A dirk dance is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

performed while brandishing a

dirk A dirk is a long-bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.); "Dagger", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729. Historically, it gained its name from the Highland dirk (Scott ...

. It is a

solo dance A solo dance is a dance done by an individual dancing alone, as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner. ...

but can be performed by two or more people dancing in unison. The dance is quite different in style from the better known Highland dances and in many ways imitates the use of a dirk in fighting. Research suggests that the dance may, in fact, have originated as a series of moves for training in the use of the dirk. There are records showing that a Dirk Dance was included in Highland Dance competitions in 1841.Webster, David, Scottish Highland Games, 1959 ed., pg.33 The dance was recorded by J. F. and T. M. Flett in their book, ''Traditional Step-Dancing in Scotland'', after they learned it from Mary Isdale Mac Nab of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. She in turn had learned the dance in the 1900s from Scottish piping and dance champion, D.C. Mather. Another tradition of dirk dance, now lost, involved two dancers. In this dance, one is "killed" with the dirk, but then resurrected by his/her sorrowful partner. A dirk dance from the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

was also recovered by Manx folk researcher, Mona Douglas. In this version, the dancer wields a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

. Highland dance was also performed with other

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

including the Lochaber axe, the

broadsword The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. This varie ...

flail Flail may refer to: * Flail (tool), an agricultural implement for threshing * Flail (weapon) A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail i ...

, and paired

targe The targe is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his ...

and dirk. The Highland Dirk Dance resembles a combative dance similar to those of Indonesian Pentjak Silat, which has the performer executing knife techniques combined with

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

style kicks, trips and sweeps. One version of the dance involved attacking and defensive techniques with single-sticks and targe shields and was last performed in Britain in 1850 by two brothers named MacLennan, one of whom was a colleague of Mr Mather.

References

External links

Scottish Combat Academy article on the dirk danceA book containing some discussion of the Dirk Dance in context of knife fighting''Restoring to Use Our Almost Forgotten Dances: The Collection and Revival of Manx Folk Song and Dance'' by Mona Douglas
{{Scottish folk music Culture of Scotland Scottish dances War dances

See also

References

External links