автор: Буликян Даяна Феликсовна 11 «В» класс
Руководитель: Фурман Елена Николаевна
учитель английского языка МБУ «Школа № 70 (у)» г. Тольятти
IS SCOTTISH DANCE A RITE, A COMPETITION OR A CONVERSATION?
Буликян Даяна Феликсовна, ученица 11 «В» класса МБУ г.о. Тольятти «Школа с углубленным изучением отдельных предметов № 70»
Научный руководитель: учитель английского языка Фурман Елена Николаевна
IS SCOTTISH DANCE A RITE, A COMPETITION OR A CONVERSATION?
For most people around the world, when remembering Scotland, not only plaid kilts, bagpipes and whiskey come to mind. Many will still remember the original, distinguished by special energy and beauty, Scottish dances. Scottish dances are dances associated with the culture and customs of Scotland. Since ancient times, the people of this country have been famous for their independent and proud character. This was expressed in the legends created. The famous Scottish folk dance passes from generation to generation.
I believe that the topic of my work is relevant, since English has now begun to be studied very actively in our country. This is due to the fact that people have begun to travel more, travel abroad more often, where they need to communicate in a foreign language. Together with the study of English, we join the culture of the countries of the studied language. Scotland is an English-speaking country with very interesting traditions and customs, and the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning this country is just Scottish dancing.
The purpose of my work is to study Scottish dance and determine what it is a rite, competition or conversation.
- SCOTTISH DANCE: HISTORY, TYPES, MEANING
1.1 When did the Scottish dances appear
Scottish legends take the history of Scottish dancing to the depths of the Middle Ages, starting from about the XI century. Ritual and martial dances that glorified epic feats and martial art were a characteristic feature of Scottish culture and folklore. These are legends about militant, freedom-loving Scots who are able to express the power of their own experiences most accurately in dance.
The most striking example of this is the «history» of the creation of the Sword Dance, which tells how King Malcolm (one of the main enemies of Shakespeare’s famous Macbeth, XI century), crossing two swords drenched in blood on the ground: one of his own, and the other of the slain enemy, danced on them in honor of his own victory. Another version of this legend says that for the dance Malcolm took not two swords, but a sword and the severed head of the enemy.
The earliest references to such dances are mentioned in the Scottish Chronicles (from the English «Scotichronicon»), which were compiled by Walter Bower in the 1440s. In this passage we are talking about Alexander III and his second marriage to the French titled noblewoman Yolande de Dreux in Jedburgh, October 14, 1285. «At the head of the procession were skilled musicians with various wind instruments, including bagpipes; the dancers following them brilliantly performed military dances with intricate swings of their feet to and fro. Bringing up the rear was a figure about whom it was difficult to say whether it was a person or a ghost. She seemed to glide like a ghost instead of walking. At the moment when she seemed to disappear from sight, the whole crazy procession stopped, the songs stopped, the music stopped, and the dancing group suddenly froze.»
In 1573, Scottish mercenaries told about the performance of the Scottish sword dance in front of the Swedish King Johan III at a reception in Stockholm castle. The dance, a real highlight of the holiday, was used as part of a plot to assassinate the king, when the assassins could draw their weapons without arousing suspicion. Fortunately for the king, at the crucial moment, the conditional signal was not given by the conspirators.
To date, sword dancing is a mandatory part of the training of soldiers in the Scottish divisions, and is also a type of solo dance at competitions and events, for example at the Highland Games. As in the case of the Highland Fling, traditional Scottish clothing is worn to perform the sword dance, a kilt, regardless of the gender of the dancer. The dance is divided into two parts, slow and fast. The transition between the slow and fast part may be accompanied by a clap of the hands by the performer. In competitions, sword dancing has several levels from beginner to professional and differs in the type and number of slow and fast step
1.2. Types of Scottish dance
Thousands of people around the world associate Scotland not only with a plaid kilt, bagpipes and whiskey, but also with traditional Scottish dances.
There are several types of Scottish dances.
«Ceilidh» – simple dances, mostly paired (polkas, waltzes, etc.), requiring minimal training from the dancer and maximum emotional impact. For Scots, such a maximum is, as a rule, a polite, open smile. Kayleigh’s dancing exists to have fun.
Scottish ballroom dancing or Scottish Country Dancing is a dance for those who want to spend time not only fun, but also interesting. They are danced, most often, in two lines: the cavaliers in one, and the ladies in the other – facing the cavaliers. A lady and a gentleman standing opposite each other form a couple. For different dances (there are about 11,000 of them), in most cases, from two to four pairs are enough, although sometimes it may take as many as sixteen to perform a dance! The essence of Scottish ballroom dancing is that with the beginning of the music, one or more couples begin to move along predetermined trajectories, braiding, sometimes, the most bizarre patterns. Soft, flying foot movements combined with the emphasized geometricality of the dance figures create a feeling of lightness and grace. Like at a real ball… Actually, Scottish ballroom dancing is danced at balls, the main of which is the annual November ball in honor of St. Andrew’s Day, the patron saint of Scotland and the Russian Navy.
Highland is a type of Scottish solo dance, originally purely male. This is perhaps the most spectacular style of Scottish dancing! Unlike the Scottish pair dances with their relatively simple, soft steps and an emphasis on figures, Hyland relies on entertainment, athleticism, clarity and precision of the movements of the legs – and hands depicting the horns of a mountain deer. A distinctive feature of this style is that competitions are held in Highland. Therefore, today Hyland is a dance that requires a high technical level for the correct execution of movements. Highland is the core of the national dance tradition of the Scots. It is always danced at national festivals — Highland Games (Highland Games) to the accompaniment of Scottish bagpipes.
Highland Fling (The Highland Fling) is one of the four oldest traditional Scottish Highland dances.
Returning victorious after the battle, the male warriors performed this dance, celebrating success. The dance was performed on a small round shield called «Tarj». Most of these shields, covered with buckskin and rivets, were equipped with a sharp tip in the middle. The tip was used in combat to repel enemy attacks and inflict additional damage. The dancer should be as careful as possible during the dance to avoid accidental injury. In the dance, the warriors snapped the fingers of their hands raised high to the beat of the music, or perhaps creating their own rhythm. It could also have a sacred meaning. Finger clicks drove away evil spirits. Currently, this dance is not performed on a shield, but they try to stay in one place, and only the position of the fingers and hands remains from the clicks.
«Ladies step» (Ladies’ Step) is originally a purely female kind of solo dance, combining clarity and softness of movements, smooth lines and a sense of flight. This type of Scottish dance is distinguished by a special grace and grace.
1.3. Scottish Dancing today
Despite the exposure to external influences, flexibility and variability, traditional Scottish country dances in the first half of the XX century began to rapidly lose popularity. In an effort to preserve them, two ladies, Mrs. Isobel Stewart of Fasnacloich and Miss Jean Milligan, founded the Scottish Country Dance Society in 1923, which received Royal status (RSCDS) in 1951. The most urgent purpose of this society was to describe the various dances in the form in which they are known in Scotland, and to publish these descriptions with accompanying notes of the melody to which each dance is performed.
The fate of Hyland developed in a special way in the XX century. In the history of this type of dance, there was, as it seems, no moment when it was on the verge of oblivion. Highland competitions were regularly held both in the XIX and in the XX century. One generation of dancers replaced another, and young people gladly accepted (and are accepted) for conquering more and more new peaks.
At the end of the 40s of the XX century, the Scottish Official Highland Dancing Association (SOHDA) was established, the original purpose of which was to unify the rules of judging and Highland performance techniques. However, the ambitions of the dancers and teachers did not allow, apparently, all of them to be subordinated to one association. In 1951, the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing (SOBHD) was established. To date, these are the two largest associations of dancing «mountaineers». Hundreds of dancers from all over the world are registered in each of them, as well as judges and teachers. All these people with great enthusiasm support and develop Highland as a direction of sports dancing.
One of the modern trends of Highland is «Highland choreography– — staged performances using unconventional music and costumes, but based on the movements of classical solo Scottish dances. Competitions are also held in this direction, which encourages dancers and teachers to come up with more and more spectacular and interesting compositions every year.
Scottish dancing has never stood still. In the XIX century, waltzes and polkas that reigned at European balls became an organic part of them. In the middle of the XIX century, the Scots mastered the French quadrille — a dance for four couples standing opposite each other and forming a square together — hence the name «quadrille». The results of the quadrille experiments were very diverse: from the slow, smooth Victoria’s Visit Quadrilles to the energetic, cheerful Eightsome Reel.
The ability of the Scots to appreciate dance, even the simplest and simplest, allowed Scottish ballroom dancing to survive in the second half of the XIX century, when their English ancestors and their Irish peers gradually disappeared into oblivion. The tradition that the English and Irish had to resurrect, the Scots managed to preserve, passing it from generation to generation.
In the 20th century, Scottish dances – solo and figure — underwent enormous changes due to the influence of classical ballet. A characteristic feature of these changes was the transition from hard shoes to special soft dance shoes («gilly» in Highland and ballet flats in Scottish Country Dances). This transition, which began in Highland in the 90s of the XIX century, was caused by the fact that the existence of this type of solo dance (which had already ceased to be the exclusive prerogative of men) strongly depended on the regularly held Highland competitions. Willy-nilly, the dancers, eager to become the first, had to strive for more and more entertainment of their performances. In order to make a favorable impression on the judges, they somehow had to conform to the traditions of classical ballet, which by that time had become the highest in its complexity and the most respected manifestation of dance art. The technique, terminology and many elements of classical ballet began to penetrate into Scottish dances. Accordingly, soft shoes adopted in ballet gradually began to displace hard shoes.
As several centuries ago, Scottish dances continue to stimulate the creative activity of people all over the world, giving them joy and a sense of a real holiday. It is not surprising at all, because there are enthusiasts who strive to maintain a living tradition of Scottish dance, develop it and preserve the historical heritage of the Scots in all its richness and diversity.
1.4. Scottish National Costume
The Scottish men’s national costume is a harmonious and well-thought-out outfit consisting of several parts. Its main distinctive component is a plaid kilt skirt, which is a piece of special tartan fabric wrapped around the waist. The back of the skirt is decorated with large pleats, and it is fastened with several straps and buckles. As a rule, the kilt is worn with a small special sporran bag.
The top of the suit is a linen shirt or doublet jacket, over which a special tartan plaid cape is thrown. Knee-high socks and large shoes decorated with metal buckles are worn on the legs. The beret with a pompom or a feather complements the outfit, and the sporran is attached to the skirt with a wide leather belt with a large metal buckle or on a chain.
The Anglo-Scottish word «kilt» means «wrap», which is actually what the eponymous men’s skirt in the national Scottish outfit does. The Old Norse translation of this word means «folded» and comes from the Vikings, who wore similar clothes in folds.
A large and a small kilt were distinguished. The big one consisted of two pieces of fabric sewn together, one of them wrapped around the waist, and the second was thrown over the shoulder. We can observe a small kilt in a modern suit.
- SCOTTISH DANCE: RITUAL, COMPETITION OR CONVERSATION?
In order to understand what a Scottish dance is a rite, a competition or a conversation, we will consider each concept separately.
A conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people. It is also a form of bringing discomfort to each other with questions. As a rule, conversation occurs during speech communication, while written messaging is usually not considered a conversation. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization.
As for the Scottish dance itself, I could both confirm that this is a conversation and refute it. On the one hand, a large number of people participate in the dance itself, and everyone tries to show their skills, their strength, that is, there is no communication between the participants. On the other hand, there is communication with the audience, each dancer tries to convey some information to the audience. For example, the hero shows by dancing that he is a victorious warrior and a conqueror.
The next category is a competition. Competition is a form of activity, struggle, rivalry for achieving superiority, a better result (winning, recognition, etc.) or in order to support the biological instinct of survival. There is no competitive spirit in Scottish dance. The participants of the dance, on the contrary, show their skills with a team to perform movements synchronously.
The rite is a set of actions of a stereotypical nature, which has a symbolic meaning. The stereotypical nature of the actions of the rite, that is, their alternation in some more or less rigidly specified order, reflects the origin of the word «rite». In fact, from the point of view of etymology, it means exactly «putting something in order.» The rite is often characterized as a traditional human action. Often the rite is identified with the ritual.
Scottish dance is traditional, namely it reflects the culture of the country, its traditions and national values. If you look at the chronicles of the XIII century, you can see that the Scottish folk dance was called «Fling» and «Reel». They performed them at the wedding of King Alexander the 3rd. The dancing was simple, but groovy. All movements were performed accurately, without any errors. For many years, the tradition has been guarded and now it is not forgotten. All Scottish folk dances are performed to a musical instrument such as bagpipes. This centuries-old tradition is still preserved today. There are also military traditions associated with dance.
Therefore, we can safely conclude that the Scottish dance is a rite.
