Historic Dance: Quadrilles in Edinburgh

Nathaniel Gow’s Dance Band

RCS tutor promotes concert and workshop

 Talitha Mackenzie is promoting a concert and dance workshop as part of a Bicentennial Celebration to honour Nathaniel Gow’s introduction of Quadrilles to Edinburgh.  The events are on 20th and 21st January 2017:-

• Concert: Friday 7.30 pm
• Quadrille Dance Workshop: Saturday 2.00-5.00pm

Edinburgh Assembly Rooms

Assembly Rooms Ballroom, 54 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2LR

• Concert Ticket now New Year Sale price £10!
• Workshop Ticket £15/£12 
• Combination Ticket now £20!

 “This is a brilliant and worthy project that is of great importance to our nation’s history of dance.”- Stuart Marsden.

Nathaniel Gow Dance Band - a stellar line-up of performers

Aaron McGregor Violin ~ Alison McGillivray Cello
Callum Armstrong Scottish Smallpipes, Recorder ~ Marie Fielding Violin
Featuring Simon Chadwick 18th century Clàrsach and Les Danses Antiques
led by Alena Shmakova, performing French Quadrilles and Scottish Country Dances

For more information: https://www.sonasmultimedia.co.uk or phone 0131 447 0091 

How old ARE Strathspeys and Reels?

If you don't mind coming in halfway through an ongoing discussion, you may find this paper of interest.  Michael Newton (University of North Carolina) continues a debate with Will Lamb (University of Edinburgh) about the origins of the strathspey and reel as dance and musical forms.
Read it here on Michael's Academia.edu page.

Keeping it Reel: the Origins of the Reel in a Scottish Gaelic Context, by Dr Michael Newton

The Boundless Energy of Niel Gow and Sons

Anyone involved in the Scottish music scene knows that Niel Gow and his sons - particularly Nathaniel - produced an enormous amount of fiddle music to dance to.

• Take a look at IMSLP and be amazed. 
• Find out what motivated those fiddling Gows!  Here's a new posting from the Bass Culture project about Niel and Nathaniel Gow's controlling influence.
• And another posting about Nathaniel's diversion into Scottish song repertoire: Nathaniel Gow's "small share of trouble". 
• When the Bass Culture website goes live this autumn, there will be much, much more digitized fiddle music for you to exclaim over at http://hms.scot  (At the moment it's just a holding page.)