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The fiddle world of Alasdair Fraser

13/5/2013

“Let me open the gates and let you into my fiddle world...”

That was Alasdair Fraser last week in Benbecula, for the University of the Highlands and Islands' symposium and workshop on Scottish fiddle music. Alasdair shared with us a world of multilingualism and diversity through the sound of the fiddle, which has the capacity for a plurality of voices - a mouth piece of many communities each speaking in their native language. The story of the fiddle is also one of travel, emigration and cultural exchange. At the concert in the evening, Alasdair and Natalie took us on a journey which crossed oceans and traversed languages, with the tune Highlander's Farewell to Ireland beginning as a an old, Highland strathspey, which crosses over to Ireland and becomes a reel (Farewell to Ireland), and then ends up in the Appalachian mountains (Highlander's Farwell). As Natalie and Alasdair brought together these different styles, we heard the meeting of cultures and the conversation between peoples, as the music took on the characteristics of the places and cultures it has encountered along its journey.

Natalie Haas, Sophie Stephenson and Alasdair Fraser. Benbecula, Scotland (May 2013).

At the fiddle workshop, Alasdair encouraged us to find our voice, and to not be ashamed to “speak” (play) in our mother tongue – our local dialect. Using this linguistic metaphor to express character, style and individualism in fiddle music, he expressed the importance of having confidence, pride and a sense of worth in our own culture, our language and in the voice of our nation. Alasdair himself has had a large part to play in bringing Scottish fiddle music to people in Scotland, America and across the globe. With fiddle schools in California and at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye, now in their third decade and attracting ever growing numbers of fiddlers and cellists, Alasdair has had a considerable influence in the resurgence of fiddle music, which accounts for the strength and vibrancy of the traditional music scene today.

When I first met Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas it was at their fiddle and cello summer school on the Isle of Skye. Alasdair was explaining to the group of fiddlers how playing style and technique goes hand in hand with dance. He asked if anyone amongst us was a Highland dancer, and before I knew it, he had me up on my feet and doing the Highland Fling to thetune 'Devil in the Kitchen'. Then, discovering I could also step-dance, he played the same strathspey, but this time, instead of the slow and pointed fashion suited to Highland dancing, he played it rounder and up-tempo in a Cape Breton style, for me to step-dance. Despite the fact that I had been part of the tradition for some years, Alasdair was the first person to really make me aware of the different ways tunes have evolved. My eyes and ears were opened to the various dance traditions in Scotland which, despite sharing a common repertoire, dictated very different approaches to voice and style in music.

Alasdair Fraser Fiddle School at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, (July 2010)

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, (July 2010)

Last week, I caught up with Alasdair for a chat about the relationship between dancer and musician and his top tips for keeping dancers on their feet. We discussed how jigs, strathspeys, reels, waltzes, which make up a big part of the repertoire of Scottish fiddle music, are essentially dance tunes, or tunes for dancing to, and how important is it that musicians have an awareness of the dance traditions in Scotland when they are learning the tunes. We also discussed his own journey in the world of Scottish fiddle music and he reflected of the sense of oneness which can be created as the bow of the fiddler engages with the feet of dancers and they resonate together. You can listen to the interview below.

“When I look at our music – any music – one of the first things I think about is 'how would people move to this?' […] When you get into jigs, reels, the hornpipe, strathspeys, the scottiche, the Highland fling – and all the different ways that we dance in Scotland – those movements have evolved along with the style of the music and they inform the fiddler's bow arm. So, to play a dance tune without ever having seen how people are supposed to move to it, is to cut off a major artery into your music […] To answer that question 'how do I bow this?' I go to the dance floor. And there, right there, are many answers - the dancers are telling you how to bow it. They are telling you that they will respond in a certain way if you give them what they need. And, in order to give them what they need, you need to start bowing in a certain way […] In many cases there is a one to one correspondence between the fiddler's bow arm and the dancers' feet, so you almost feel like a choreographer. If you are bowing and the whole ballroom is moving to your bow, it is one of the great highs of playing traditional music” - Alasdair Fraser (2013).

Here is a video of Nic Gareiss dancing with Alasdair at his camp Valley of the Moon in California.

This left me thinking: as the function of the music changes from music for dancing to music for listening, do the dance traditions themselves have any relevance in this new context? Perhaps, as Alasdair and Natalie unveil their inner groove on the music, and let their bows be driven by creativity of rhythm and spontaneity of improvisation, perhaps this calls for dance forms which too are free from any constraints and embrace, full heartedly, creativity of sound, movement and rhythm?

One man who is leading the way in this endeavour is foot percussion sensation Nic Gareiss from America. Look out for my next blog post where you will be able to hear more about Nic and his recent collaboration with the Campbells of Greepe. Also an interview with Mary Ann Kennedy and Nic Gareiss discussing the relationship between language, song and dance.

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

2/5/2013

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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...

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.

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!

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Fèis Latharna

10/4/2013

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Oban bay in the sun

When the fabulous Debbie Mackay (drama tutor) pulled up in her nippy, wee MG to give me a lift up to Oban, the Easter Fèis was off an exciting start! This was to be my first year of teaching at Fèis Latharna. I was added to the tutor list (comprising some 20 tutors) just a couple of months ago when Ewen MacPherson (Fèis organiser) received a call from the Gergel School in Kiev who wished to send five pupils to the Fèis in Oban on the request that there was a step-dance tutor. Scottish step-dancing in Ukraine – an unlikely combination one would think – however, you only need to type in a quick search into youtube to discover the many talented, young step-dancers over in Ukraine. And so, strengthening the dance element of Oban's five day festival of traditional arts for 8-18 year olds, step-dance was added to the choice of tuition alongside highland dance, song, fiddle, clarsach, accordion, whistle, chanter, piping, pipe-band drumming, percussion, guitar, art, drama, football and shinty! Phwah!

As we arrived at the primary school on Monday morning there was a buzz of parents dropping of their children and negotiating an assortment of instruments, packed lunch boxes and shinty sticks in the main door. Smiling committee members directed us to the common room for a cup of tea and sorted us out with all we needed to know before we were off to our first classes! Each day I had the Ukrainian group in the morning and then two groups of beginners in the afternoon. It was nice to have a mixture of levels. I could work on advanced steps but also teach very basic steps, to the younger ones in the afternoon, with the hope that they will continue and I will have started a fresh group of step-dancers.

Me with my beginner class before the Feis concert... guess the colour theme!

Five students from the Gergel School (Kiev)

It was a fantastic opportunity to work with the Ukrainian students. They already had a lot of steps so I was able to focus on precision of footwork and rhythm as well as introduce them to a few more intricate steps. They were accompanied by their dance tutor from Ukraine, Vera Gergel. Like myself, Vera initially learned step-dance by attending summer schools at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye. She now passes her steps on to her pupils, at the Gergel language school. In addition to this, the Gergel School also invite musicians and dance tutors from Scotland over to Ukraine to teach workshops and the students partake in céilidhs and Burns suppers as part of their cultural experience.

Mr Adam Sutherland and his fiddle!

On the Monday evening there was a tutors' showcase at the newly re-opened Phoenix cinema in Oban. After discovering that the stage was carpeted, which wouldn't have provided much of a sound board for step-dancing, I quickly rummaged around the backstage rooms and found a rather small piece of ply-board.

For the last session of each day, the great fiddler Adam Sutherland played for our dancing and gave the advanced pupils an opportunity to respond to a live musician. This is an important aspect of the dance-music symbiosis which has been very much part of the stylistic evolution of traditional music and dance simultaneously. Dancing to a live musician allows the dancer to improve their listening skills and provides a spontaneity, and furthermore an energy or presence, which can't be realised in an audio recording. This session provided them with the opportunity to consolidate the steps we had been working on and, with the drive of Adam's bow gave us the lift we needed at the end of the day.

Darren MacLean, Adam Sutherland and John Summerville

It is said that when Highland emigrants were clearing the forests in Cape Breton they would step-dance on the stumps of the cut down trees. Well, this was certainly my opportunity to practise my neat steps, close to the floor and within tight boundaries! The evening kicked off with big Donald MacPhee giving us a blast of the Highland Pipes after which each tutor took it in turn to give a short demonstration. With only a couple of near ankle breaks I made it through a strathspey/reel set, accompanied by Adam on fiddle.

My wee piece of dance floor at the Phoenix Cinema, Oban.

Me (Sophie Stephenson) step-dancing with Adam Sutherland on fiddle.

A highlight of the week was the family céilidh, held in the Argyllshire Gathering Hall. The array of talented tutors performed throughout the evening in a rotating céilidh band as boys, girls, toddlers, teenagers, mothers with sons and fathers with daughters all took to the the dance floor. It was so delightful to see so many young people dancing with such enthusiasm and with such good knowledge of the dances! I was impressed that, considering the average age would have been about 10, the dance flowed more smoothly than any dance I had witnessed during my four years at University and reminded of me of school céilidhs in Fort Augustus. From dancing feet to smiling faces, the dance floor was brimming with fun and enjoyment. In between dances the gathering were treated to Gaelic songs from Darren MacLean, a Sailor's Hornpipe and a Seann Triubhas from Eilidh MacInnes and I did a spot of steps-dancing (this time with slightly more floor space!). Eilidh Munro also played a beautiful set of tunes on the clarsach for which the children huddled around the stage to listen.

Struan Thorpe (whistle and chanter tutor), ready for participants' concert!

Pipes and drums get concert off to a start

The final event of the week was the participants' concert on the Friday afternoon. My beginners classes were excited about performing in front of their friends and family and so I put a wee routine together for them. For something a bit different, with the Ukrainian students, I put together an acapella body and foot percussion piece which incorporated both Ukrainian and Scottish step-dance which was a lot of fun. For another set, we also arranged steps into figures with a few twists and turns. The finale piece of the Fèis concert brought together the elements of language, song and music with all the participants (totaling over one hundred children!). Starting with the Gaelic song 'Le Cheile', the piece brought together the group work class, the Fèis choir and finished with the pipes and drums. A perfect ending to a great week!

And so this blog has become rather longer than expected but I hope that, for those of you who have never experienced a Fèis before, I have shared with you some of the magic of Fèis Latharna, as a glimpse of the Fèisean movement in general, and the social and cultural impact of these intensive 5 days of learning, performing and playing with others which were so very much part of my own childhood.

View from window as we had dinner with tutors and committee members on Thursday evening.

When I was growing up in Fort Augustus, every Easter holiday, my mother would make the 4 hour round trip daily to take my brother, sister and I through to Fort William for Fèis Lochaber. I can still remember the excitement each morning as we queued up for our name badge in anticipation of the jam packed day of music, dance and drama ahead. We had the same excitement at the end of the day as we got in the car and would spend the entire ride home telling my mother all we had done that day. It was here that I picked up many of my steps from Jane MacNeil and Frank McConnell and also had my first opportunities to try out new instruments and participate in Gaelic language and song. Gaelic wasn't offered at my local school and therefore exposure to the language at the Fèis was a rare opportunity when growing up. The Fèis was hugely important in my dance development as well as my great passion for our musical and cultural heritage. Since those years of attending Fèis Lochaber as well as my local fèis, Fèis Gleann Albainn, which was set up later, my passion has continued to grow and influence the paths I have taken. Whether as a profession or simply as a hobby, music and dance is a love which I will always have and treasure. Thanks to the Fèisean movement, and all it brought with it, there is now a cultural climate in which Gaelic culture thrives. The biggest gratitude on this part must go to all the communities and committee members of localised Fèisean who work so hard to ensure that they continue each year.

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The fiddle world of Alasdair Fraser

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

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?

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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?

10. Why do you dance?

Fèis Latharna

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