Tha D airson Dannsa​ / D is for Dance (360G-BNG-TFC-2023-00541)

The Taic Freumhan Coimhearsnachd award will enable us at the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to curate Tha D airson Dannsa / D is for Dance – traditional artists-in-residency programme within Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce, Edinburgh's dedicated Gaelic medium primary school from April 2023 until March 2024.  Our artists-in-residence programme will deliver a series of after-school Scottish step dance workshops to students primarily through the medium of Gaelic. The dance workshops will be supported by local Gaelic singers providing puirt à beul tuition and accompaniment. In addition, Tha D airson Dannsa / D is for Dance will be celebrated through a number of public engagement events, including square dance ceilidhs and afternoon teas for the local Gaelic speaking community. Our programme will also be incorporated as part of the current school-wide drama project in partnership with Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre.  The residency will explore the relationship between Gaelic song and dance covering strathspeys, reels, jigs and puirt à beul. The workshops will provide space for the young people to learn and practice Gaelic song and dance whilst the supplementary events will engage a wider demographic, encouraging engagement with Gaelic in social contexts.  The intended aims and outcomes are to: • Increase knowledge and skills in both step dance and puirt à beul among young people • Encourage their use of Gaelic in informal social contexts • Connect, strengthen and grow the Gaelic speaking community in the Lothians • Provide professional opportunities for Gaelic artists in the region • Establish an on-going partnership between Traditional Dance Forum of Scotlandand Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce • Increase awareness of the history of Scottish step dancing and social dancing • Ensure outreach of the rich cultural connection between Scotland and Cape Breton • Provide free-of-charge and consistent (not one-off) opportunity for the children to meet other people in Edinburgh/Lothians outwith school who speak Gaelic Ultimately, Tha D airson Dannsa / D is for Dance project will assert the importance of step dance as an integral part of Gaelic culture hand in hand with puirt and thus support and encourage wider participation in this traditional dance form. Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland Established in 2014, we are a national cultural organisation registered as a charity and run by a board of voluntary trustees. We are set around a growing membership base of individual dance artists, practitioners and groups committed to cultural activities using world dance as a socially-engaged practice. We are affiliated with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage – an opportunity to seek further advocacy and recognition, including for participatory traditional step dance and Gaelic song. Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce is Edinburgh's only dedicated Gaelic medium primary school. With over 400 children in attendance, the school fosters a learning environment of the highest quality, with Gaelic language and culture at its heart. This will be the first partnership between Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce building on the success of our ongoing partnership with Edinburgh's primary school through the C is for Ceilidh Dance Club: https://www.tdfs.org/news-post/newsid/24501-c-is-for-ceilidh/ Please note that a letter of support towards Tha D airson Dannsa / D is for Dance project from Sarah Moore, Principal Teacher of Expressive Artsat Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pàirce, is available upon request