Scottish dancing, anyone?

A friend and I got into a conversation about Scottish dancing last night.  It reminded me of many thrilling hours of dancing Scottish jigs and reels at boarding school in Nigeria.  (Yes, I said I danced Scottish jigs in Nigeria.  Why the quizzical look?  Nothing unusual about that at all...)

It’s quite possible that my initial motivation to learn Scottish dancing was due to the curfew extension (nah, not me!) but it didn’t take long to develop a true love for it.  Spinning and being spun was exhilarating (and a great cardio workout)!!  We usually walked through the choreography of a given dance at least once or twice before adding the cassette music.  Then we really came alive!

When we let another group of 8 dancers take the floor, we often continued to participate by clapping and/or stomping in rhythm.  Sometimes we just needed to take a break because we were literally breathless from the last dance.

My favorite Scottish dance was the Posties Jig.  Fast-paced but easy to learn, this dance was especially fun when my partner was either Fadi or Khaled because they could spin me really fast during one part of the dance!

To an outsider it probably looks complicated with all the turns and spins but it actually has a very logical flow and is very easy to learn.  If I could find 7 other participants, I’m pretty sure I could teach at least the Posties Jig easily and we would have a blast!  Lots of fun and great for the heart.  Now I just need some volunteers…