Locations
Some country dances are confined to their place of origin: Ballo Liscio in Italy, Strathspeys in Scotland, Mazurkas in Poland. The appeal of country dancing is almost completely confined to Christian countries.
Having said that, klezmer tunes (originally Jewish) are now cropping up in public dances. The Scottish Gaelic word ceilidh (Irish ceili) is sometimes used to mean country dancing, though the original meaning was a gathering for singing and dancing.
Most country dancing is pretty robust in style but in Scotland, from the late nineteenth century, a very smooth and ornate style was cultivated. Soft shoes are worn. This makes Scottish country dancing very close to ballroom dancing, particularly since formal dress (white dresses and genuine kilts) are often de rigueur. Appalachian dancers go to the opposite extreme, with metal caps fitted to the shoes. Couple dances with a highly developed element of display, such as the tango, do not qualify as country dances.
Read more about this topic: Country Dancing