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!
Ballet Positions
Mar 24
Teacher Tips Tuesday
The Default Position
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Assume the position, dancers! First position, that is!"
Fresh off the Winter Olympics, dance teachers may find their dancers trying out some new "ready" positions! But seriously, folks ...
The ‘default position’ is a term coined by the Chairman of the RSCDS, William Williamson, to describe a dancer ready for action: alert, good posture, arms placed loosely at the sides of the body and, most importantly, feet in first position.
In Scottish Country Dancing (and Highland Dance), the positions most often emphasized by teachers—including the familiar ready first position—originate in classical ballet, where standardized foot placements were developed in 17th-century France. In practice, however, these positions are adapted for buoyancy, ease of travel, and musical flow rather than strict turnout for Country Dancers. The court dances that shaped early ballet likely drew on regional and folk movement patterns, and over time these were formalized and named, with the terminology later adopted into Scottish dance.
If your dancers have assumed the correct ready position, they will enjoy this elegant 32 bar strathspey by Dave Horsman of the Northwich & District Scots' Society for 3 ready couples which begins with the "Rose Progression" a meanwhile figure for 2 couples the evokes the twirl and petals of a blooming rose! A circle and a set and link for three (twice!) provides another chance to show off good posture and relaxed hands!
And some very particular teachers (who would that be, I wonder) would add a "ready" position should also exhibit a relaxed stillness, no fidgeting before the music starts and that first bow and curtsey! 🕺 💃 🩰 ❤️ 💜 ❤️ 🌹 🌹 🌹
The Default Position
Scottish country dance step positions developed from the court dances of 17th–18th century Europe, where movement was first formalized into recognizable foot placements and posture. In the court of Louis XIV, dance masters began codifying positions—what would later become the foundation of classical ballet through institutions like the Académie Royale de Danse.
At the same time, social dances such as those published by John Playford in The English Dancing Master spread throughout Britain. As these dances reached Scotland, they evolved into Scottish country dance, retaining the turned-out feet, balanced stance, and upright carriage of their courtly origins.
Over time, ballet developed these positions into a highly technical system, while Scottish country dance preserved a simpler, social version—what we now recognize as first position and the “ready position.” Today’s SCD stance is therefore not borrowed from ballet, but rather shares a common ancestry, reflecting an earlier European dance language shaped for elegance, clarity, and ease of movement.
For more on Scottish Country Dance steps and positions, click the first position, the ready position below!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
