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Polar Bear Day
Feb 27
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
“I am a polar bear.
I live North of everywhere.
I live at the top of the world.!
The furry white coat
I wear in the snow,
Keeps me warm when it’s twenty below!"
~ Sandy Tuttle
In 1926, Norweigian explorer Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage by ship, and reached the North Pole (via dirigible). But explorers have attempted the Arctic Circle since ancient times. In 330 BC, Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek merchant and geographer explored Britain and the waters north of Scotland, and was the first person to record a description of the midnight sun, the aurora, and polar ice. But did he see the fearsome polar bears? Polar bears are just one of the many large mammals adapted to life in the Arctic circle. Their large furry feet and short, sharp, stocky claws give them good traction on ice for running, jumping, and presumably, dancing. This very fun 64-bar reel of John Drewry's has plenty of circles, turns, and icy twirls, ending with anti-clockwise promenade to chase or be chased by bears! 🐻❄️ 🐻❄️ 🐻❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Arctic Circle
With this dance, there can be more than Mirrie Dancers (Scottish folklore describing the Northern Lights - Na Fir Chlis – “the Nimble Men”) dancing in the Arctic Circle!
Although the Arctic and Antarctica do share quite a few similarities such as the dark 24 hour winters and equally long summers, while Antarctica is a land-based continent, the Arctic is not, resulting in significantly different climates and temperatures (the Arctic is far warmer) and geology.
Only 1% of Antarctica supports plant life whereas the Arctic has a Boreal Forest (called the Taiga), which is the world’s largest biome. The Arctic is home to an array of large land animals whereas, in the southernmost continent on earth, the largest land animal is a 6mm midge.
For more on beautiful and unusual ice formations, click the beautiful "sea ice" also known as sea flowers or frost flowers, beautiful ice formations that form on the Polar Seas as a result of the high salinity of newly formed ice crystals.
And for a video of the Rockville HS Scottish Fest 2012 RSCDS Demo Team, see below.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
