Author: Dorothy McLean
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Winter Events 2025/6
There were 15 cheerful souls at our tea party on Saturday, and I thank the host very much for his hospitality. We feasted on sandwiches, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. We supped tea and coffee. The fair assembly patiently listened to my paper (which turned out to be longer than 10 minutes) and…
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“The Fair Assembly”: Social Dancing in Edinburgh from 1705
The best general history of social dancing in Scotland I have found so far is called Oh, How We Danced: The History of Ballroom Dancing in Scotland by Elizabeth Casciani (1994), and you will be able to find it in the Music department of the Edinburgh Central Library (GV1619) after I return it. Most, but…
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The Tea Party, Etc.
The regular crowd at Mrs McLean’s Waltzing Party have been invited to a tea party on October 25, and I will be giving there a brief address on the subject of the history of social dancing in Edinburgh. If you aren’t in the WhatsApp group, but should be, send me a message Père Tabouret For…
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The Children’s Ceilidh
I’m excited to announce plans for a New Year’s Children’s Ceilidh for Parents who Love the Traditional Latin Mass (and Their Bairns). This will be in Edinburgh in mid-January 2026. So far our plans involve an enthusiastic dance teacher and an inquiry sent to our usual waltzing party hall. Watch this space, as they say.…
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Welcoming
On Sunday I spied a new family coming into the parish hall for After-Mass Tea. Perhaps “new” is the wrong word to use, for members of this family have been coming to our Mass recently, thanks in part to the Michaelmas dance workshops held around the corner. However, the Michaelmas Dance is over and done,…
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Theologians of Dance
Every once in a while, a blogger should pick up an actual book on his or her topic. A book (in case you’ve forgotten) is a pile of paper pages with printing on them, sewn together and then sewed or glued into a foldable cardboard frame. The company that does the printing, sewing and glueing,…
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A Village or the Parish
I have been musing over the role of dance in friendship and so turned again to Michael Platt’s astonishing and insightful 2009 essay “A Different Drummer.” Actually a thoughtful jeremiad against rock music, Platt’s composition beautifully captures what social dancing was before rock atomised us all: Rock ‘n roll being danceable, if only in a loose, nay…
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A Very Merry Michaelmas!
Happy Feast Day! It’s a beautiful day in Edinburgh, the sun having burned away the mist. There are crunchy yellow leaves huddled up in the corners of the streets, and there’s a bracing chill in the air. Yes, it’s certainly autumn, with all the coziness – “coorie” in Scotland – that implies to enjoy. “Coorie…
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Carrot cake for Michaelmas
The Michaelmas Dance 2025 is tomorrow night, so I’m taking a short moment before writing out a final shopping list to reflect on traditions old and new. Deeply sunk in the earth of my mind are carrots, for I always bake a large carrot cake for the ticketed dances. Four cups of grated carrots are…
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May I have this dance?
We held our third and last pre-Michaelmas Dance workshop yesterday, and I was delighted with it. For one thing, we had 8 women (and girls) to 11 men (and boys), a workable ratio. For another, I taught an addition to the basic waltz step (heel forward, toe back) and could see people getting it. (Incidentally,…