Start Dancing – getting Scottish schools dancing again!

TAS is the Teachers Association of Scotland – for anyone teaching country dancing in Scotland, qualified or not. We hold two in-service workshops per year and in the past we have subsidised young teachers in training. Start Dancing is published by TAS primarily for use in Scottish schools but is equally suitable for children’s and beginners’ classes.

The background

Scottish country dancing has been taught in Scottish schools since before the foundation of the SCDS. It is just ‘something we learn’ as we are growing up. This teaching traditionally took place in the weeks before Christmas in preparation for the school Christmas Party. Scottish primary schoolteachers typically had and still have no formal training in the teaching of country dancing. They teach the dances they know – most commonly, the so-called ‘social dances’ such as The Gay Gordons and The Dashing White Sergeant. There was a time when the training of PE teachers included the RSCDS Preliminary Certificate, most notably at Jordanhill College in Glasgow, but most PE teachers went into secondary schools. Jean Milligan and Ysobel Stewart wanted to encourage the teaching of Scottish dances in schools and to introduce Scottish country dance sections in all the Scottish music festivals. Today there are very few music festivals with country dancing, and very few schools take part.

Days of Dance

Some years ago, with the help of RSCDS branches and groups, Scottish schools started non-competitive days of dance. The most successful involve around 600 primary-age children for a morning or an afternoon in a large local hall where there is massed dancing to a live band. These events are usually highly successful and inclusive, without the stress of competition. Many members of TAS work very hard to help organise and run both festivals and days of dance.

Festivals on the decline

In the past, several towns and cities had music festivals which included country dancing. They were competitive with both schoolchildren and adults taking part. Three factors are leading to their decline. The first and most obvious is covid and lockdown. For two years no festivals took place. The second reason is that the new Scottish curriculum does not favour competition. It is all about inclusion and cooperation. Choosing 8 children out of a class of 20 to compete means the others feel rejected. The third reason is economic. If a class teacher accompanies 8 children to a competition, who teaches the remaining children? There is simply no spare capacity in schools. One festival which has been running very successfully for decades and involving all the primary schools in the area this year had one team entering. This is not sustainable.

A Huge Task

In any one year there are around 377,000 primary school children in Scotland and close to 2000 schools with around 25,000 teachers. Country dancing is normally taught from P4 - P7 (roughly ages 9 - 11). This means that each year, potentially, it could be taught to c.215,000 children, 40,000 in Glasgow alone. What is clear is that the RSCDS in Scotland can only reach a tiny minority of schools. This was recognised by TAS a few years ago when we decided to produce a book of very simple yet fun country dances which could be attempted by any primary teacher with no country dance training. Start Dancing – a new book of simple and fun dances, along with eight of the commonest ceilidh dances – was published by TAS in August with the music downloadable from the music website Bandcamp.

An impossible situation made even worse by Covid

The situation today is not good, and worse since Covid. Children currently in P7 may never have done any country dancing or at least not since P4. It is unlikely that any P5 or P6 child has done any. Three years of teaching have been lost. This is a long time in a child’s education, sufficient to cut the link to a tradition which we have all taken for granted. Entries at the few surviving competitive festivals are down and some festival country dance sections are in danger of disappearing altogether.

Simpler dances, one by Jean Milligan

Although the RSCDS has published dances for children, many are unsuitable for teachers with no country dance training. Some contain dances with corners, allemandes, half figures, and 8 bars of pas de basque, which untrained schoolteachers avoid. A few years ago, as a result of pleas from schoolteachers for simpler dances, TAS decided on this project. All the dances fit the rules for use in competitive festivals and they are all eminently suitable for use at days of dance or at school ceilidhs or parents’ evenings. The book contains 24 easy reels and jigs, all 32 bars, some 4-couple dances, some 3-couple and some 2-couple. No Scottish primary teacher would teach strathspey to their classes. They contain only very basic figures and a minimum of setting. Some of the dances were devised by TAS teachers at a TAS dance-devising workshop; some are wellknown simple dances: The Jindalee Jig, The Buckshaw Reel,The Loon Mountain Reel, and Good Hearted Glasgow. John Wilkinson gave us permission to change his Kelly’s Kaper, written for the TV presenter Lorraine Kelly in 2015 for the STV Children’s Appeal, from a 3-couple dance in a 3-couple set to a 3-couple dance in 4-couple set so that it would qualify as a potential festival dance. Two of the dances were devised by sisters in their Branch children’s class. One was devised by a school class for their musician, Mrs Pat Clark. One of the dances, Miss Ross’s Delight, was devised by none other than Jean Milligan herself. Most of the dances have Scottish names so that schoolteachers can use the dance to link in with other aspects of Scottish history, geography, and culture. For example, The Alloway Reel uses only tunes associated with Robert Burns. Burnt Tatties allows teachers to teach Scots dialect. The Stone of Scone would link in with lessons on Scottish history. All the dances are written in simple language which any non-dancing teacher will understand. Apart from the dances, there is information about steps, formations, and different progressions.

Dances every Scottish child should know

We also asked ourselves as part of this project – what dances should every Scottish child know when they leave primary school? We agreed they should all be able to take part, with confidence, in The Gay Gordons, The Canadian Barn Dance, The Dashing White Sergeant,TheVirginia Reel,The Flying Scotsman, Strip the Willow, The Circassian Circle, and The Eightsome Reel. Those are included in the book so that teachers, who may know the dances, have information about the barring, and what language to use when teaching them.

What music should Scottish children be dancing to?

TAS decided that the music for all the dances should be recorded. We asked ourselves the question: what tunes should Scottish children know and be dancing to? The answer we agreed on was all the great traditional ones such as Bonnie Dundee or The Muckin’ o’ Geordie’s Byre. Just because there are dances called Mairi’s Wedding or The Flowers of Edinburgh, it should not mean that Scottish children cannot dance to the music, so in the recordings you will find many familiar tunes that ‘go with’ other dances. After all, the late great Bobby Brown would suddenly drop in Mrs Macleod’s Reel or The Deil to any reel set if he felt the dancers needed an injection of adrenalin! A few original tunes were composed by Frank Thomson, Ian MacPhail and Pat Clark.

Five Great Musicians

We asked four of our great accordionists to record six dances each: Neil Copland with Mo Rutherford, Ewan Galloway, Ian Muir (Prestwick), and Frank Thomson. The recordings are unique examples of the work of those tradition bearers – their individual choice of tunes, and their own distinctive styles of playing. The tracks are all very ‘Scottish’ and are very suitable for use in a Scottish educational setting. All the music is downloadable from the Bandcamp website: startscottishdancing.bandcamp.com.

The Book

We decided to publish the book in two versions. There is the printed book, but there is also a downloadable pdf version, free to all UK schoolteachers who apply to Tas.secretary@mail.com. The pdf version can also be ordered by anyone else with a suggested donation to TAS. Although the book is aimed at schools, all the dances are suitable for use in any beginners’ class or as a simple warm-up dance in any adult class.

Financing the project!

TAS, in common with many branches and groups, has accumulated cash in the bank over the years. In the past we have subsidised young teacher candidates, so we decided to finance this project ourselves with no help from anyone else. We very much hope that RSCDS Branches, groups, and members will support this initiative by buying a copy of the book, donating it to their local primary school, and letting them know that their teachers can download a copy free!

Finally, we hope that Scottish schoolteachers will use this book, integrate country dancing into their lessons, teach their students the importance of dance and music in Scottish culture, but above all, show their classes that country dancing is fun! Scotland’s third national sport!

The TAS working group responsible for this project were Jimmie Hill, Sue Porter, and Jayne Riddet. More information about the StartDancingprojectisontheTASwebsite:countrydanceteachersofscotland.org.uk

The book costs £10. If you would like a downloadable copy, we suggest a donation of £8 to TAS. To order the book or get a pdf copy, email tas.secretary@mail.com. To download the music, go to startscottishdancing.bandcamp.com . All 24 tracks cost £12, or if a teacher only wants one track, it costs £1.