10 Questions on Step-dancing... by Sophie Stephenson.

Whilst studying towards a degree in Scottish Ethnology, I did research into the step-dance tradition in Scotland and in Cape Breton as part of an Emigrant Traditions course at the School of Scottish Studies. As part of the research I sent out questionnaires to many step-dancers, to explore the evolution of the tradition and the similarities/differences between the transmission and performance of step-dance in these two places. My informants included Dawn Beaton, Mary Janet MacDonald, David Rankin, Tara Rankin, Mats Melin, Nic Gareiss, Michelle Greenwell, Abbie MacQuarrie, Seonag Buxton and Deirdre Graham.  The most striking, yet inevitable, difference between the traditions in these two contexts was that in Cape Breton, for the most part, step-dance is still learned and passed on in family and community setting. Whereas, in Scotland, step-dance exists in a revivalist context with learning and teaching environments which are, in most cases, formalised classes or workshops.  

As I'm a step-dancer myself, I of course would have my own responses to these questions and I thought it would be interesting for me to share them with you here...

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1. How were you first introduced to step dance? Where/from whom did you learn to dance?How were you first introduced to step dance? Where/from whom did you learn to dance?

I was first introduced to step-dance aged 10 when I saw a performance by Harvey Beaton and Buddy MacMaster in Inverness (Scotland). After taking some classes at my local Fèis, the following year I attended a course with Harvey Beaton (Cape Breton) and Donal Brown (Scotland) at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye. Following that I attended Fèisean where I learnt from Frank McConnell, Deirdre Graham and Jane MacNeil. and laterly Margie Beaton at Ceolas. 

2. Do you have a background in dance or any other cultural forms (music, song)? If so then what style of dance and did you have any formal training?

I started going to dance classes in Fort Augustus from the age of two! I did Ballet, Highland and Tap with Mrs Everett until I was 15. Every year I would sit an exam. When I started to learn step-dance it came very naturally, almost instinctively. The freedom and creativity of step-dance contrasted my formal dance training and it's exam focused structure. I would practise whenever I could – I would come home from school and put on a CD and dance along, trying out steps and making up new ones. Sometimes if I was listening to the radio, a CD or at a concert I couldn't help but shuffle my feet under my chair! Growing up in the Highlands, ceilidhs, sessions and attending Fèisean were a regular feature of my childhood and upbringing. Also, musicians would often gather at my parents' hotel and I would get to stay up way past my bed time to listen and join in with musicians such as Aonghas Grant - The left-handed fiddler of Lochaber! 

"Growing up in the Highland with ceilidhs, sessions and Fèisean, meant that music and dance was a regular feature of my childhood and upbringing..." 

A session at the Caledonian Hotel, Fort Augustus. Rona Cooper (fiddle), Christina Stephenson (bodhran), Sophie Stephenson (guitar), Rebecca Skeoch (clarsach).

3. On what occasions/ in what contexts do you usually perform? Do you usually perform as a solo dancer or with other dancers?

As there weren't really any other step-dancers around when I was growing up, there weren't many opportunities to step-dance with others except from at workshops. I tend to dance at sessions or perform at concerts or ceilidhs. 

Above: Step-dancing in the Caledonian Hotel, Fort Augustus.

Left: Impromptu step-dancing at the Captain's Bar in Edinburgh

4. Is there a particular type of footwear which you chose to wear for dancing?

Dancing feet!

When I was younger I would always wear my school shoes for dancing. This would be my pre-requisite for buying new school shoes and I would end up dancing in the shop to try them out! A few years ago, I did tap dancing in a production of the musical 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and, after buying tap shoes for the show, I started wearing tap-shoes for step-dancing. This is good for concerts because the taps amplify the steps and give a crisp, clear sound. However, I am always on the look out for a good pair of leather-soled shoes for more intimate settings and accompanying puirt-a-beul for example. Also, leather-soled shoes give me a better sense of contact with the floor and a range of percussive sounds and tone which you don't get with taps. 

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5. What, in your opinion, are the signs of a ‘good dancer’?

To me, a good dancer is someone with good rhythm and timing, who can respond to the music in their steps. 

My exposure to other step-dancers has come as much from watching youtube videos as from meeting individual dancers. For some reason the dancers I get most enjoyment out of watching are the older dancers. Although I couldn't put my finger on it, I think it has something to do with the laid-back, natural way they dance and how they appear “in tune” with the fiddler. They select and combine steps to fit with the rhythm and, although they may be visually in the forefront, their steps produce a sound which complements the tune and becomes part of the music rather than upstaging it. 

Here is an example of Rodney MacDonald step dancing at the 50th anniversary Glendale Ceilidh with Howie MacDonald on keyboard, Glenn Graham on fiddle and Sandy MacDonald on guitar. Watch how his "off the cuff" steps follow the melody of the tune very closely. I particularly like the seamless cross-over between the strathspey and the reel at 0:45 on the video... 

6. How important is music to the performance? Are there any tunes in particular which you prefer or would select to dance to?

Music is very important. It is the rhythmic relationship between the musician and the dancer which makes dancing so enjoyable for me. Although there are some tunes which are typical for step-dancing I enjoy dancing to most tunes. The older tunes with a strong pulse seem to fit best with some of the traditional steps but I also quite like trying out new steps to fit modern, “quirky” fiddle and pipe tunes. With strathspeys, however, I find that when the tunes are played slow and pointed (in a style more suited to country dance or Highland dancing) the steps have to be altered in a way that they loose their drive and punchy rhythm.    

7. When you perform do you usually follow a certain routine or pattern/combination of steps?

It depends. If I'm performing with others then we might choreograph a routine together. I also have certain steps which flow well into others, but, in general the order of steps are improvised on the spot to fit the music (like in the video to the left of me dancing at concert with Ross Ainslie, Tim Edey, Charlie McKerron and Marc Clement).

  

8. Would you say that you had a ‘repertoire’ of dance steps? Would you be able to put a number to how many steps that includes? How do you remember steps and identify individual steps?

Since I started teaching step-dance I have become more aware of a repertoire of steps, but even still I make steps up on the spot sometimes to teach my pupils and demonstrate how the essential movements (shuffle, hop, tap, heel click ect.) may be put together and combined in a multitude of different ways giving you endless possibilities for rhythmic combinations. I don't really have names for most of the steps but normally as long as I can remember the rhythm then I will remember the step.

9. Do you make up your own steps? How much space, do you feel, is there for variation and improvisation within the tradition? Have you ever tried/performed/considered combing ‘traditional’ step dance with other forms/styles of dance?

I make up steps all the time - sometimes there is a rhythm I want to make with my feet and other times it's off the cuff at a session. Creating new steps is simply borrowing letters from an alphabet we all share and combining them to make new expressions, in a sense. I've, very recently, begun to delve a wee bit into other percussive dance forms such as Appalachian Flat-footing and Sean Nos dancing. I would like to learn more about these styles, to extend my percussive vocabulary and open up further possibilities for steps and rhythmic combinations. I think there is always room for variation and improvisation within any tradition, as long as respect is paid towards the community and culture that nurtured that tradition. I think an important aspect of step-dance is the freedom it offers.

"Creating new steps is simply borrowing letters from an alphabet we all share and 


combining them to make new expressions"

For me, step-dance comes into it's own when someone get up for steps at a session or a ceilidh, alongside any other instrument. To “jam”, spontaneously, with the other musicians - without any prescriptions of what to clothes or footwear to have on, without exams or adjudicators. Just simply dance – for the love of the music!  

10. Why do you dance?

Because I love it! There is something about the physical interaction with music which gives me a buzz, it quite literally gets the heart bumping. I love listening to traditional music in all it's various forms – at concerts, on the radio, on my ipod – but often the tunes are calling out for us to move, dance, join in, engage with the music and with each other. Even just watching dance puts a smile on my face, if I'm not already on the dance floor myself!