User:Bmkler23/Canadian stepdance

Cape Breton Step Dancing
The style of Cape Breton step dancing originated in the Scottish Highlands and Western Islands, with the large numbers of Scottish Gaels that left their ancestral homeland in great numbers, to settle on Cape Breton Island, which is now part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Large waves of Gaelic immigration happened all throughout the 18th-20th centuries, sometimes by force of their landlords, and other times voluntarily, in hopes of establishing a better life and cultural freedom. Often whole communities would come over either together, or in a pattern of chain migration, in order to preserve their language, and unique cultural practices and identity. One of these features is the Gaels' love of music and dance. Cape Breton step dancing emerged from solo step dances, which were likely not originally percussive in nature. These solo dances were the precursor to what would become the lively percussive steps now mentioned at the mention of “step dance.” The popular percussive steps brought over to Cape Breton by these Gaels continues to be passed on generationally, primarily in the home, and this informal style of transmission was able to continue on the island well into the late twentieth century, at which time formal classes started to become a more common transmission method, along with the radiation of learning from family and neighbours. While the style of step dancing brought to Cape Breton with the early Highland Gaelic settlers, known now as Cape Breton step dancing in it’s own right, was passed on and preserved in the New World, the tradition managed to die out in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, making it a unique element of Cape Breton culture, and allows for a glimpse into a nearly forgotten element of Scottish Gaelic culture, preserved, not in Scotland, but in Canada.

Cape Breton Step Dancing
The style of Cape Breton step dancing originated in the Scottish Highlands and Western Islands, with the large numbers of Scottish Gaels that left their ancestral homeland in great numbers, to settle on Cape Breton Island, which is now part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Large waves of Gaelic immigration happened all throughout the 18th-20th centuries, sometimes by force of their landlords, and other times voluntarily, in hopes of establishing a better life and cultural freedom. Often whole communities would come over either together, or in a pattern of chain migration, in order to preserve their language, and unique cultural practices and identity. One of these features is the Gaels' love of music and dance. Cape Breton step dancing emerged from solo step dances, which were likely not originally percussive in nature. These solo dances were the precursor to what would become the lively percussive steps now mentioned at the mention of “step dance.” The popular percussive steps brought over to Cape Breton by these Gaels continues to be passed on generationally, primarily in the home, and this informal style of transmission was able to continue on the island well into the late twentieth century, at which time formal classes started to become a more common transmission method, along with the radiation of learning from family and neighbours. While the style of step dancing brought to Cape Breton with the early Highland Gaelic settlers, known now as Cape Breton step dancing in it’s own right, was passed on and preserved in the New World, the tradition managed to die out in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, making it a unique element of Cape Breton culture, and allows for a glimpse into a nearly forgotten element of Scottish Gaelic culture, preserved, not in Scotland, but in Canada.