In My Opinion - The Best Pastime Ever

Holly Boyd is a long-time dancer, compulsive dance deviser, secretary of the Montreal Branch of the RSCDS and co-teacher of the social/beginner class in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her maternal grandfather came to Canada from Scotland in the mid-1800s.

In my opinion, Scottish country dancing is the BEST. PASTIME. EVER. It is social and physical. It requires thinking and memory: a total body/mind workout. I assume that, since you are reading this magazine, you are already a fan of Scottish country dancing. But how do we encourage others to join us? When my husband and I started dancing over 30 years ago, the experience was quite different from what it is today. We started at a social group that welcomed beginners. There were many expatriate Scots. We loved the music, the choreography, and the people. We were soon attending three classes a week. Socials, however, were not beginner friendly. You had to know the dances and dance them from a briefing. And Balls were completely out of our reach – not even briefed! But we went to workshops as well as classes and stuck to it. And we had many experienced dancers helping and advising us. Now Montreal is down to one class – the same class where we started. I now teach it with one other teacher. Over the years we’ve lost many members as they passed away, left Montreal or retired their ghillies. And, though we have some dancers who may, in time, take over teaching, we are down to only two active teachers. This one class is all we have left. It is essentially a beginners’ class. And it is hard for the dancers to improve as we constantly find ourselves with new dancers showing up each week. But without new dancers we will fail. And we do not want to fail.

We find new members through Meet Up, Facebook and our website. Very few of them have any Scottish background. They come for the socializing, the exercise and the challenge. We go out of our way to welcome them and keep them dancing. Now that we are having socials again, our socials are beginner friendly – we walk all dances. We do have two or three ‘advanced only’ dances for our experienced dancers and ask the beginners to just watch those. It is a balancing act. Encourage, instruct, amuse and retain.

I don’t know how other places are dealing with this problem. I have no idea what happens at classes in Scotland. Each group has to do what works for them while keeping an open mind as times change, and then changing with them. This isn’t easy for those of us who have been dancing or teaching for a long time. We all have opinions on how to go forward. Sometimes very strong, conflicting ones.

Since we retired 10 years ago, we have travelled to dance. Last year in Spain we met a young Scottish man at a café, and I asked him if he did any Scottish country dancing. His answer: “Oh yes, in school, but not now. It is just for retired ladies to do in the evenings”. I doubt if this is the kind of answer the RSCDS wants to hear. While in Spain we attended the Iberian Peninsula weekend. A lovely group of people attended, from young to not young and in between, with many different levels of experience.

Unfortunately, the program (which I loved) was a little too complex for many of the dancers though each dance was walked. As we left, the committee for the 2024 weekend was busy adjusting their next year’s program to be more beginner friendly. I hope they leave a few challenges though! Obviously for those of us who love Scottish country dancing, we want to keep Scottish country dancing alive around the world for another 100 years. Not just for the Scottish ‘retired ladies’ but for everyone. The most important thing, for me, is that I would very much like our younger dancers to be able to continue dancing for as long as we have. The joy and friendship that this activity has given us over the years is priceless. We need to fit the structure and fellowship that makes Scottish country dancing so special into a changing world. And find more ways to let people know about it. It should be easy enough to spread the word. Because it is the BEST. PASTIME. EVER.