WELCOME TO AN ENTERTAINMENT SITE FOR SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCERS!
Enjoy this curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Oct 2
Pumpkin Spice Season
Sugar and Spice
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"What are Scottish country dancers made of, made of?
What are Scottish country dancers made of?
Sugar and spice and setting done twice,
Pas de basques and a turn rather nice—
That’s what Scottish country dancers are made of!"
~ Traditional (with a twist)
Are you a devotee of that most ubiquitous of seasonal beverages, the Pumpkin Spice Latté? Or do you eschew the trendy and stick to the traditional? Either way, sugar and spice makes everything nice for this autumn and Hallowe’en season—including this sugary and spicy 32 bar strathspey, devised by Paul Suttie, which starts with 2nd and 4th couples improper (scandalous!) and is sprinkled with some interesting and lengthy paths for the dancing couples!
Although the Pumpkin Spice Latté craze began in the US in 2003, the familiar spice combination goes back much further. By the 1950s, spice companies were selling ready-made “pumpkin pie spice” blends of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice as a handy shortcut for pumpkin pies, breads and muffins. Notice something missing? Pumpkin! Pumpkin spice is really the spice for the pumpkin, not necessarily spice containing pumpkin.
Then came Pumpkin Spice Season, when apparently no consumer product was safe. Pumpkin spice wandered cheerfully out of the kitchen and into candles, perfumes, soaps, dog treats, cereals, potato chips and even deodorant. There has been Pumpkin Spice SPAM, proving perhaps that civilization had finally reached peak pumpkin spice. Hmmm. 🎃
So spice up the dance season with something nice! And don't forget that healthful whisky chaser! 🕺 💃 🧡 🧡 🧡 🎃 🎃 🎃 🥃
Sugar and Spice
Ah, the annual pumpkin spice craze – that magical time of year when ordinary food and drink go through a full-blown identity crisis. Suddenly, everything needs a splash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove to feel relevant. Your local café turns into a pumpkin patch with an espresso machine, proudly offering pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice muffins, even pumpkin spice air fresheners (because your house should also smell like a pie). Supermarkets get in on the act, lining shelves with pumpkin spice cereal, pumpkin spice yogurt, and if you squint hard enough, you might even find a pumpkin spice toothpaste.
Of course, this frenzy doesn’t stop at food. There are pumpkin spice candles, hand lotions, and even pumpkin spice pet treats – because nothing says “I love my dog” like making him smell like the inside of a Thanksgiving pie. It’s as if the entire world has entered into an unspoken pact: thou shalt add pumpkin spice to everything, regardless of common sense or culinary logic. After all, nothing welcomes fall quite like sipping a steaming cup of pumpkin spice...motor oil? Okay, maybe it's gone too far, but hey, it's only for a season – until peppermint takes over!
In the meantime, embrace the spice with some baking recipes that make the best of the spices of the season.
Click the spice below!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
