Scottish Highland Dancing
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The Karen McPhillips School of Highland Dancing is located in the Sydney suburbs of Penshurst and Bankstown, NSW, Australia. The school teaches both boys and girls from 3 years of age. See our News and Information page for Class Information, Term Dates and Contact Details. Highland dancing is a form of Celtic Scottish Dancing and is different from Scottish Country Dancing. The country dancing is more social dancing performed in groups. Highland dancing for the most part is performed solo. Students can do exams, competitions and displays or just learn for fun and exercise. Highland Dance is a traditional style of dancing from Scotland. It is one of two dance forms in the world that are danced entirely on the ball of the foot. The music is played on the bagpipes and the dancer usually wears a kilt. While each dance has many different steps, only |
four to six steps are selected and danced each time. Modern highland dance is very competitive. Competition raises the level of performance of Highland Dancing. Performing the dances within the community is becoming more popular with the growing knowledge of this dance form and the appreciation of the skills necessary. Highland dancing is very vigorous and it requires flexibility, strength, agility, and lots of stamina. Highland dances require both athletic and artistic skill and are danced both informally and in competition. Long hours of practice are required for a dancer to become proficient enough to dance the intricate figures, lightly and gracefully as they should be danced. Traditionally the Highland dances were performed by the men and the National dances were danced by the women. Highland dancing is far more enjoyable for the spectator if something is known of the history of the dance, the fine points to watch for, and how the dancers are judged on their performance.
Our Aim
Our aim is to teach Highland Dancing while building confidence and self esteem. This is an energetic form of dance and is a great alternative to ballet and jazz. Students will learn coordination, timing and balance.Classes
Students are placed in classes based on age and ability. If the age and ability of the child is not correct for the class they are currently attending, the teacher will speak to the parent about moving the child to a different class. "Little Lads and Lassies" class for the under 5’s concentrates on movement to music and basic positions and movements. The movements will later be put together to form dance steps. Students over 5 are usually in a separate class. These students will concentrate on traditional dances using the basic positions and movements.Our Students
Our students have the opportunity to dance out at Events that are held throughout the year. On some occasions, it may be at large events where our students will perform with Pipe Bands and other Highland Dancers from all over Sydney and beyond (eg. Scottish Week, Tartan Day and Gatherings). On other occasions, our students may be performing at Formal Events, Charity and School Fund Raisers.In all cases, the students take pride in their performance and enjoy themselves.
We also perform as Sydney's Highland Dancers. At these occasions we are joined by dancers from other studios such as the Argyle Highlanders.
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