Dancing
EVENTS AT THE GAMES : Highland Dancing
Almost all Highland Games will include a dance competition, and a formal dance called the 'Ceilidh' is usually held the night before with patrons, special guests and VIPs attending in formal Scottish attire.
Highland dancing has evolved into a highly competitive and technical form of dancing involvig many hours of hard work training. Like most Highland Games events, Highland Dancing includes mandatory tartan and bagpipe music.
There are many Highland dances, most of whch can be traced back to family clans. Some, however, have more interesting stories behind them:
Sword dancing...
The famous Highland Sword Dance involves dancing on, and moving nimbly around, two naked swords. Legend has it that on the eve of battle the Highland Chief would call out the clan's best dancers and if they successfully avoided touching the blades the the clan would win the battle.
The Highland Fling, which is danced on a spiked shield, was originally performed at the end of a battle. The flicking of the feet, jumping and careful stepping around the spike were supposed to drtive evil spirits away.
The Reel of Tulloch has a darker story surrounding it : the unique movements are said to have originated from a game of football played with the severed head of an enemy...