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Natalie macmaster step dancing12/24/2022 ![]() ![]() In concert situations few dancers have a set routine, and those who do are often in a synchronized performance with one or more people. While there are steps which are common to all dancers, and steps which are unique to particular dancers, dancing styles are as individual as the dancer. In metro Halifax, for example, there are at least half a dozen dance classes being offered throughout the year. ![]() As people become more interested in their Scottish roots and others are identifying with the international focus on all that is Celtic, the demand for stepdancing classes is on the rise. In the early 1970's, for example, there were classes being taught by such notable dancers as Margaret Dunn, Minnie MacMaster, and Fr. More recently, stepdancing classes began to sprout in many communities in Cape Breton and North Eastern Nova Scotia. In fact, Maggie Ann Beaton, in Allister MacGillivray's A Cape Breton Ceilidh, talks about her father having attended a dancing school in Mabou. There are, however, records of ‘dance masters’ who emigrated from Scotland and passed on their art form to their descendants and others who taught stepdancing in various communities in Cape Breton as early as 1790. Maggie Ann learned from her father, Donald Cameron, and she passed the dancing on to her daughter, Minnie, who in turn taught her daughter, Natalie MacMaster. One such family is the late Maggie Ann Beaton's of Southwest Mabou. Stepdancing is usually passed on in the home and some families are renowned for having generations of outstanding dancers. Although stepdancing has evolved somewhat, it has withstood the test of time and is a popular form on Cape Breton Island and indeed many parts of the mainland of Nova Scotia. Whether it is a solo performance on a concert stage or an intricate part of a set dance at a local hall, stepdancing is an artistic expression older than our highland ancestors themselves who introduced the tradition to the new world in the eighteenth century. ![]()
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