page_title: Scottish highland dance
section_title: National dances
hierarchical_section_title: Scottish highland dance / Types of dances / National dances
caption_attribution_description: Scottish national dancing at the 2005 Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mount Vernon, Washington. The dancer is wearing the Aboyne dress for females.
context_page_description: Highland dance or Highland dancing is a style of competitive dancing developed in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in the context of competitions at public events such as the Highland games. It was created from the Gaelic folk dance repertoire, but formalised with the conventions of ballet', and has been subject to influences from outside the Highlands. Highland dancing is often performed with the accompaniment of Highland bagpipe music, and dancers wear specialised shoes called ghillies. It is now seen at nearly every modern-day Highland games event.
  Highland dance should not be confused with Scottish country dance, cèilidh dancing, or clog dancing, although they may be demonstrated at presentations and present at social events.
context_section_description: At Highland games, the National dances include the Scottish Lilt, the Earl of Erroll, Blue Bonnets, Hielan' Laddie, the Scotch Measure, Flora MacDonald's Fancy, Village Maid and Barracks Johnny, which illustrate the history of dancing and other aspects of Scottish culture and history. Some of the National dances were taught by dancing masters in the 19th century and show a balletic influence, while others derive from earlier traditions and were adapted to later tastes. The 'Earl of Erroll', for example, is based on an 18th-century percussive hard shoe footwork, although today's Highland dancers perform it in soft Ghillies. Some of the National dances were preserved and taught by dance masters such as D.G. MacLennan and Flora Buchan, while some were interpreted and reconstructed in the mid-20th century from notes written in Frederick Hill's 1841 manuscript.
  For National dances, female dancers may wear an 'aboyne' (after the Aboyne Highland Games, where women are not allowed to wear kilts for dancing to this day, and so an outfit was devised as an alternative).
caption: Scottish national dancing at the 2005 Skagit Valley Highland Games. The dancer is wearing the Aboyne dress for females.
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-FZ20", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 6.5.1", "Image DateTime": "2005:07:12 04:11:51", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.3.5", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "246", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6562", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6248", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "37/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:07:10 11:05:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:07:10 11:05:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "49/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "147", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}