Dancing, Places to find dance steps & instruction

[Gordon]

Does anyone know of any sites on the net that pertain to learning some traditional Scottish dance steps?
I'm attending a tartan ball in November and, unfortunately, am unskilled at dancing so I was looking for sites that might offer steps or tutorials for some of the basics. So far, google searches have yielded a ton of commercially available videos (and only a few are offered by Scotland based videographers or dance studios - the majority being what I think are just hits due to keyword content since many of them, the sites weren't even in english or any form of it).

[barddas]

It might help if you look for a folk dancing club in your area. I just found out there is a branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dancers Society in my neck of the woods!!! Lessons are VERY Cheap! ( $3.50) I may have to look into this...
But I would try a google search of your town or nearest big town and Scottish folk dance in the search....

[Ceciliastar1]

interesting...

[Rosemary]

At risk of sounding stupid here, what exactly is a tartan ball? It sounds cool, whatever it is.

[Gordon]

Rosemary, as the saying goes, "there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers."

As for what a tartan ball is, it is a formal ball (dancing) in which the men usually wear their formal kilt outfits (kilt, Prince Charlie jacket, vest, etc) and the ladies are expected to also wear their finest attire. Music is provided, most times, by some of the bands attending the festival or hired out.
Being as this is going to be my first, that is the best answer I can give. Maybe one of the others on the forums can elaborate on my answer.

[Catriona]

I'm sorry, I don't know about any dance classes in the USA - but this is one of the best known Scottish Dancing sites - it's based in Edinburgh (my home town) and is a mine of information. You might be able to get information which will help you from this site.

http://www.scottishdance.net/

I've never heard of a Tartan Ball either, but presume it is a ball where the men where evening dress kilts and the women wear white gowns with tartan plaids or formal evening gowns? That is the usual attire for St Andrew's Day dances, held on 30 November both in Scotland and all over the world where the Scots have immigrated. I have attended St Andrew's Day Balls in places as diverse as Australia, Dubai and Italy!

I have attended a lot of Scottish balls in Scotland - most of the dances are termed 'country dances' such as reels, strathspeys etc. Dances like the 'Gay Gordons', 'the Dashing White Sergeant', 'Strip the Willow' etc.

[Gordon]

I want to thank all of you for your replies but, alas, looks like learning to dance is not in my future for now.
I'm beginning school this week full-time for the next 9 months and unfortunately, the classes would clash with my school schedule, especially once I begin my internship. I will say though, that anyone interested should follow Barddas' advice and check with the Royal Scottish Country Dancers Society since they list chapters in many areas. I was contacted off-list by another member and found that there is a Dallas Scottish Country Dancers Society just north of me. At 5 dollars a lesson with the first one free, that is honestly pretty cheap. I had looked into ballroom lessons at one time and those ran 45-60 dollars a class. Ouch.

Anywho, thanks again everyone