Dance Links

Here are some links to interesting resources elsewhere on the Web. Note that the inclusion of commercial entities in this list is for information only and does not imply any endorsement of the products or services offered.

See the “About” page for a very important disclaimer about links on this site in general.

Refer to the groups page on my.strathspey for links to SCD groups around the world.

Suggest a Link

SCD Bodies and Important Web Sites

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society

The main WWW site maintained by the RSCDS. Includes information for the general dancing public as well as for members, a “branch and group finder”, and an online shop where you can buy RSCDS publications.

Grand Chain

Ian Brockbank’s pages about Scottish dance and music (not just country dancing but highland and ceilidh dancing as well), based in Edinburgh

Celtic Circle

“Celtic Circle”, operated by Volker and Annette Wörtmann and Peter Wöll, is the premier resource for listings of SCD events and contact information for SCD groups in continental Europe.

Inter-city Scot Online

The Inter-city Scot is a newsletter of Scottish Country Dance events in North America. Also contains information on North American SCD classes, group contacts and web pages. It is being maintained by Patricia Donaldson and Tim Harrison.

Teachers' Association of Canada

An association of SCD teachers (not confined to Canada). Also includes TACsound and TACbooks, purveyors of fine dancing materials, and the TACtalk magazine, as well as information about the annual TAC summer school.

SCD Events in Scotland

Maintained by John Sturrock, this site gives details of dance events (functions and workshops) throughout Scotland. Very useful if you’re planning a dancing holiday.

Databases, Cribs and Useful Paraphernalia

MiniCribs

Founded by Charles Upton and now continued by a team under the direction of David Haynes, this is a convenient method of producing crib sheets for Scottish dance programs, based on Microsoft Word. (The cribs can be used in other word processors that can read Word files, and are also available in ODF.)

The cribs themselves are also available from the Strathspey SCD Database.

Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Overseen by Reuben Freemantle, this site collects cribs for dances as well as background information on the dances (often gleaned from Wikipedia). It also contains general information on SCD, formations, references to YouTube videos, and other material.

DancieMaetion

A site dedicated to animated versions of Scottish country dances. Many of the videos referenced on this site are also available from the Strathspey SCD Database.

Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams

Founded by F L Pilling, this publication, affectionately known as “The Wee Green Book”, contains diagrams that serve as aide-memoires for a number of Scottish country dances. This web site archives various diagrams of less popular dances that will not appear in the next (9th) edition of the book, and contains an interesting article about its history as well as information on where to obtain copies.

As a practical resource, “Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams” has been largely superseded by Keith Rose’s diagrams as featured, e.g., in the Strathspey SCD Database elsewhere on this site, but it still offers information on many popular dances in a convenient (sporran-size) package.

Equipment

St Andrews Shoemakers (“James Senior”)

Well-known and very popular manufacturer of dance shoes, in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Hullachan Pro

Another manufacturer of high-class Scottish (and Irish) dance shoes.

Thistle Shoes

Another manufacturer of Scottish dance shoes (Highland and country). We said we wouldn’t endorse specific listings here but these are the shoes Anselm wears – and he’s not getting them any cheaper for mentioning this here.

Scottish Dance Shoe Company

Yet another dance shoe manufacturer.

Dance Enterprise (Leicester, England)

Yet another manufacturer of dance shoes.

Other Aspects of Scottish Dancing

Get Scotland Dancing

In their own words: “Get Scotland Dancing aims to encourage more people to get active and participate in dance.” This is not only about SCD, but Get Scotland Dancing and the RSCDS cooperated on the “Commonwealth Ceilidh” in 2014.