Are you interested in Scottish Country Dancing, but worried our monthly sessions might be too advanced? Then this event is for you: We will have a beginners' workshop where we go through the basic steps and most common figures, and learn some simpler dances! Everyone welcome, no matter what age and experience level! Teaching is in English. The event and our other workshops are free of charge.
The room is Akseli-sali in Sello Library on the second floor.
Please remember to mark your attendance as soon as you know, so it is easier for everyone to prepare suitable dances for the number of attendees!
Please stay at home if you have symptoms a cold (see below).
* WHAT IS SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING (SCD)?
Scottish Country Dancing (SCD) is a fun form of folk dancing with both quicker and slower dances. Although you will usually have a partner, SCD isn't really a partner dance. You dance certain figures in a formation consisting most often of you, your partner and 2-4 other couples.
What does it look like? Check the dance "City Lights" on Youtube. Don't worry, we'll start with something simpler!
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* THE WORKSHOP
We'll start from the very basics of SCD: we'll learn the basic steps and the most common figures and put them together in some easy dances. Please note that while we, the organisers, are long-time SCD enthusiasts, we are not official dance teachers.
What to wear? Something comfortable that lets you move freely! We encourage you to bring a change of shoes: flat shoes (no heels) will work fine if they aren't too heavy to dance in and don't have slippery soles.
Bringing a partner? You don't need to bring a partner with you but you're welcome to do so! It is customary to change partners between dances, so you get the change to meet and dance with a lot of different people.
Gendered terms? While the dances call people "men" and "women/ladies", these are just words and roles and not a representation of anyone's gender. You may freely switch roles between dances and ask anyone, regardless of gender, to dance with you.
* AFTER THE BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
We organise casual SCD workshops monthly at the same venue, mainly aimed at people who have a basic understanding of SCD or other experience in folk dancing. Please join our FB group Scottish Dancing in Finland and/or our Signal group for updates!
FB:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/319777281385389
Signal:
https://signal.group/#CjQKIAw2vP1_Uzela6iEwBgTITQrBN-DeW1eyDURD5sd4TF5EhCr2fqOrVo-Dv1U5Lo4L7Fx
* OH NO, I CAN'T MAKE IT THAT DAY!
Please let us know and we'll see if there's a need for another beginners' workshop in the future! If you wish to attend ordinary workshops, give us a shout and we'll see what help we can give you, either online or during the workshops :) You may have to tag one of us (Sonja Virta and Ulrike Kivelä) in your post/comment because FB usually won't inform us of new posts/comments...
Also note the SCD workshop *in Finnish* by Tanssiryhmä Linnea on Mon 19 January at 6-8pm in Helsinki. The workshop will be helpful to Finnish-speaking beginners who can't make it to our beginners' workshop. More info in post on the wall of this event.
* FEEL A BIT ILL? PLEASE STAY AT HOME
Please stay at home if you have symptoms of cold, flu or such! Be extra careful in the first few days of symptoms since that is the most contagious period. Our dancers include several people who may face serious consequences if they catch a respiratory illness. These people include one of your organisers / callers who may have to sit out for months after a bad infection.
We also strongly recommend using hand disinfectant or washing your hands just before / right at the start of our workshops as well as about halfway through them. Hand disinfectant will be provided.
When there's something we can do to easily lower the risk of serious illness in our dancers, we hope we will all do what we can to protect one another.
Also check out other Workshops in Espoo.
