The Saline Celtic Festival Highland Dance Competition—returning July 9 to Mill Pond Park, Saline—is a premier, family welcoming event featuring trophies and money prizes as nicely as whole obtain to the Festival.
“After a 2-yr hiatus, we’re keeping 1 of the most thrilling competitions ever,” says party Chair Cindy Kopenski, who has her very own lengthy history of dancing, training, competing and judging.
“We’re providing four new events for each dancer to participate in—these are known as Challenge Events and are staying held in addition to the essential aggressive dance activities, and will be scored individually. We also are which include the ‘Most-Promising’ Dancer Functions in the Starter, Novice and Intermediate types. There are so lots of methods dancers can get paid recognition!”
Dances consist of the Pas De Bas and Substantial-Cuts Fling Sword Dance Seann Trews Scotch Evaluate Lilt and Earl of Errol as very well as 4 Obstacle gatherings
This year’s Decide, Megan Grant, who hails from Fredericksburg, Va., will judge all of the Highland Dance Levels of competition. An completed teacher of this art variety, Grant has been a member of the Royal Scottish Formal Board of Highland Dancing (RSOBHD) Adjudicator’s Panel due to the fact 2002.
“During the pandemic a lot thought was offered by our nationwide organization—Scot Dance USA—to establish how to maintain a ‘safe’ levels of competition,” Kopenski suggests. “The United States is making it possible for dancers to compete with a mask if they motivation. We want people to feel safe.
“Highland Dancing is back and we’re so lucky that competitions are staying held in the course of the environment.
“With the remarkable assist of the Saline group, and the Saline Celtic Festival, we’re heading to be equipped to offer you the 12th Highland Dancing competitors. So be sure to set July 9 on your calendars, and sign up for us in Mill Pond Park—I promise you might even want to choose up your feet and dance!
For information about the Highland Dance Competitiveness, the July 9 Saline Celtic Competition, Friday evening tunes and activities on July 8, and the 2022 rates, pay a visit to https://www.salineceltic.org/.
A Transient Introduction to Highland Dance
The Highland Fling, the oldest of the standard dances of Scotland, is a dance of pleasure executed at the finish of a victorious struggle, originally danced by male warriors in excess of a compact spherical shield referred to as a Targe. Most Targes experienced a sharp metal spike projecting from the centre, so dancers had to move with wonderful skill and dexterity. These days, the Highland Fling is danced on the place, with grouped fingers and upheld arms symbolizing the antlers of a stag.
The Sword Dance (Gillie Challum), dating again to the days of Malcolm III, King of Scotland 1058 to 1093, commenced as a victory dance. 1 legend has it that right after successful a duel, the king took his and his opponent’s sword, crossed them on the floor, and leapt jubilantly above them. Others say the Sword Dance was danced prior to a struggle. To kick the swords was regarded a undesirable omen and the soldier would expect to be wounded. If many soldiers kicked their swords the clan chieftain would hope to eliminate the battle.
The sword dance is quite tricky and involves incredible talent and dexterity.
The Seann Triubhas, or Seann Trews, a Gaelic phrase this means “old trousers,” dates back again to the 1745 Jacobite insurrection when Charles Edward Stuart—aka The Youthful Pretender, or Bonnie Prince Charlie—lost to the English Redcoats at the Fight of Culloden.
As penalty, the defeated Highlanders have been then forbidden to dress in kilts. The dance is a celebration in reaction to the 1782 Act of Proscription repeal that restored the right to put on kilts and participate in bagpipes. The dance movements depict shaking and shedding trousers and returning to the liberty of the kilt.
The Scottish Lilt is a graceful, ballet-like dance that celebrates the Scottish lifestyle and heritage.
The Earl of Errol was initially a dance executed in really hard sneakers, and choreographed for the Earl of Errol, a smaller city in Aberdeenshire. It is most likely 1 of the toughest Countrywide dances to accomplish nicely.