“Naturalness” in Scottish Dancing: an ethnolinguistic perspective

Abstract

The article explores various meanings of the concept “(un)natural” in written and spoken discourse devoted to traditional Scottish dancing. Analysing this concept alongside its co-occurent adjectives and adverbs in 18th–21st-century sources allows to better appreciate the semiotic complexity of the concept and its uses. The article highlights the seeming obviousness of what dancing naturally means to different kinds of stakeholders (dancers, teachers, spectators and researchers). It also emphasises the link between what is seen as natural dancing and people’s habits, both kinaesthetic, resulting from dance practice or the lack thereof, and stylistic or visual, grounded in spectators’ exposure to various manifestations of the Scottish dance repertoire.