A new way to learn

A traditional social dance form performed in sets of couples, made up of figures like reels, poussettes and rights-and-lefts, danced to jigs, reels and strathspeys. Clubs and the RSCDS run classes worldwide.

A ceilidh (pronounced "kay-lee") is a lively social gathering with traditional Scottish music and dancing. The dances are usually simpler and "called" out as you go, so anyone can join in with no experience.

Ceilidh dancing is informal and called on the night, ideal for beginners and parties. Scottish Country Dancing is more structured, with set dances and figures learned in advance — often using cribs.

A crib is a short, bar-by-bar written summary of a dance's figures and timing. Dancers use cribs to learn or recall the sequence quickly. The app gives you written cribs for thousands of dances, which you can also hear spoken aloud.

These are the three main types of Scottish country dance, each set to its own tempo of music. Reels and jigs are quick and lively, while the strathspey is slower and more graceful with its characteristic skip-change and travelling steps. Most dances are built from figures danced in one of these three rhythms.

Soft-soled shoes called ghillies are the traditional choice and help you point and pivot, but they're not essential. When you're starting out, a pair of trainers or any comfortable soft-soled shoes are perfectly fine.

The Scottish Country Dance Database (SCDDB), hosted on the Strathspey Server, is the community-maintained, open-source catalogue of Scottish country dances — cribs, tunes, devisers and publications. It's the best freely available reference for dancers, teachers and clubs alike, and the app draws on this shared community resource to bring you cribs for thousands of dances.