Today is the Global Day of Action called by Egyptian groups at COP27 – the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. In solidarity with the Global Day of Climate Action we are excited to release the first short segment of our new Traditional Dance Forum … Continued

Recently, Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland was selected as one of the major partners for work experience placements of MSc students in Dance Science and Education from the University of Edinburgh. Over the academic year 2022/23 we were tasked with mentoring three student teachers – all dance professionals with a scientific foundation for the teaching … Continued

It’s #NationalPoetryDay 2022 and as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories we celebrate the bonds between traditional dance and poetry with a new Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland commission. Beira and Bride is a newly-commissioned poem by Donald Smith, an Edinburgh-based storyteller, novelist, playwright and performance poet. He is an author and contributor to numerous … Continued

Bring your lunch and join us for al fresco circle dance, poetry and live music on Thursday, 22 September 2022, 12 noon in the circle backgreen of our home – the Scottish Storytellng Centre. Rain or shine, enjoy the ancient dancing in a circle, known in Bulgaria as ‘horo’, but presented by Scottish dance artists … Continued

Review by Iliyana Nedkova and Eleanor Sinclair. Video by Euan Gilmour and Nic Gareiss. Images by Iliyana Nedkova The first iteration of Pomegranates – a mini-festival of traditional international dance – initiated and curated by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland – was conceived to mark International Dance Day on 29 and 30 April 2022 … Continued

This World Storytelling Day, Sat 20 March 2021 at 7.30pm, TRACS is hosting a European Ceilidh to reach out to our friends, celebrate and strengthen our connections across Europe. As Lorenzo, one of our participating storytellers, put it so beautifully “If our stories have no borders, why should we?”. Of course, a traditional Ceilidh includes … Continued

TRACS is delighted to be assisting Creative Scotland and other partners in delivering a pilot programme of Traditional Arts Mentoring, building on work undertaken by the Traditional Music Forum. The aim is to exchange knowledge, skills and experience between the generations. The programme is aimed at early or mid-career practitioners in Scotland. Successful applicants will … Continued

We just celebrated the summer solstice–the longest day of the year–on Sunday, and we’re enjoying the longer daylight hours that summer brings. On Wednesday 24 June, we will celebrate midsummer in Scotland. Midsummer has its roots as a Celtic fire festival, blessing the crops for a fruitful summer harvest with bonfires and using torches to … Continued

It’s been hard to miss the various creative responses to the restrictions, mandatory and self-imposed, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. From the weekly outbreak of applause, pot-banging and bell-ringing in appreciation of the health workers, to rainbows in windows, and comedian Janey Godley’s affectionate parodies of the First Minister, people have been making sense of … Continued

For many years two important parts of my life ran along in parallel. My life in traditional dance arose from my own enjoyment of Irish and Scottish social dance and the old-style stepping traditions of both countries. Sharing the Irish Sets and Scottish Cèilidh dances I learned over the years seemed a natural thing to … Continued