Last Friday, September 16th, another session of “Viver a Cultura @Técnico Tagus” took place. This time, the session was integrated in the Welcome Program for new students who had just started in one of the four degrees of the Taguspark campus. It was a proposal of Scottish music and dances organised by Roger Picken, a great promoter of the practice of Scottish dances in the Lisbon region, in collaboration with António Bravo, a great enthusiast of this social dance, both being faculty members of the Department of Mathematics of Técnico.

On a small stage set up in the central atrium of the campus, musicians Tomás Gonçalves (violin) and Benoît Gibson (piano) set the tone for two folk songs with Gaelic roots: one fast (reel or jig) and the other slower (strathspey). Then came a proposal by Roger Picken for a dance in groups of four (two pairs), with pair swapping. Among students, teachers and staff present in the Central Atrium, a sufficient number of enthusiasts gathered for this first choreography. This was followed by a choreographic proposal of groups of eight people (four pairs) and a circle with a change of pairs, always accompanied by the musicians, with an entertaining adhesion of several dozen people.

In between, there was a brief explanation by António Bravo of the choreographic notation of these social dances and their relevance to the heritage of this popular art. The dances recorded in this way, accessible in a free access repository, can now be replicated and danced anywhere in the world.