March 05th, 2013

Last weekend I took the Highland Dancer in me out of retirement and went along to my first Highland Dance class in nearly eight years! It was good to feel myself invigorated by the exercise and know that I had not forgotten the steps that I had spend so many evenings practicing in my younger years. It was a stamina test for sure... my calf muscles have only just recovered! Being among very young, extremely agile, Highland dancers re-opened my eyes to the world of Highland Dancing and made me realise some of the striking differences between modern, competition dancing and the step-dancing tradition. I was in awe of the tremendous proficiency and ability of the dancers at so young and age but then it struck me that this was really a young persons activity, with those in their teens probably being at their peek as dancers. Secondly, the ultimate goal in perfecting the steps was towards competing in front of a judge which contrasted with the spirit of partaking which largely characterises step-dance when part of social dancing. 


What’s your experience of Highland Dancing? MacTV are researching competition dancing and would like to hear your insight from within the world of the Highland Dancer.

MacTV are currently carrying out research about Highland Dancing. We are looking for Highland Dancers competing at championship level to see if there is a good story to tell about the competing world of a Highland Dancer. We’d like to hear from Gaelic speaking dancers in particular, but we would welcome comments from anybody interested or involved in the world of Highland dance. If you are a competing Highland dancer, if you can suggest potential contributors or you think you can help us in anyway, please get in contact on 01851 70 5638 or e-mail me at [email protected]