The dance can be performed as a: • Four-step dance: usually danced by primary, beginner, and novice dancers at competitions. • Six-step dance: usually danced by intermediate and premier dancers at competitions. • Eight-step dance: very rarely at
Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing (SOBHD) competitions, although it is still danced at some traditional Highland Games. The first and last steps must always be placed in the same spot, but the other steps may be placed as the dancer chooses. For championships competitions the SOBHD specifies a different order of steps for each year. Dancers taking theory exams may also need to know all of these steps, as well as their order, depending on the level they reach. Musical accompaniment is usually provide by the
bagpipes), playing "Monymusk" or any other suitable
Strathspey tune.
Example steps These following steps are included in the SOBHD text book. The required
tempo is 114* beats per minute (bpm): • First Step: Shedding • Second Step: Back-stepping • Third Step: Toe-and-heel • Fourth Step: Rocking • Fifth Step: Second back-stepping • Sixth Step: Cross-over • Seventh Step: Shake and turn • Eighth Step: Last shedding There are many more steps in existence, some of which have been recorded in publications, for example,
Traditional Step-Dancing in Scotland while some exist only in the memories of senior dancers. In 2008 the SOBHD recommended a tempo of 112-124 bpm for the Highland Fling on 2008 is 112-124 bpm. This has slowed considerably over the years – from 192 bpm one hundred years ago, 152 bpm in the 1960s and then 134 bpm in the 1980s. ==In popular culture==