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DANCE EQUIPMENT
Scottish Country Dancing has
the advantage of not needing much in the way of equipment and so being
relatively cheap. The only basic
requirement is a pair of comfortable soft-soled shoes, ideally Scottish dance shoes,
and loose clothing. However, there
are things to spend your money on if you are determined to do so, and this page
points the way.
Shoes
Men normally wear ghillies, with laces crossing up the front and tying at the
ankle. Women wear shoes that look
like ballet pumps, except that they have a full sole. Some women prefer to wear ghillies - it's a matter of choice. Plain ballet shoes are fine too,
although I find them less comfortable to dance in because of the leather
bunched underneath the toes.
Another alternative if you don't want to spend too much money at first
is to get martial arts shoes from any branch of China Products. Get the soft suede-soled ones. You'll find them in the sports section
rather than the shoe section.
Training shoes are not ideal to
dance in; they can grip the floor too much and make dancing harder work. Anything with sharp heels or sole edges
will not be appreciated by any of your partners if you should happen to stand on
them. Note: if dancing in either the Cricket Club or
the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre, some kind of sports shoes or dance shoes are
essential. Outdoor shoes are not
permitted in the dance rooms.
A wide range of ghillies and dancing pumps are available by mail order from James
Senior of
Ghillies are often available from
Paul's Ballet Supplies in Admiralty Centre, especially around the time of the
St Andrew's Ball. If they don't
have any in stock, they can get them made for you (though it may take longer
and cost more than ordering from the
Clothing
Scottish Country Dancing is
hard work so it is a good idea to wear clothes in layers so that you can take
the top layers off as you warm up.
The basic rule is to keep things loose. Skirts are definitely cooler to dance in
than trousers, but they should be wide enough to allow free movement. It pays to remove large rings before
dancing, as they are likely to dig in painfully when someone grips your hand
tightly.
For formal occasions or dance
demonstrations, men wear kilts and women wear white dresses with tartan sashes.
Yuen's Tailor makes kilts
locally in
Yuen's Tailor, 2nd Floor Shop,
233 Escalator Link Alley,
Central; Tel 2815 5388 Fax 2854
9649
Stewart's Highland Supplies has
a mail order service for kilts and accessories.
Dance
Instructions
There are literally thousands
of different dances published around the world, often in books which are not
widely available far from the original publication location. At social dances round the world,
dances are rarely walked through.
Sometimes they are "briefed", i.e. someone stands up and
briefly reminds the dancers of the figures. Sometimes the name of the dance is
announced, the sets form and the music starts. Many of the dancers attending these
social dances can be seen peering at the indispensable Pillings
"little green book", a pocket-sized diagrammatic reminder.
Instructions for all RSCDS
published dances are available through the RSCDS members
pages, as are various recordings, videos and other items. They also have Pillings.
TACBooks distributes dance instructions
and the publications of the Teachers' Association of Canada. The address is: TACBooks,
John & Shirley Lanktree,
Another source of dance books,
along with music and other items is the Scottish National Dance Company.
The WWW Scottish Country Dance
Index has links to dances published on the web.
Recorded Music
A lot of strict tempo recorded
music for Scottish dancing is available only on vinyl or cassette tape, but the
number of CDs available is growing quickly.
A large selection of CDs and
other recordings are available by mail order through Highlander Music.
All RSCDS recordings and a
selection of others are available through the RSCDS.
The Scottish National Dance
Company also has a selection of recorded music available by mail order.
Sheet Music
A range of sheet music is
available through the RSCDS .
John Chambers' ABC tunes for
Scottish Dances are available on the web.
All you ever wanted to know about
Scottish music at Tulloch Gorm, including more ABC
tunes.
Miscellaneous items
The RSCDS offer a range of
miscellaneous items, such as notelets, shoebags etc.
Page maintained by the Hong Kong Highlanders Committee. Last updated March 2007. Mail us with comments or queries.