Deiseil: Dancing in Time is a multi-disciplinary performance exploring the loss of stepdance, Scotland’s percussive dance tradition. Fiddle, feet, voice and images recreate the atmosphere of an old style gathering or “taigh cèilidh” to tell a story of community, identity and migration across centuries and into the present day. Deiseil (dʲeʃal/ sounds like jay-shal) is a Gaelic word which means ready, but also has an older meaning of clockwise or sunwise. This is reflected in patterns of the dance and also suggests how issues of culture and belonging are cyclical and recurring.
What is stepdance? Stepdance has its origins in 18th century Scotland, intrinsically linked with the rhythm of Gaelic language and song. It was preserved and nurtured by Scottish emigrants to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia at the time of the Clearances – but in Scotland it evolved into Highland dance and Scottish country dance, and the original way of rhythmically accompanying the music with the feet, in an informal and creative way, was almost forgotten. Amy and Alison learned from Cape Breton dancers who came here to teach in the 1990s, and they both immediately connected with the energy and lift of stepdance and its music.
Stepdance represents a key moment in Scottish history: the emigration of thousands of people across the Atlantic. The Clearances forced people away from communities and connections with the land: people held on to music, language, song and stepdance as a link to home. The questions they faced are still relevant to life in Scotland today: how to build sustainable communities; preserve traditions whilst still allowing them to live and grow; connect with the places where we live; cope with global change; shape our identities by expressing ourselves in individual and distinct ways.
The show crafts a narrative around these themes, in a collage of linked pieces of music, dance and song. It’s a non-linear, abstract telling, creating a new language of movement and sound in a subtle and thought-provoking way. The show reflects the complex rhythms of the dance – now rising to dizzying heights, now falling away to almost nothing, creating a dynamic between the vivacious and the moribund, between living and dying, between light and dark. It’s joyous and enormously entertaining, but with moments of poignancy and even flashes of anger.
Although the show is performed by two people, it features many voices, as audio recordings blend with the live music and dance. In particular, we highlight contributions from older and female tradition bearers. Gaelic language and culture is intrinsic to the show. Projected images further immerse an audience, drawing people in to the heart of our heritage. There are opportunities for audiences to use their own voices and feet to be part of the music. Some elements of the show, like traditional strathspeys and reels played on the fiddle, will be familiar to many audiences. These act as a doorway to less familiar elements: stepdance itself, Gaelic poetry, impressionistic ways of conveying the story.
Our model is “slow touring”: spending extended time with multiple performances and workshops in an area and engaging with new as well as existing audiences. In addition to performing the show, we will offer access and opportunities to try stepdance and also its music and song, developing whatever level of skill participants already have: we are highly skilled educators experienced in working with mixed age and ability groups through our previous community teaching work. We want to build connections with local artists who have involvement or interest in stepdance, offering them opportunities for sharing creative practice, and peer mentoring and support to continue with the provision of opportunities for stepdance in their communities. This will empower local artists and communities.
