RSCDS Book 55 - Calling All Dance Devisers!

In 2027, the RSCDS Summer School in St Andrews will be marking its 100th Anniversary and we will be publishing a celebration book, which will be RSCDS Book 55. The aim is to have a range of material, including stories, photos, tunes, poems etc, more details of which will follow in 2026. 

At the heart of the book will be twelve new dances, and we are excited to launch our search for these dances, direct from devisers, to be submitted for consideration for Book 55. Our aim is to encourage new devisers who have not previously had dances published by the Society. 

Dances have different reasons for being popular – the ease or complexity of the formations, the music, the story behind the dance, or a combination of all these things. Although the book as a whole will celebrate 100 years since the first Summer School, dances submitted do not need to relate directly to Summer School or St Andrews. We do ask you to provide a brief description as to why you believe your dance will be popular and should be shared all around the world. To help, each submission must be supported by a teacher as sponsor, who can also provide constructive feedback. Each deviser will only be allowed to submit one dance, so make it count! 

Full guidelines and requirements are provided below. 

Please submit your dance, using RSCDS standard terminology if possible, to [email protected] by the end of 31st December 2025. We are approaching Branches and affiliated groups to trial dances in 2026, as has been carried out for previous books. 

Any questions regarding this publication and dance submissions should be directed to [email protected] 

Guidelines and eligibility criteria for submission of dances for possible publication in Book 55: 

1. You must be an RSCDS member – please state your Branch. 

2. You can submit only one dance for consideration. 

3. The dance must not previously have been submitted for consideration by the RSCDS. 

4. The dance must not previously have been published in a book of dances. 

5. The dance must be supported by a sponsor such that it is suitable for consideration within an RSCDS publication. The sponsor should be an RSCDS-qualified, or otherwise experienced, teacher who is not the deviser. Please include a copy of their endorsement or ask them to email [email protected] to approve your submission. 

6. The dance need not have a finalised title. 

7. The dance can be submitted with or without named / suggested tunes. 

8. Please state if you consider the dance and tune must stay together. If so, and the tune is not considered suitable, the dance will not be considered further. In general, this may be because the tune is not considered to be in a suitably Scottish idiom. 

9. If submitting with a tune, please provide confirmation of permission from the composer to submit the tune. 

10. The dance should not be too similar to an existing dance published by the RSCDS or that is otherwise popular. 

11. The dance should be suitable for inclusion on a social dance programme, although it may have some challenging aspects.