I was five years old and I needed a bagpipe player desperately!

I wanted to dance the Highland Fling. I had seen it on the television and it looked easy. I was up on my tiptoes with my arms above my head before you could say ‘Robbie Burns’! The fact that I was a chubby little child with no poise or grace certainly did not stop me either.

Dhaka Scottish Dancing Photo Courtesy of W. Gideonse

When my primary teacher asked the class to present a revue as part of the drama programme, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I just needed someone to play some music for me. In the absence of a bagpipe player - none of my classmates had heard of them let alone learnt to play them - my friend Sue owned a recorder, so that had to do. The only problem with my plan was that she had no idea of any type of Scottish music and had been playing for just one month. I was completely scuppered when she categorically stated that she was not going to help me! My five year old dancing ambitions were off to a poor start.
Later I turned my feet to Ballroom dancing and joined a class near my home on a Saturday morning. This was fun but to a grown-up girl of almost six it was more important to get home in time for Marine Boy (an animated TV series featuring a lad who could breath under water when he chewed gum; riveting stuff at that age) so that class did not last long.

Scottish Country Dancing Anguilla March 2007

When I was twelve I thought I would try again. The same teacher was still giving classes nearby and so I went along. Now though they were all girl affairs, which was a bit of a blow to a young lady just realising what boys were all about. Boys where I lived thought dancing was cissy, so few learnt. Still, I stuck it out and loved it. From the age of twelve until I was eighteen, I learnt Ballroom, Old Tyme, Latin American and a little Rock ‘N’ Roll. I had fun and I have never been so fit. I could Waltz and Quick Step, knew my Paso Doble from my Cha Cha Cha, whilst my Pas de Bas was spot on. My parent’s home acquired a few adornments and I was never without a partner on a Saturday night. Yes, those were the days…..

In later life I tried Salsa but with a husband with more than two left feet and little sense of rhythm this did not last long as I had few others to dance with.

Then we discovered the local Scottish Country Dance Group in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

We had not really expected to find Scottish Country Dancing in the middle of Bangladesh, nor were we particularly looking for it given my poor husband’s affliction. This group was thriving and it was not long before we were invited to join in. After wearing down my husband’s numerous and inventive objections to going: ‘I’ll look silly’, ‘I can’t dance’, ‘We aren’t Scottish’, ‘Remember my left feet’ to name but a few, we took the plunge and had a go.
My husband was surprised; we were both instantly hooked. Not only do you not have to be a ‘dancer’ to have fun doing this, but it is a great workout and you get to meet some really interesting people too – those not afraid to ‘have a go’. What could be better? Our group was in demand to take our dancing to the Bangladeshi public when local groups asked us to demonstrate the dancing for them. Scottish Dancing literally opened up new avenues for us and allowed us to meet locals we would not otherwise have encountered. On top of this, we were enjoying ourselves immensely.

When we came to Anguilla we heard about Scottish Country Dancing on the grapevine and found that yes, even in the Caribbean, this kind of dance is popular. We found that the group here had a wooden sprung floor to dance on. We were spoilt, bouncing across the room when we danced, thinking how lucky this group was. A mix of ex pats, snow birds and local people, ranging in ages from teenagers to octogenarians, came to the group and the accent was on fun. On Burn’s Night (25th January, the date of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birth in 1759) we were asked to dance at an evening of haggis, poetry and Highland Dancing. I actually got to watch the Highland Fling being danced properly!

Recently we have danced at the Soroptomist Hall in The Valley. The merry tunes for such dances as the fast and furious ‘Posties Jig’ with its swirling and ducking, the lively ‘Lamb Skinnet’ with its ‘teapot’ and ‘fish hook’ steps or the sedate ‘Gay Gordons’ with its surprise romp in each sequence, can be heard resonating from our open door, as can the laughter too that bubbles up and boils over each evening.

Scottish Country Dancing has been danced for generations in Scotland and has spread all over the world. My husband and I have danced in the UK, Australia and Pakistan as well as in Bangladesh and Anguilla. Wherever we go we discover more dances and meet people who just love it. It cuts across racial, cultural and gender boundaries and needs no special clothes or equipment apart from something that plays music – whether that means bagpipes, as I longed for all those years ago, or a cd player and a selection of Scotland’s finest offerings. All it takes is the will to try, to have a go and you will be surprised just how addictive it is.

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