Stepdance is a percussive dance form native to Scotland and which was an integral part of our musical traditions up until the nineteenth century, when it was largely extinguished due to cultural suppression, mass emigration and evolution into more modern dance forms such as Highland dance.  It has links with Irish sean-nos dance, and many different forms of clogging in Europe and north America.

Although little known in Scotland, stepdance remains a strong part of the culture in Cape Breton, Canada and was reintroduced to Scotland in the 1990’s by Cape Breton dancers.  However, despite pockets of strong interest, stepdance is not well integrated into the Scottish traditional music scene.

The Scottish Stepdance Company aims to expand public experience of and participation in stepdance through showcasing it as an exciting and accessible living tradition.

The Scottish Stepdance Company was formed in 1998 and toured toured extensively over a period of about six years, before taking an extended break due to members’ other commitments. Festival performances included Celtic Connections, Cambridge Folk Festival and Shetland Folk Festival, with numerous tours notably to Norway, Russia, Italy, the north of England and the Western Isles. Since re-forming in 2013, we’ve performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Dusherra Indian Festival, and as part of Pathhead Music Collective’s Creative Places series of events.

Our current line-up features:

 Amy Geddes – fiddle, song, dance

  Alison Carlyle – dance, fiddle

  Rory Campbell – pipes, whistle, song

Kevin Mackenzie – guitar

  John Sikorski – dance

Keri – dance

For booking enquiries, please contact Alison Carlyle on scottishstepdance@hotmail.com