Talk:Contradancers Guide to Successfully Beginning Scottish Country Dance

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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)