Contact the Adviser, Sue

Scottish Dancing is an enjoyable activity offering physical exercise, a mental challenge, and a supportive social environment.  Dances are for two or more couples in a round-the room arrangements or longways sets of dancers and is not to be confused with solo/competition Scottish Highland dance.  To attend group sessions, it is not necessary to have a partner, just a pair of soft-soled shoes and water to keep hydrated!  The dances chosen for group sessions can vary from easy Ceilidh dances to more complex dances with varied formations, depending on the expectations and experience of the group members.  Scottish Country Dancing provides an ideal setting for gentle exercise of mind and body. You do not have to be Scottish, and if you can walk and count to eight, you can do it. Groups are usually made up of members with many years of experience to those that are complete novices, but the aim is to cater for all levels and above all to offer happy social interaction and fun. 

Any u3a member that is interested in starting a group is very welcome to contact me for help and support, see link above. I have put together a list of ceilidh dances (see https://my.strathspey.org/dd/list/3682/ ) and easy Scottish Country dances  (see https://my.strathspey.org/dd/list/4195/ ) to get you started.  These lists are created on the Strathspey Server database (see https://my.strathspey.org/dd/ ) which is a wonderful resource for all Scottish Dance teachers and enables dancers to see descriptions and videos to help them learn the dances.

A bit about me!  Until recently I have lived mostly in New York because my husband worked for the United Nations, and I have done most of my dancing the USA and Canada. I trained some time ago with the Royal Scottish Dance Society (https://rscds.org/ ) to be a teacher and have taught classes and workshops in both the USA and Canada.  More recently, with my husband Chris, I have trained teachers and I am also a trainer for the new RSCDS Core Training for Instructors (CTI).  I’m passionate about Scottish Dancing and strongly believe that the more Scottish Dancing there is in the world the happier it will be!