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Faram nam Brog/In Their Steps

Episode 10 of 22

Documentary following Isle of Lewis native Jayne Lewis as she journeys across the Atlantic to Canada in her search for the origins of Scottish step dance.

Bha dannsa ann uaireigin. Lionadh am fuaim taighean air feadh na Gàidhealtachd 's na h-eileanan . Ach an uairsin chaidh e à sealladh. Seann dhannsa ceum na h-Alba. Tha Jayne NicLeòid a' siubhal bho a dachaigh ann an Eilean Leòdhais gu Canada, a' lorg ceumannan nan sinnsirean Albannach aice.

Once upon a time there was a dance. Its sound would fill the houses of the Scottish Highlands and Islands: percussive, fast and free. Then it disappeared without trace. But 2,000 miles west, in Nova Scotia, Canada, some say it has survived, for almost 200 years, in almost pure form.

Jayne MacLeod from the Isle of Lewis is one of a handful of Scots who has re-learnt the forgotten art of Step Dance, dropped from fashion in her homeland two centuries ago but kept alive by emigrant communities heading for a new land.

Follow Jayne as she travels across the Atlantic to Cape Breton Island in the steps of her forefathers to find out more about how it thrived and grew in isolation, kept alive by pioneering Scots-Gaels seeking new lives. Her inspiring journey introduces some of the bastions of the step dance scene, young and old, as she looks back and forward to unravel this fascinating story.

1 hour

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