ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how dancing developed in Scotland between 1900 and 1955 through regulation and standardisation of both Scottish country dancing and Highland dancing. Twentieth-century developments in these two styles of Scottish dance were to focus particularly on the formation of societies to control all aspects of transmission and performance and on the production of increasingly detailed manuals. The combination of these developments led to standardisation of both Scottish country dancing and Highland dancing. The chapter assesses possible influences behind the formation of the Scottish Country Dance Society in 1923 and continues by focusing on Highland dancing in detail and by examining how it moved towards standardisation. It analyses G. Douglas Taylor’s ‘Highland Fling’ of 1929, which owed much to his publisher, Cyril Beaumont, a specialist in the exercises of the ballet master, Enrico Cecchetti. It continues with Donald G. MacLennan’s ‘Highland Fling’ of 1950. MacLennan’s elder brother William studied with Cecchetti. The chapter then considers the formation of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing and analyses the ‘Highland Fling’ in the first edition of the Board’s textbook of 1955 and concludes with a consideration of music and the Highland Fling.
