Highland Dance TENT - 2026
Highland Dance COMPETITION
Judges evaluate a dancer on three major criteria: timing, technique and deportment. While Highland Dances were originally danced by men only, nowadays they're one of the only sports where men and women compete alongside one another. Dance steps are standardized by the Royal Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing (RSOBHD) and competitions are held worldwide. The Highland Dance competition here at the Virginia Games is held annually on the Saturday of the Games. Come watch dancers of all levels, from age 5 to 50 and above!
OTHER STYLES OF CELTIC DANCING
- Starting in 2022, on Sundays in the Highland Dance tent demonstrate a wide variety of performances of many different styles of Scottish and Celtic Dancing, in addition to more Highland Dancing, including but not limited to…
- Scottish Country Dancing - the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are set to musical forms (Jigs, Reels and Strathspey Reels) which come from the Gaelic tradition of Highland Scotland, as do the steps used in performing the dances. Traditionally a figure corresponds to an eight-bar phrase of music.
- Scottish Step Dancing - a mix between Scottish Country Dancing and Highland Dancing’s Scottish National Dances, for solo dancers or groups. Step Dances also originate from 18th and 19th century dancing masters and have both French and Irish influences. These dances are not as standardized as Highland dances, and can vary greatly from region to region.
- Irish Dancing - characterized by the rigid upper body and intricate footwork of its performers, Irish step dancing falls into two broad categories based on the shoes worn: 'hard shoe' and 'soft shoe' dances.
- Appalachian Clogging - a uniquely American style of dancing, it originates from the percussive step dancing brought over by Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 18th Century. It has also been influenced by traditional American Indian dances, African American buck dancing, and more recently, hip hop and ballet.
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