What Is Scottish Country Dancing, Anyway?
Scottish Country Dancing (or SCD for short) is a modernised form of the English and Scottish social dance of the 17th to 19th centuries. We’re dancing in groups – usually eight people – to lively Scottish music, quick reels and jigs and stately strathspeys.
A permanent dance partner isn’t required as we’re changing dance partners during the course of the evening as a matter of course. Nor do you need expensive equipment – to start, comfortable everyday clothing and a pair of soft gymnastic shoes with leather soles are perfectly sufficient.
SCD is the ideal combination of motion for the body, stimulation for the “grey matter”, and sociable fun in a group. Scottish dancing keeps you young and fit, and there are even medical studies that prove it!
Can I Do This, Too?
Absolutely! SCD is fun for everyone, from teenagers to pensioners. You can easily learn the basics at a weekend workshop or during a few regular weekly classes – but even very experienced dancers can still find new challenges.
SCD uses a repertoire of formations which are combined to construct dances of all levels of complexity. Once you have mastered the steps and a few basic formations, you can do a lot of dances already! And it goes without saying that we’re helping one another – SCD is teamwork.
We’re always happy to meet new faces! Just drop in on a Tuesday and try SCD without any obligation. (Experience with other dance forms is certainly not a detriment, but in no way a mandatory prerequisite.)
Balls and Workshops
Many SCD groups hold “social dances” or (somewhat more formal) balls where dancers from near and far meet and dance together – our own annual Spring Ball usually takes place at the end of March.
You can hone your skills at day, weekend or week-long courses and schools in Germany or abroad, often with famous teachers. This is of course not mandatory, but it is a lot of fun and you’ll be meeting many nice people.
We here in Frankfurt regularly offer various workshops – from “taster sessions” at the Tanztag Rhein-Main to the “day school” with a guest teacher on the day of our annual ball to the “fugues workshop” for advanced dancers. We’ve also held workshops for SCD teachers and prospective teachers. We’re never getting bored!
A World-wide Community
SCD has “Scottish” in its name, but groups like the FSCDC e.V. exist virtually everywhere – from Glasgow to Cape Town, from New York to Sydney, Tokyo or Novosibirsk. The dances and technique are standardised, and once you’ve danced with us for a while you can keep up anywhere else. Scottish dancing is a brilliant way to meet people at home and abroad and make new friends. Always take your dance shoes!
The whole thing is organised by the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in Edinburgh. The RSCDS (affectionately called “the Society”) takes care of teacher training and keeping up the standards, issues dance books and music, and puts on courses like the annual “Summer School” in St Andrews. In Germany, the Central Germany Branch represents the members of the Society, and the FSCDC e.V. is “affiliated” to the Society as a group.