Schottische

Couples form a large circle, facing counter-clockwise. The boy has the girl on his right side.

The boy holds the girl at the small of her back with his right hand; the girl places her left hand on the boy's shoulder. Their outer arms hang down by their sides.

The steps danced are Schottische steps and skipping/hopping steps.

Explanation

1. Start with the outer foot: dance three small, light skipping steps and then one small hop/skip (cue: 'one-two-three-hop').

Continue in the same way, but now starting with the inner foot. Repeat this twice (2×(1–4)).

2. The boy turns towards the girl and puts both arms around her waist. The girl places both hands on the boy's shoulders.

Over four beats, they turn twice clockwise (count 'one-two-three-four').

The boy releases the hold on the last beat and is ready to start the dance again.

Progression (Learning)

It is an advantage if participants have learned the Circassian Circle before starting the Schottische. This dance has the same beat (1–2–3–4) and almost identical steps – one only needs to adjust the height of the steps.

• In Schottische, one dances with low steps and little lift of the foot on the fourth beat.
• As in Strekkpolka, learning can begin with everyone walking in a line in curves and semicircles, following the music and imitating the steps after a leader.

The goal is to end up with the pattern:

• 1–2–3–hop, 1–2–3–hop, hop–hop–hop–hop
• Once this is established, practice in pairs in a circle with the correct handhold.

The next step is to dance around. Here the boy must learn to quickly step into the turn:

• First, practice going around once.
• When going around twice, it is important to open the dance hold at the end, so that one is ready to move forward again.

Participants will then have learned the Schottische steps and can use them further, for example, in a four-person Schottische.