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!
Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects a charge in a Leyden jar
Jun 15
Electricity Day
The Errant Electron
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Never trust an electron—it always has a negative attitude."
~ Electrical engineering humour
Those naughty electrons never seem to know their place—either they're giving you an unexpected zap or quietly running up your electricity bill!
Dancers, have you met the negatively charged electron in dance form? And have you encountered The Electron Reel, sometimes called a Symmetrical Reel? If not, prepare to add another intriguing figure to your reel repertoire!
This dance for four couples opens with a circle, bringing to mind those classic early illustrations of the atom. From there, the dancers move through three-couple and four-couple Electron Reels, as the errant electrons weave and wander through the set, evoking the familiar images many of us first saw in school, with electrons seemingly circling around the nucleus.
The inspiration comes from one of science's most important discoveries. In 1897, English physicist J. J. Thomson was experimenting with electrical currents in glass tubes when he identified a tiny negatively charged particle far smaller than an atom. He had discovered the electron—the first subatomic particle ever found.
Scientists initially imagined atoms rather like a plum pudding, with electrons embedded throughout a larger mass. As research advanced, that picture evolved. Experiments revealed a tiny, dense nucleus at the center of the atom, with electrons occupying the space around it. Those early atomic diagrams became some of the most recognizable scientific images of the 20th century.
Dance positively (or negatively), dancers! And keep an eye on those errant electrons—one energetic shuffle across the carpet and you may find yourself giving your partner a truly shocking surprise! 🕺 💃 💜 🖤 💜 ⚛️ ⚛️ ⚛️ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
The Errant Electron
On June 15, 1752, Benjamin Franklin is said to have conducted his famous kite experiment, helping to demonstrate that lightning and electricity were connected. While popular illustrations often show a lightning bolt striking the kite, that isn't what happened. Had it done so, Franklin likely would not have survived the experience! Instead, electrical charge from the storm clouds traveled down the wet kite string, allowing him to draw sparks from a key attached to the line.
More than a century later, scientists discovered the tiny particle that makes electricity possible: the electron.
In 1897, J. J. Thomson identified the electron while experimenting with electrical currents in glass tubes. It was the first subatomic particle ever discovered, revealing that atoms were not indivisible after all. At first, scientists pictured electrons embedded within atoms like raisins in a pudding. Later discoveries showed that electrons occupy regions around a dense central nucleus, and modern quantum physics describes them as existing in "clouds" of probability rather than neat little orbits.
Still, dancers need a fixed path. For more on the elusive and errant electron, click the picture of electron clouds!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
