Adult Beginners Tackle Highland Dance
By Pat Beaven
Reprinted from Celtic Heritage (now Celtic Life)
I was fortunate – I took my first class in Highland dance at the age of seven and never looked back. It became much more than a hobby: it became who I was for many years – performing, competing, then choreographing and teaching others to dance. Over the years I’ve often pondered the fact that Highland dance seems mainly the pursuit of children and teens. Oh sure, there’s a small percentage who keep dancing beyond twenty, and another relatively tiny sector of former dancers who go back to it when their own children start dance classes, but unarguably, Highland dance is primarily the province of the young – at least here in North America. Except for teachers and judges, grown-up involvement in Highland dance is often confined to parental chauffeuring, coaching, cheerleading, and financial support - all necessary and very important to be sure. But what would happen, I wondered, if grown-ups were invited to share more actively in this vibrant celebration of the Celtic spirit, this amazing combination of strength, agility, movement, and music?
Recently I decided to offer classes for adult beginners, imagining there might be a market out there. Folks who perhaps hadn’t had the opportunity to learn as children, who were interested in exploring their Celtic heritage, or who liked the sound of the pipes and just wanted to spark up their fitness routine. What I offered was not exclusively traditional Highland dance, but a ‘Celtic Combo’ – Highland, Scottish Country Dance, and Irish Step – “re-imagined for today!”, the flyers read. But from the start I knew classes would feature mainly Highland dance, as that was my background and my strength. I advertised “no previous dance training or experience needed”. What I got, interestingly, was a small but lively group of people who had no experience in Celtic dance of any kind, but had taken classes in various other dance forms – from ballet and jazz, tap and salsa, even one professional bellydancer! Ages ranged from 23 to 57. And so our adventure began!
We started of course with basics like positions of the feet, arms, hands, and head, a little bit of background to set the dances in context, plus certain characteristic requirements like working on turnout and elevation. From the start I was careful to build in a healthy respect for a proper warm-up (plus the advisability of not stretching cold muscles – i.e. using stretches later in class or as part of the cool-down). I wanted to reduce as much as possible the chance of pesky injuries interfering with the well-being or progress of these new learners. Not surprisingly, flexibility and endurance were key issues with this older group. Apart from the work we did in class, I advised students that walking – on a treadmill or along the street, swimming, skipping, or stationary biking, were ways they might build up the stamina our dances would demand.
Students were committed and very keen to learn. They seemed more focussed than many of the younger people I’m used to teaching, caring more about dancing than when they could get out there and start winning medals. I wanted to give my students a sense of accomplishment, I wanted them to see that there was something they could grasp and ‘have’ as their own fairly quickly – also to lessen the intimidation factor – so I started off with a group dance. “Shepherd’s Folly”, a riff on the “Shepherd’s Crook” fit the bill. And it worked! People saw they could learn and remember choreography and match it to the music; they got to laugh at themselves, encourage one another, and start stocking their dance cupboard with certain basics that would recur again and again.
After about a month, I felt we were ready to move on to some solo dances. I thought changing up the usual order of Highland Fling-then-Sword Dance and introducing the Sword Dance first would engage my students more, and thus be more motivating. So it was pas de basques and high cuts to learn and practise, then figuring out the intricacies of making our way around the ‘swords’ laid down with coloured tape on the floor. Lots of breaking down of steps and much repetition helped to get the patterns not only in our minds but in our bodies as well. Exhilaration ran high the week we graduated to real swords: We felt bold! Clever! Unmistakably like Highland dancers! Then it was on to the Fling, the Reel, and a chance to show off all our hard work at a recital-type evening at the end of the studio season. Dancers even took to the stage to perform at a couple of outdoor festivals during the summer!
Of course the acid test for the effectiveness of any class is what the students are getting from it, whether it’s satisfying something within themselves, whether it’s nurturing their impulse to learn, to improve, to challenge themselves and grow. Let’s listen in as several of the students talk about their experience … Linda comments: “After only three months I found myself dancing over swords, in front of an audience – what a rush! With a background in ballet - a dance of grace and elegance, and bellydance – a dance of sultry emotion and femininity, I found in Celtic dance an entirely new and exciting energy. Both the Highland and Irish dances are strong and somewhat sassy; although traditionally a man’s dance, the quality of pride and control brings out another side of womanhood. I find the dances infectious and flirtatious.” Meagan says she likes the aerobic aspect, the “really jumpy steps in the Fling or Irish Jig” and finds the slower, more controlled athleticism required to maneuver around the swords quite a challenge. For Paul, “the need to create new synapses” was the biggest hurdle: “Trying to actually do movements and steps that I’ve watched so many times from an audience point-of-view isn’t as easy as one might think! I didn’t expect the dancing to be quite so much of a workout either.” Jenn speaks: “Learning to dance as an adult is actually better for me! I now know what I enjoy, I know how my body responds to things and why. The Celtic dance class means I’m getting exercise, building confidence, meeting people, and enjoying a new way of moving. Why should only children experience these things?!”
Why indeed? Highland and Irish dance for beginner adults – a class that started as somewhat of an experiment - has turned into a bonny experience all around. So tune up the pipes and bring on the flutes and fiddles: there’s no limit to what this group will accomplish in the months ahead!