BBC #DancePassion round-up

At the RSCDS, we are passionate about Scottish country dance and music and were pleased to participate alongside other like-minded dance organisations throughout the UK in the BBC’s #DancePassion initiative.

Our talented dancers, musicians and teachers enjoy a range of brilliant events and classes delivered across our 159 Branches worldwide. We are grateful for the commitment of our teachers and musicians for their diligent input into our various events to ensure that Scottish country dancing is a fun-filled activity for all.

At the start of the week dancers from RSCDS Glasgow Branch featured in the short film Flight, that integrated 12 different dance organisations in a Scottish Ballet choreography.  Published across the BBC's websites and social media, the film was recorded at the BBC’s studio at Pacific Quay in Glasgow and brings together performances from other dance and music organisations in Scotland such as YDance and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, amongst others.

Taking you on a journey through the BBC’s headquarters, this film highlights in a single take, the diversity and creativity of dance in Scotland. Opening with Scottish Ballet’s Barnaby Rook Bishop, this film underlines the harmonious interaction between different dance styles across Scotland, with each dance complementing the other to deliver a poignant, imaginative story of dance enjoyed across Scotland.

In the middle of the week the BBC published an imaginative re-telling of the story of The Reel of the 51st Division on their Canvas platform.  Known to many within Scottish country dance circles, this dance was devised by Scottish prisoners whilst they were held in a German Prisoner of War camp.

Towards the end of the #DancePassion event, we published a series of videos to showcase how Scottish country dancing is enjoyed around the world - many of these were submitted by our fantastic Branches and Affiliated Groups, so thank you to everyone involved.

The collation of videos marking Scottish country dancing in different regions can be viewed here.

Music is, of course, essential to dance and we also posted a short interview with our Music Director, Ian Muir, who commends the variety of Scottish music during our Summer School programme and encourages young people to become more involved:

“My philosophy for these courses is to encourage musicians to understand and appreciate the unique style of Scottish country dance music and deconstruct the various genres, tune types and techniques to ensure that the music contains the necessary drive and lift to inspire the dancers. On the courses that I have led the musicians play for the evening dance and have always risen to the challenge to the delight of the dance floor.  Encouraging young people to take up playing is one of my driving forces and I have always encouraged this wherever possible.”  

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this week a success - it has been inspiring to see just how much passion there is for dance across the UK...and beyond!