Sarasota Scottish Country Dance Group

04/22/2026

What a great weekend!

04/22/2026

Hello dancers,
We're back in Sarasota after a fantastic weekend at the 31st annual Loch Norman Scottish Dance and Ball in beautiful Huntersville, North Carolina. It was wonderful to meet so many friendly dancers from the Carolina groups, including the Blue Ridge Dance School, the Charleston group, the Atlanta branch, and of course a few of us from Florida. What a lovely time, amazing program, and an all-around great weekend! The Hopewell Baptist Church is a gorgeous venue for hosting such an event, and having the Highland Games there that weekend was a bonus. The games drew a very nice crowd, and it was such a pleasure to dance during the day at the games. Some demo dancers even competed in Philadelphia the week before and took second place in their division.
If anyone ever gets the chance to attend the 32nd or future events, I highly recommend joining this wonderful community of dancers who come together for a memorable weekend in the Carolinas. We also managed to fit in a small hike on Friday morning, which was invigorating.

04/07/2026

Upcoming Dance Events and Practice Schedule

Welcome Back to the Dance Floor
Hello dancers! It’s almost Thursday, which means it’s time to gather again and return to the dance floor. Since we all missed last week’s dance, I’m sure everyone is looking forward to getting back out there and enjoying another evening together.

This Week’s Dance Activities
Doris has prepared a wonderful selection of dances for us to enjoy Thursday night. In addition to our usual routines, we will also be practicing some special dances in anticipation of our upcoming performance at the Dunedin Highland Games, happening this Saturday, April 11th.

The dances we’ll be practicing include:

The Cuddy
Byron Strathspey
Mairi’s Wedding
A Trip to Drakensberg
Shiftin Bobbins
Wind on Loch Fyne
Important Dates and Schedule Updates
Please note that we will not be dancing on April 16th. Doris and I will be attending the 31st Annual Loch Norman Scottish Dance and Ball in Charlotte, NC, which will take place on April 17th and 18th.

We look forward to resuming our regular dance schedule on April 23rd.

03/25/2026

Hello Dancers,

It's almost Thursday night again, time to get on the dance floor.
Doris is doing a very good job finding some nice dances for us to enjoy.
Thank you Doris for putting in such an effort for all of us.
Please let know if you will be dancing with us tomorrow.

Also, just a reminder we will NOT be dancing this April 2nd or April 16th.

We encourage you all to attend Dunedin's Highland Games and Scottish Festival this April 11th, 8am-6:30pm.
It is a fabulous event for the whole family.
Cheers,

Rick

03/21/2026

We dance on Thursday nights too.

03/18/2026

Hello Dancers,

It's almost Thursday again time to get on the dance floor. Doris had some really good dances for us last week and I know she will have some more fun ones for us to do tomorrow night.
Please let me know if you will be able to attend.
Cheers,
Rick

03/11/2026

Upcoming Scottish Country Dancing
Events in Charlotte, NC

Ball Program Announcement

Hello dancers,
We are excited to announce that we have just received the ball program for the upcoming Scottish country dancing event in Charlotte, NC. This event will take place on April 17th and 18th. We look forward to joining our old friends on the dance floor, as well as meeting and dancing with new participants. We hope that many of you will be able to make the trip to Charlotte and enjoy Scottish country dancing together.

Concurrent Events: Loch Norman Highland Games

One of the wonderful aspects of attending the Charlotte Scottish country dance ball is that the Loch Norman Highland Games will be happening at the same time. The games are scheduled for April 18th and 19th at Historic Rural Hill, near Lake Norman, North Carolina. This offers a great opportunity to experience both events during your visit—a true “double dip” of Scottish culture and festivities. There will also be Scottish dancing at the games for everyone to enjoy.
We hope to see you all there!

03/08/2026

You don't need a kilt, just a good sense of humor! Scottish Country Dancing is a type of high-energy court dancing. It is a little different than the Highland Dancing you may have seen. It is done as a group with all the members weaving patterns around each other. It's free and no partner is necessary. No Scottish heritage is necessary either! So if you have a pair of soft shoes (ballet, jazz, and ghillies are great, but also not necessary) throw them in the car and come dance. And If you're up for it, join us for a pint at the local pub afterwards as well.

02/28/2026

https://youtu.be/yJK0wkDm_R4?si=h852tZrDsRPF-WJH

Thanks to H.B. of the South Simcoe SCD Group for this brief intro to Scottish country dance. South Simcoe page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top...

02/25/2026

Feb 25 - Scottish Country Dance of the Day, "Haud Yer Wheesht" for Quiet Day!

"Shhhhhh and Wheesht!"

Talking too much in Scottish Country Dance class? A stern look or wry comment from your teacher? Naughty, naughty!

A full day for quietude may be just too long for the average dancer.

Admittedly, it is difficult to not catch up with friends, suppress a witty remark pr dancing pun, or even provide a "helpful" comment while the teacher is teaching, but restraint can be a virtue!

Save the teacher's voice and preserve their patience by giving them your quiet attention for as long as possible! If you are in a particularly boisterous class, a "Shhhhhh" or a "Wheesht" might be heard occasionally.

First used in the 14th century, ‘wheesht’ can be used as a verb, a noun, and an interjection as in asking someone to ‘haud their wheesht’.

Ironically, the word itself comes from adding more sounds to the original and widely-used command to ‘shh’, which acts as the root for the Scots word.

It also features in English as ‘whisht’, but has fallen out of "shushing" favour compared to its Scots counterpart! However, many languages have similar sounds showing its effectiveness and universality for keeping talkative Scottish Country Dancers quiet while the teacher is attempting to teach (wink, wink).

🇺🇸 USA — Shhh!
🇬🇧 UK — Shhh!
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland — Wheesht!
🇫🇷 France — Chut!
🇩🇪 Germany — Psst!
🇪🇸 Spain — Chist!
🇯🇵 Japan — Shii! (シー!)

However, a "heuch" during the last circle of this 32-bar jig is perfectly acceptable, or for a change, substitute a "wheesht" for fun on this day of quietude! 💛 🧡 💛 😆 🤫

For more related facts and folklore along with dancing details, visit the website at: https://www.scottishcountrydanceoftheday.com/daysoftheyear/haud-yer-wheesht