kuckucksnest zu schreiben.

Nun - ich könnte jetzt schreiben, welche Figuren wir geübt haben, welche Tänze wir getanzt haben oder welche Musikstücke gespielt wurden. Aber interessiert das wirklich jemanden? Ich denke nicht. Deshalb beschreibe ich mal die Veranstaltung und das Drumherum für all jene, die noch unentschlossen sind:

Posted by Lothar Springer · March 14, 2023, 4:15 p.m.

Cambridge and Oxford Ball

Am 4. März 2023 ist es endlich so weit: der Cambridge and Oxford Ball findet wieder statt, dieses Jahr in Cambridge, denn die beiden Universitätsstädte wechseln sich jedes Jahr ab. Der Saal ist gefüllt mit Schottentänzern in Kilt, Demonstration-Dresses und Abendkleidern, alle sehr elegant. Um 19:30 Uhr geht es los; Keith Smith and Anne-Laure Latour stimmen ihre Instrumente (Geige und Klavier).

Posted by Laura Grazioli · March 5, 2023, 4:25 p.m.

BCCG Burns Supper

Samstag, 21.1., 18 Uhr - wir laufen die Kaiserstraße in Frankfurt entlang, über einen Hof gelangen wir in das Gebäude Nummer 37. Unser Ziel ist die Freimaurerloge “Zur Einigkeit” Gegründet im Jahr 1742 ist sie einer der ältesten Vereine von Frankfurt. Und wir sind hier zum Burns Supper auf Einladung der British Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. (BCCG), um beim obligatorischen Ceilidh zu unterstützen: Anselm leitet die Ceilidh-Tänze an, während wir (David, Jan, Laura und Marie) uns unter die Gäste mischen und mittanzen. Seit dem allerersten BCCG-Burns-Supper 2009 ist der FSCDC e.V. fester Bestandteil des Programms.

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · Jan. 22, 2023, 1 p.m.

18th FSCDC e.V. Tea Dance

Schon wieder ein Tea Dance? Der letzte war doch erst im September! Macht aber nichts, nach zwei Jahren pandemiebedingter Pause möchten wir in unseren alten Rhythmus zurückkommen und mit dem Tea Dance das neue Tanz-Jahr eröffnen. Entsprechend treffen wir uns um 14 Uhr im Gemeindezentrum St. Dionysius in Frankfurt-Sindlingen, um unter dem Motto The Animals Went In Two By Two die schottische-Tanz-Tierwelt zu erkunden.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · Jan. 15, 2023, 2:22 p.m.

2022

Schnupper-Wochenende

Wieder mal ein Kurs für alle, die Scottish Country Dancing unverbindlich ausprobieren wollen. Diesmal zwei Sitzungen an einem Wochenende …

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · Nov. 28, 2022, 10 p.m.

Nach dem Tanztag …

Nachdem wir auf dem Tanztag Rhein-Main mit zwei einstündigen Sessions für Country- und Ceilidh-Tänze für schottische Tänze und den FSCDC e.V. werben konnten, geht es nun mit dem Schnupper-Kurs an die Grundlagen: Erste Schritte, wichtige Figuren, einfache Tänze. Und nach dem Wochenende sind alle fit für den wöchentlichen Unterricht.

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · Nov. 17, 2022, 11:50 p.m.

FSCDC goes Tanztag Rhein-Main!

Ein schönes Jubiläum: Der Tanztag Rhein-Main feiert 10. Geburtstag und wir vom FSCDC e.V. waren jedes Mal mit am Start. Veranstaltet wird der jährliche Tanztag nun im 11. Jahr (ein Jahr coronabedingte Pause) von der Tanzplattform Rhein-Main, einem Projekt von Mousonturm und Hessischem Staatsballet. Einmal im Jahr tanzt sich das Rhein-Main-Gebiet durch die breite Vielfalt an Tanzstilen und bietet Tanzschulen und Vereinen eine prima Plattform, um Schnupperkurse anzubieten und für sich zu werben. Und abends noch ein pralles Tanzfest, um nochmal ordentlich abzutanzen und zu feiern.

Posted by Maria-Theresia Schwarz · Nov. 6, 2022, 5 p.m.

Class: Back again

Sechs Wochen Sommerferien gehen schneller vorbei, als man denkt … zumal wenn der Tanzlehrer die meiste Zeit davon mit dem Aussortieren von kistenweise Tanzbeschreibungen und CDs verbringt (danke Meinhard!). Und dann ist es schon wieder Zeit für eine neue Unterrichts-Saison.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · Sept. 6, 2022, 11:30 p.m.

Argentine Collection

We had lots of fun in June and July with this dance book and the CD that goes with it. My review for the Scottish Country Dancer (the member’s magazine of the RSCDS) is due today and reads – unedited – somewhat like this:

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · July 31, 2022, 4:32 p.m.

Class: Karlsruhe, the 2nd

Once more we’re looking at dances from the Karlsruhe ball programme. Inofficial motto of the evening (of the first half, anyway): Half reels of four!

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 17, 2022, 11:30 p.m.

Class: Sniffing at Karlsruhe

10 May 2022: Sniffing at Karlsruhe

The Karlsruhe ball is only a little more than two weeks away! A good reason to have a look at a few dances from its programme. But we have a few other ideas too.

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The ceilidh dance after our warm-up round this time is the Military Two Step – again one of the couple dances of around a century ago. It’s generally considered the fastest ceilidh dance and accordingly we used a quick recording by Tom Orr and his band, originally from the Commonwealth Ceilidh CD distributed by the Society in 2014.

Next are some step exercises, particularly for the sequence “2 pas de basque, 2 skip-change of step, 8 slip steps”; we will find this in the next two dances. The challenge here is mostly the change from skip-change to slip step, where you end up on the wrong foot. Incidentally we’re nine again like last week (plus yours truly), albeit not the same nine …

We’re starting with the dance, Itchy Feet, by John Walton, from a collection called Coast to Coast with Scotch Mist. I don’t have this in my library, so I can’t say anything about the background of this dance that isn’t in the database, which says: “When the music starts and we are itching to start dancing, then that is the time we have itchy feet.” Hopefully only then! Our step practice sequence occurs here during bars 21 to 28, with the second set and link for three and the circle to the left. – Set and Link for Three as a formation arose in the 1980s (the earliest dance in the RSCDS repertoire is Gang the Same Gate from Book 36 (Frae A' The Airts, Vol 1), by Milton Levy) and has since become a regular part of the formation canon. Often (but not always) it occurs twice in a row and is used to “tidy up” the set: The dancers involved swap sides and the top couple ends up at the bottom and vice versa. This is very well suited to undo the effect of, e.g., two diagonal half reels of four with corners, and exactly that is what happens in this dance from the Karlsruhe ball programme.

The dance Da Rain Dancin' (“Da” is Shetland dialect for “the”) by Ron Wallace was inspired by the Shetland islands weather. It is also on the Karlsruhe ball programme, and here too we find the step sequence from our earlier practice (bars 21–28, again). The dance’s unique selling point is the almost-hello-goodbye setting with a turn to the second corner or into second place on own sides, which I haven’t seen elsewhere. The original tune, incidentally, is by Muriel Johnstone and does remind us of raindrops on the roof. The dance originally appeared in the Whiteadder Collection and was recently selected by the RSCDS for the Thirty Popular Dances, Volume Two book.

The third dance from the Karlsruhe ball programme that we’re looking at tonight is Roy Goldring's strathspey, Cuillins of Skye, published in Four Scottish Country Dances 1978 (an RSCDS publication outside the numbered series of books). Notable are the reels of three at the start with the unusual entrance, and the three-couple knot at the end (still a fairly new formation in 1978) – when dancing a three-couple knot, don’t forget that the third step to dance up the women’s side is taken out of the time to cross the women over, for which only one bar (bar 6) is left. And of course it is very important for the men to follow their partners towards the middle so the turns on bars 7–8 are properly centred. Perhaps a little unusual, on the other hand, is the transition from the half figures of eight into the right hands across on bars 15–16; one would perhaps expect a right-hand turn, but thinking this through one realises that the turn must be by the left hand so the 1st couple are facing the correct way and have their right hands free for the “teapots”.

Black Cuillins

The Cuillins are a range of hills in the middle of the Isle of Skye, in particular the “Black Cuillins”, a steep massif consisting of basalt and gabbro, a “plutonic”, i.e., formed from magma deep inside the Earth’s crust, form of basalt. In Germany, gabbro is found, for example, at the Frankenstein in the Odenwald. The highest peak of the Black Cuillins, Sgùrr Alasdair, comes up to 992 m (since it basically starts at sea level this is quite impressive). The Black Cuillins contain 12 of the 282 “Munros”, or Scottish mountains higher than 3000 ft (914 m), and are very popular with ramblers and climbers, even though by their relative height and immediate proximity to the sea with the resulting hard-to-predict weather conditions they can present considerable challenges. The neighbouring “Red Cuillins” are on the whole less tall and formed from granite, which under the right lighting can appear reddish. Our photograph (taken in September 2014) shows the Black Cuillins as viewed from the coastal village, Elgol.

After the break we’re down to seven dancers, which unfortunately makes a few of the pre-planned dances moot (oh well, perhaps some other time …). We come back to last week's theme – Petronella turns – and have a look at Hugh Foss's dance, A Jig for Liz. Like last Tuesday’s Not I this dance contains Petronella turns to the left, albeit not leading with the right foot (which is quite uncomfortable). Instead, Foss starts with a stationary right-foot pas de basque and then does the Petronella turn leading with the left foot. Accordingly the second step of the Petronella turn is done on the right foot, and when one reaches one’s destination there is another bar of music left for a left-foot pas de basque in place. A clever solution! In A Jig for Liz, this Petronella turn occurs twice: Once for 1st couple and once for all dancers, starting with everyone in a circle and then moving into the place on their left. Even if this dance isn’t done a lot, it does clearly carry Hugh Foss’s signature.

Our last dance for today is the 3-couple set strathspey, Jean Martin of Aberdeen by Muriel Johnstone (who clearly can not only write beautiful tunes but also beautiful dances). Jean Martin is a very respected teacher and currently the honorary President of the RSCDS – a mostly ceremonial post which used to be filled by blue-blooded Scots. The Society seems to have run out of nobles, though, so by now “normal people” are also eligible for this exalted office. (The Society’s patron, of course, is still the Queen, and it is actually run by the Chairman, currently Lorna Ogilvie.) The dance contains the strangely-named formation, the “bourrel”, originally invented by Bob Campbell under the name of “birl”, which however was not considered politically correct (“birls”, as in quick, wild turns, having no place in the Society’s dancing at the time) and was replaced.

The cool-down music, incidentally, is “The Music o’ Spey”, played by Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham. This tune, composed near the end of the 19th century by the great Scottish fiddler, James Scott Skinner, was one of the favourites of my predecessor in office, Jack Campbell.

#	Name	Type	Set	Source
1	Military Two Step	X16	1RR	Finnigan: Guide (ex-Collins)
2	Itchy Feet	J32	3/4L	Walton: Coast to Coast
3	Da Rain Dancin'	R32	3/4L	Wallace: RSCDS 30 popular, Vol 2
4	Cuillins of Skye	S32	3/4L	Goldring: RSCDS 4/1978
5	A Jig for Liz	J32	3/4L	Foss: Castledeen
6	Jean Martin of Aberdeen	S32	3/3L	Johnstone: Magazine

See also the dance list in the Strathspey SCD Database.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 10, 2022, 11:30 p.m.

Class: Petronella Turns

5 May 2022: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Petronella Turns (But Were Afraid To Ask)

Every so often the date determines the content of the dance class. Today it was the eve of the 4th of May. But more about that later …

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As always we’re starting with a warmup and a ceilidh dance – today The Veleta, a manageably simple waltz-like concoction by Arthur Morris (1900). The “ceilidh dances” are, for the most part, not really old, and many of them aren’t even originally from Scotland; they are simply dances that the Scots enjoy and that have become part of the culture. Anyone who wants to have a look at the original dance description can find it here (PDF file); the dance is only vaguely similar to the “ceilidh version”.

Today at any rate we’re 4 couples (plus a spare person, which gives some apparently “pre-stressed” people a chance for a break), a slight improvement over last week. We’re practicing pas de basque and Petronlla turns – a rewarding topic as they show up in various interesting dances, either as the “Petronella figure” with setting or hidden, e.g., at the end of Double Triangles. The “Petronella turn”, of course, gets its name from the dance, Petronella, where it plays an essential rôle.

Our first “real” dance is La Flora from Book 28. The Society picked it up from Monro’s Country Dances No. 8 of approximately 1790, which figures: The reel of three at the end is quite an obvious clue. Admittedly it is a bit of a race – the first eight bars are fairly frantic, and our technique suggestion is to think of the half right hands across not as a “wheel” but as a way to reach the place diagonally opposite. This means touching hands only very briefly and letting go again immediately! Uncomfortably, one must also continue at once with the same hand. We’re not surprised that this dance doesn’t occur that often on social programmes.

Let’s now come to the reason for the night’s programme: Marie has kindly called my attention to the fact that tomorrow is 4th May, consequently Star Wars Day – and that is an obvious opportunity to roll out Antoine Rousseau of Paris’s dance, May the 4th be with you. The Paris Book doesn’t mention the connection to the highly popular science-fiction franchise; according to it we have “a simple teaching dance devised on the 4th of May 2015 for the beginners’ class and dedicated to the Paris Branch beginners”. But we know whence the (solar) wind blows. – May the 4th contains Double Triangles and therefore the uncomfortable Petronella-style movement with which one is supposed to soar from the centre into the place in the sidelines behind one; teachers will also enjoy the circles and hands across, which are to be connected without a gap and with dynamic changes of step. A challenge not just for the Paris beginners!

Petronella turns, of course, occur in strathspeys, too (where they are danced using travelling steps, considering that there is no pas de basque), and a variation that is especially popular with John Drewry is Petronella in tandem, where two people side by side dance a petronella turn and finish in the same order: The right-hand person dances the Petronella turn a little more towards the front and the left-hand person a little more towards the right, so the right-hand person ends up on the right again and the left-hand person on the left. While with the “normal” Petronella figure the Petronella turn usually comes first, followed by setting, Petronella in tandem commonly starts with setting and the Petronella turn comes afterward, probably so one has two bars to think about what comes next. – Ballynaree is a five-couple strathspey from John Drewry’s Bankhead Book Part 1 (just because I was asked: At the time John Drewry lived on Bankhead Road in Aberdeen, and this is presumably where this 6-part series of 1990s dance books got its name) which contains both Petronella in tandem and “normal” Petronella turns, and which one could keep in mind for a demonstration. Its name is an anglicised form of the Gaelic baile na righ – town of the king –, and John Drewry dedicated it to Alex Stewart, who originally came from Perth (where the medieval Scottish kings were crowned) but then lived in Kingston-on-Thames (where the early English kings were crowned).

After a well-deserved break we continue with the reel, Not I, from Book 28, whose challenge is to dance a Petronella turn to the left rather than the right. Cruelly, one still starts with the right foot! Also unusual in RSCDS dances is the “Allemande Right” (or Left) formation, which has nothing in common with the otherwise usual Allemande except the similar name. In “Allemande Right”, a couple advance towards each other from the sidelines, briefly take right hands, and the woman curves to the right below the joined hands to dance (forward) out to her side while the man retires to his own side. “Allemande Left”, of course, is the same movement with the left hand and a curve to the left for the woman.

If we had had the time we would have had a look at how Hugh Foss solved the problem of the Petronella turn to the left: Instead of an inconvenient right-foot start into the movement he has the dancers do a right-foot pas de basque first, then the Petronella turn starting on the left foot, and finally another left-foot pas de basque to pad out the four bars. But we can come back to that during the weeks ahead, just as we could look at one of the dances where the Petronella figure is danced without setting (!) … (But OTOH I wanted to improve attendance, not scare people off.)

Our final dance tonight is The Celtic Kiwi, once more from John Drewry's Bankhead Book Part 1. This dance picks up Petronella in tandem again, this time, though, in quick time, and fortunately one uses skip-change of step for it instead of pas de basque! John Drewry devised the dance during a stay in New Zealand, where during a sailing trip he and some other dancers saw a coastal cargo boat called “The Celtic Kiwi”, and he was spontaneously commissioned to write a dance by that name which was to contain petronella in tandem, wheels, and a knot (being John Drewry, he did that the same evening). The latter manifests itself here as the Kiwi knot, which in the Southern hemisphere is naturally turned by 180°. Some time later John Drewry found out that “The Celtic Kiwi” had sunk in the meantime (the crew of 13 had been rescued); he disclaims all responsibility saying that the boat had originally been called the “Holmdale”, and with a name change and a 13-person crew it was taking a big risk.

#	Name	Type	Set	Source
1	Veleta	W16	1RR	Morris: Guide (ex-Collins)
2	La Flora	J32	3/4L	Monro: RSCDS XXVII
3	May the 4th be with you	R32	3/4L	Rousseau: Paris Book 1
4	Ballynaree	S32	5/5L	Drewry: Bankhead 1
5	Not I	R32	3/4L	RSCDS XXVIII
6	The Celtic Kiwi	R32	3/4L	Drewry: Bankhead 1

See also the dance list in the Strathspey SCD Database.

Picture: St. Petronella’s Chapel, St. Jeannet, Côte d’Azur, France

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · May 3, 2022, 11:30 p.m.

Class: Back to Basics

The Easter holidays are over, and the “2nd Quarter” begins – a long haul until mid-July! We’re starting out with a guest and a few basic movements.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · April 26, 2022, 11:30 p.m.

Class: Fun with Reels of Four

On the Tuesday after the ball I would have counted on a few more than 7 dancers, but presumably the others prefer to put their legs up. No problem! And not a reason to skip the last session before the Easter holidays in the state of Hesse entirely.

Posted by Anselm Lingnau · April 5, 2022, 11:30 p.m.