Seann triubhas
type of dance
The seann triubhas (pronounced [ʃãũn̪ˠ ˈt̪ɾu.əs̪], approximately shown-TROOSS) is a Highland dance, and is usually done in kilt. Its name is a Scottish Gaelic phrase which means 'old trousers'.
Origins
There has been a widely accepted story that the kicking or sweeping movements of the legs in the first step represented the attempt of the dancer to shake off the "despicable" trews, but D. G. MacLennan wrote in Traditional Highland and Scottish Dances that "this first step has nothing to do with the idea of kicking off the trews, but ... is new to the dance and was composed by myself". The seann triubhas, then, is simply about a pair of old trews which may or may not have been a subject of distaste or fun to the wearer, and may or may not have something to do with the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.
Catriona Scott explains that in personal correspondence with Christina Morrison, a highland dancer, that '[T]he steps are meant to represent the advantages of the kilt, particularly in the whirling and birling steps. I remember we used to do a sort of pirouette step but I don't think it is done now'.
Martin Martin described trews as common men's wear throughout the Hebrides in his 1703 Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. Tartan trews were part of the Highland wardrobe for chieftains and gentlemen whilst on horseback (the large Highland ponies) from the early 17th century onward. Some Seann Triubhas steps seem to have originated from hard shoe dancing, and the dance was taught to be performed in regular shoes with heels by dancing masters in the 19th century.
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