This well-done documentary showcases many aspects of highland games in Scotland, as well as discussing the history of the games. We (of course) particularly enjoyed the footage of the dancing and it’s also fun to learn about many of the other events that take place at highland games around the world. Did you have any idea that the hammer throwers wear “blade boots,” shoes with what look to be trowels mounted in the front? Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!
Margaret Callander (left) at the USIR banquet in Nashville with Lila Greco (center) and Sara Gilchrist (right) both products of her dancing legacy in Ohio.
Margaret Callander was born in Cleveland, Ohio and began dancing at the age of 5. She is a Life Member of the BATD and has been a Member of the SOBHD Judges’ Panel for many years. She began teaching in 1950; in 1955 she won at the Edinburgh Festival. Her students have won many awards in the United States, Canada and Scotland. Prior to the creation of FUSTA, she was secretary of its predecessor, USHDA. This Association was comprised of members from the present Midwest Region and Eastern Region. Out of this Association, FUSTA was born. Margaret was one of the founders of the Ohio Scottish Games, which led to the organization of the Ohio Scottish Arts School. For the more than 30 years the School has promoted Highland Dancing to students from the United States and Canada. The School promotes teacher training and has produced hundreds of teachers to carry on our Scottish Arts and Traditions.
Please take a moment to post a comment. This is a space to share stories, show your appreciation and let Margaret Callander know how she has impacted and enriched your experience with Highland dance.
On behalf of FUSTA and the Discover Scottish Dance efforts we’d like to to be the first to say “Thank You” to Ms. Callander for her honorable commitment and outstanding achievements that contributed to making the USA Highland dance community what it is today.
Check out this neat video of a Full Tulloch performed at the Chicago Spring Fling Championship in February 2009! The reel chosen for championship Highland dance competitions varies from year to year. It is usually a combination of Strathspey, Highland Reel, and/or Full or Half Tulloch. As you can see in the video, rather than starting in a straight line, the Full Tulloch (and Half Tulloch, when performed alone) begins with the dancers facing one another in a square formation. In case you like the music, this particular reel tune is known as Kelsey’s Wee Reel. And don’t forget that this year’s Spring Fling will be held at the Eaglewood Resort in Itasca, IL on February 25, 2012!
Let us know what you think in the comments and please submit any videos you’d like to see posted here to DiscoverScottishDance@gmail.com!
By Jo Kalat, Choreography Committee
In 2011, we presented the Alien Ceilidh Choreography choreographed by FUSTA’s choreography committee and
open to all FUSTA members to use in performances across the United States.
In 2012 we are pleased to announce that some performances on Alasdair Fraser’s tour have presented opportunities for dancers to join him on stage with our very own Alien Ceilidh Choreography!
Jocelyn Case took the lead and organized a group that performed with Alasdair Frasier on January 22 in Portland, Oregon. Alasdair was pleased and so are we. We’re including a video so you can all enjoy the show. Other performances are planned in East Lansing, Michigan, and Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. This is a great opportunity to showcase Highland dancing.
If Alasdair is not going to be in your area, there can still be opportunities for you to perform. A new choreography to Scotland the Brave is now on the website. This is very versatile and can be performed with any group. So keep your eyes open for any touring group in your area.
For those instructors who are current FUSTA members and are interested in teaching the choreography to their students the instructional videos are available on this site under the Video, Members section. The password can be obtained by emailing us at DiscoverScottishDance@gmail.com.
Interactive flash card on Highland Extension
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to suggest making a New Year’s resolution of taking a highland theory exam this year!
Theory exams allow dancers to learn the meaning of Scottish Highland technical terms and ways of verbally describing them. One great way to study for theory exams is to use the highland theory website: http://highlandextension.com/. This website helps dancers study for BATD theory exams using interactive flashcards. The flashcards are broken down into the different examination grade levels one through elementary so dancers are only studying what is required of them for the exam they are taking. The website is built to be a study aid to be used in addition to studying with a teacher and the SOBHD highland textbook.
Studying for theory exams can be challenging. It is important to study ahead of time and to set study goals. You can fit studying in wherever you are: the school bus, the ride to dance class, or even during TV commercial breaks! Studying for and completing highland theory exams give dancers a stronger knowledge of basic positions and movements. It is my hope that the website will allow more dancers to consider theory exams and possibly a professional exam to continue their highland career past their competing years.
Happy dancing and good luck on your theory exams this year!
- Megan Ashworth
Miss Vermont - Katie Levasseur performs a Scottish highland dance choreography in the 2012 Miss America Pageant Talent Competition
This year, we believe for the first time, one of the Miss America contestants is performing a Scottish highland dance choreography in the talent portion of the competition. Katie Levasseur, Miss Vermont, dances with the Saint Andrew’s Highland Dancers of Vermont and is a senior at the University of Vermont.
We can’t promise that they’ll show her choreography on national tv, but tune in tonight, Saturday, January 14, 2012 to support Katie as she competes for the title of Miss America! The broadcast will be at 9:00pm EST on ABC.
Legend has it that the initial Gillie Callum, more commonly known as the Sword Dance, was created by Malcolm Canmore, a Celtic Prince who fought a battle in 1054. Triumphant, he crossed his opponent’s sword with his own and danced over them celebrating his victory. It is also said that the warriors danced the Sword Dance prior to battle. If the warrior touched the swords, it was considered an omen symbolizing injury or death in battle.
We no longer have to worry about going into battle, but the dance links us to those soldiers. Highland dancing has been handed down to us as a proud tradition that we continue to celebrate today. Originally, only men performed and competed in the dances, but now men and women compete as equals. The strength and agility once necessary for victory in battle will now bring medals and trophies.
We hope you enjoy this video of a group of talented male dancers performing the Sword Dance. Watch their strength showcasing the tradition that unites highland dancers worldwide.
Betty Lawrence
Betty Lawrence, originally from Ayr, Scotland, lived in Oklahoma City for many years before returning to Ayr in January 2011 with her husband Matt and her Scottish terrier MacDougall. She has taught highland dancing for over 50 years and is a member of SDTA. She is a fellow and examiner emeritus of the BATD and is on the SOBHD judges panel. Betty has taught at the Ohio School of Scottish Arts for numerous years and has mentored many dancers. She is an advocate of dancers continuing their education to become teachers and judges. Betty continues to foster a love of highland dancing and shares her knowledge with many students and teachers. In 2011 Betty Lawrence was honored by the SOBHD with an honorary membership. Below is the presentation from the SOBHD.net website.
SOBHD Congratulates Betty Lawrence
Congratulations to Betty Lawrence who has become an Honorary Member of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing.
Betty and her husband Matt emigrated from Ayr to North America in 1964. They returned to Ayr in January 2011.
In 1965, Betty became Dance Director for the Kiltie Band of Oklahoma City, and thus began her long, successful career in the United States. World Champion Mary Beth Miller credits Betty with establishing Highland in the Kansas City area. Over the years, Betty coached many United States Champions and prepared numerous teachers and judges for their professional exams. She was the most sought after workshop instructor in the country. Betty led workshops at the Balmoral School in Houston for many years. She was the head instructor at the Ohio Workshop in Oberlin for more than 25 years. She followed Mrs. Haggarty as instructor at Grandfather Mountain’s School of Scottish Arts until the school ended, and was invited to return the first year that the School started up again. Betty also taught regularly at Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Petaluma, and Raleigh. Generations of dancers and teachers became her family.
Betty had a magical way of getting dancers to do more than they thought possible. The dynamics she created in a class or private lesson built trust and enabled dancers to tackle the impossible and succeed. She is a gifted natural teacher who could truly teach a stick to do a good Highland Fling. Betty also had a special way of connecting with dancers – who must have sensed her love of Highland Dance and absolute commitment to it. Every year at the USIR and when she was at Cowal for the Worlds, dancers who had worked with her clamored for a few minutes of Mrs. Lawrence’s attention.
Betty was the 2nd person in the United States to become a Fellow Examiner of the BATD. She is also an Emeritus Member of the SDTA and a retired member of the SOBHD Judges’ Panel.
Betty was an active FUSTA member and headed up the USIR Scrutineering Team for years. She also helped create the Scrutineering Certification Program for FUSTA.
FUSTA recognized Mrs. Lawrence’s immense contribution to Highland Dance by making her one of the first inductees into the FUSTA Hall of Fame in 2006.
Please take a moment to post a comment. This is a space to share stories, show your appreciation and let Betty Lawrence know how she has impacted and enriched your experience with Highland dance.
On behalf of FUSTA and the Discover Scottish Dance efforts we’d like to to be the first to say “Thank You” to Mrs. Lawrence for her honorable commitment and outstanding achievements that contributed to making the U.S.A. Highland dance community what it is today.
Happy New Years and welcome back to a brand new year at DiscoverScottishDance.com! We’re going to kick off 2012 with a remarkable video of the Royal Scots Guard accompanied by an impressive collection of Scottish Highland Dancers. This was shot at the Las Vegas International Tattoo in 2011.
The Alien Ceilidh FUSTA Choreography
Dear FUSTA members,
The Alien Ceilidh FUSTA Choreography has just been made available for you to learn, teach and use. There are many Celtic music groups that perform across the United States. One way that we can increase public awareness about highland dancing is to perform with these groups. Many of you may do so informally already, but we’d like to facilitate everyone’s ability to do so. There is a FUSTA choreography committee that has been working hard to develop choreographies for both pre-premier and premier dancers that ANYONE can use in conjunction with Celtic musicians performing near you. So far, the committee has been working on two types of choreographies: first, ones that are choreographed to a specific piece of music by an artist who has agreed to work with dancers when they are in concert, and second, ones that are choreographed to an iconic piece of Scottish music that *any* group who is performing near you might be able to play.
Above is a video of the first of these: “Alien Ceilidh” to the tune of the same name by Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas. Alasdair and Natalie have said that they’d be happy to have any dancers who are located near their performance venues come and perform to that piece of music (with prior notice, of course!). The choreography committee has put together this choreography to this piece of music–it’s designed for premier-level or otherwise advanced dancers to learn in 2-4 sessions.
To facilitate learning the choreography, we have put together some learning tools and made them available in the FUSTA members section of this site. Please look for your password in an e-mail from your FUSTA delegates about this choreography.
We would *love* for you to have your dancers learn this choreography and give us feedback on how the tools work and/or can be improved. Of course, feel free to adapt it to the needs of your dancers — it could fairly easily be adapted, for example, to be performed by more or fewer dancers, as needed. Please feel free to use this choreography in your own shows with recorded music (but obviously this should not be entered into a choreography competition!).
Please consider having your dancers perform in the USA Scottish Highland dance logo’d t-shirts, preferably black with silver bling, a black skirt and a tartan waist sash. Logo’d t-shirts will be available at the BATD Conference in Chicago on Oct 28, 29 & 30 and online soon.
Finally, please check out the performance schedule for Alasdair and Natalie at http://www.alasdairfraser.com/performances.html and see if they’ll be performing near you any time in the near future. If so, and you’re interested, please contact us at DiscoverScottishDance@gmail.com and we will help you set up a joint performance with them. Note that part of the point of this is that any group of dancers could learn the choreography and perform it, so if you want to join forces with other teachers/dancers in your area, that would be wonderful!
Be on the lookout for two more choreographies coming soon!
Thank You,
The Advancement Committee
With special thanks given to the Choreography Committee for their hard work and fantastic results.
