TOPSHAM

On any given Thursday evening at the Topsham Grange, one can hear an up-tempo mix of accordion and fiddle echo through the hall. As the music rings out in 4/4 time, about a dozen dancers in leather shoes with criss-crossed laces form a circle.

A call goes out: “Just the ladies!”

The women enter the circle, clap once and there’s a “whoop!” from the dancers before the women gracefully step back out.

“Now the men!”

Taking a few steps forward, the men, clad in knee-length kilts, enter the circle. Another clap, another whoop, and the men back up before pairing with the women. Two-by-two, the dancers rotate like binary satellites around some unseen axis that just happens to be in the center of the grange hall.

Eric Bandurski of Waldoboro has been attending the weekly Scottish country dance class for about 10 years, initially inspired to join after seeing a demonstration.

“It was beautiful,” Bandurski said. “It was also very stimulating, mentally. In the beginning, it was very difficult for me. It’s still difficult — I don’t memorize dancing as easily as some people.”

Bandurski credits instructor Patti Tillotson for making the class so enjoyable.

“She’s an exceptional teacher,” Bandurski said.

Tillotson started the class in 2000. It grew out of her love of both dance and the Scottish culture — she is Scottish on her mother’s side.

“I grew up hearing bagpipes all the time,” Tillotson said.

Every country’s dance has its own unique style, according to Tillotson. Just as a country can be identified by a style of music, a nationality can be identified by a dance.

“To me, the Scottish dance music is very unique. … I love the music, I love the precision that goes with it,” Tillotson said. “There’s an energy about it. I just love it.”

Traditional Scottish country music, Tillotson said, is driven by fiddle, accordion, percussion and sometimes cello.

The style of dance has its roots in French country dance, when Mary Queen of Scots introduced it from her native France in the 1500s, according to Tillotson. The French influence, Tillotson said, can still be felt today.

“It was something the commoners can do,” Tillotson said.

Tillotson’s class practices reels, jigs and strathspey, a slower dance named for the Strathspey area in Scotland.

“The strathspeys have a beauty to them,” Tillotson said. “Some of them are very musical, some of them are very powerful.”

Tillotson described the quicktime reels and jigs as “just fun and energetic.”

“You can’t feel down when you listen to a quicktime,” Tillotson said.

Tillotson is also a musician, who plays Celtic harp as well as fiddle. She is also the president of the St. Andrews Society of Maine, whose mission is to promote and preserve Scottish culture and heritage, and best known locally for the Maine Highland Games held every year in the Midcoast.

In addition to her work with the St. Andrews Society, she also owns a small Scottish shop in Harpswell — Thistles & Things — selling Scottish jewelry, pottery and ceramics. She also sells Scottish dance shoes, called ghillies — a leather, soft-soled, form-fitting shoe.

Scottish country dance is distinct from its cousin, Scottish Highland dancing, a form of step dancing.

“Highland dance is very solo,” Tillotson said. “Scottish country dance is a social dance.”

Tillotson’s class is part of a larger group — the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, based in Edinburgh. Five years before her coronation, Queen Elizabeth II — a dancer herself — became patron of the society in 1947.

Being part of the society and knowing the dance means Tillotson has the opportunity to connect with other dancers from across the globe, as she did on a recent trip to Cyprus.

“I can travel anywhere in the world — take my dance shoes and join a dance class, and meet new people, because of Scottish dance.”

She said she wants the class to be the basis for creating new friendships among students.

“We really are a family,” Tillotson said. “We come from different backgrounds, abilities, professions. We just all gel as a group.”

The class allows participants to meet new people and get out for a night. Tillotson said she enjoys teaching the class and the positive reaction her students get.

“If you can count to eight you can do it,” Tillotson said. “So many of the patterns we do are in eight-bar-counts. We can help anybody. For some people it’s like learning to ride a bike — eventually, something just clicks. For others, if they have a sense of rhythm, it’s never a problem. Others, we just take more time to work with.”

“It’s a new way to exercise, a new way to enjoy music, a new way to enjoy the culture,” Tillotson said.”

As to what parts of a body get a workout during class, Tillotson said it’s “all of them.”

“It’s very good for our health — mental and physical,” Bandurski said. “You meet some wonderful people. There are a lot of friends here.”

The class, she says, is for all ages and all abilities.

“It’s great fun,” said Melanie Lee of Auburn. “You always have to be thinking. The people here are fun to be around and fun to dance with. It’s just a great way to spend an evening.”

Lee noted that the patterns can get quite complex. There’s a lot of multitasking happening.

“If you’re at a dance party, you have to know (the steps), because they’re not going to be calling it during the dance,” Lee said. “You can go any place in the world and find a group. The figures are the same, the music is the same.”

“It attracts a lot of physics and math people because of the complicated pattern,” said Alan Blum of Harpswell, who is a psychologist in his professional life. “I love the really complicated patterns. The more complicated patterns the better. My linear left brain goes away and I can just move.”

Just dance

Scottish Country Dance takes place Thursdays at the Topsham Grange at 47 Pleasant St., Topsham

Beginner classes start at 6 p.m. General classes are 6:30-8:30 p.m. Donation of $4 per class. Singles and couples welcome.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

 

 

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