Queen of Scots Dance Academy

Highland Fling
This is the oldest of the traditional dances of Scotland and is a dance of joy performed at the end of a victorious battle. It was danced by male warriors over a small round shield, called a Targe, that the warriors carried into battle. Most Targes had a sharp spike of steel projecting from the center, so dancers learned early to move with great skill and dexterity. The Highland Fling is danced on the spot, and is said to be based on the antics of a stag on a hillside; the grouped fingers and upheld arms representing the antlers. It is said to be a dance of victory and celebration.

Sword Dance (Gillie Challum)
One story is that this is a dance of victory, as the King danced over his bloody claymore (the two-handed broadsword of Scotland) and the even bloodier head of his enemy. Some say that no severed head was used and that the King danced over his own sword and the sword of his enemy.

Another story, one more widely used and accepted, says that the Sword Dance was danced prior to a battle. To kick the swords was considered a bad omen for the impending battle, and the soldier would expect to be wounded. If they displaced their sword, they were to be killed in the battle. If many of the soldiers kicked their swords, the chieftain of the clan would expect to the lose the battle. Today, if a dancer touches or displaces there sword they are disqualified from the dance and receive no points.

Seann Triubhas
Pronounced "shawn trews," this Gaelic phrase means "old trousers." This dance is reputed to date from the rebellion of 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie challenged the might of England at Culloden, and lost. As a penalty, the Highlanders were forbidden to wear their kilts. Seann Truibhas is a dance of celebration developed in response to the Proscription Repeal which restored to the Scots the right to wear their kilts and play the bagpipes once more. The movements of this dance clearly depict the legs shaking and shedding the hated trousers off and returning to the freedom of the kilt.

Bree dancing at Worlds with 2 time World Champion,
Tony Cargill

Reels
There are various different versions of the reels, including the Strathspey and Highland Reels, Strathspey and Half Tulloch and the Full Tulloch. All are performed by four dancers interweaving in patterns. Although they dance together, they are judged in competition individually. The Strathspey is never danced on its own in competition - it must be followed by a Reel or Tulloch. These dances illustrate the "set" and "travel" steps which are common in Scottish dancing.