Highland Dance
Today, the sideways kicking step of Scottish highland dancers performing the Seann Triubhas dance is said to symbolise the kicking off of the trews or trousers in favour of the kilt, though the trews can still be worn today during the colder months of the year, as shown in the picture below.
Considering that 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, it is more likely that the "Triubhas" in the dance represent English-style plain trousers (breeches), adopted under duress by Highlanders following the ban on their native Highland kilted dress effective from 1 August 1746 to its repeal on 1 July 1782.
Read more about this topic: Trews
Famous quotes containing the words highland and/or dance:
“If you would feel the full force of a tempest, take up your residence on the top of Mount Washington, or at the Highland Light, in Truro.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The only dance masters I could have were Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Walt Whitman and Nietzsche.”
—Isadora Duncan (1878–1927)