What is Scottish Country Dancing (SCD)?

This video from our group's 50th anniversary celebration in 2018 can show you what it is all about: lots of smiling faces enjoying an international hobby with great music and lots of fun.

Dancing for fun

We dance because it is fun. And we would like to share that fun with you. Dances are typically done in groups of eight people, called a set. You dance with a partner, but we change partners between every dance. That adds to the social aspect of the dance form. We have the most fun when there are lots of dancers on the dance floor at the same time, and we have musicians providing good, lively Scottish music. This video shows several sets enjoying live music at a weekend of dancing in Oslo.

Different styles of dancing

There are four main styles of SCD, and they are distinguishable by the rhythm and the tempo: jig, reel, hornpipe and strathspey. The jig, reel and hornpipe are quick tempo dance styles, and are also danced in other countries' traditional dances. The strathspey is unique to Scotland, and both the musical style and the dance style is only found there. This video clip shows dancers enjoying dancing to a strathspey tune.