I am a member of Gleneagles Scottish Country Dance Club on Vancouver’s North Shore. As a beginner I tried working out formations using markers, and it occurred to me that it should be possible to do the same thing on the computer.   By chance I found a basic animation program while browsing in a computer store and I have used the same one ever since.  It was developed for Windows 3.x, and has certain limitations, such as being unable to work in True Colour,  but I have been unable to find anything better within my budget.
I have since animated almost every dance I have done, plus many that I have never danced.  The present compilation contains 225 dances at the time of writing, and a list is appended on the home page.  I have presented most of them in two formats, one with music synchronized to the action and the other separated into formations with pauses for a spoken description.  Both forms have captions, but some people find it difficult to read them while watching the action at the same time.  Finally I have included a few common formations like tournée, knot, rondel , etc. on their own.
Typically, but inconsistently, the animations show one round of the dance for strathspeys and two for reels and jigs. Following the RSCDS convention, ladies are represented by squares and men by circles.   (I have generally followed the North American usage of  “ladies” instead of “women”.)  The top of the set is at the left of the screen, indicated by a musical note symbol.  This may be a bit confusing at first since the RSCDS diagrams show the top of the dance at the bottom, but I did it that way to fit the screen better. ( I have been accused of male bias, as this is the view from the men’s side.) The bar count is also shown on the left.
Note that the demos are different from the selections on the CD in that they cannot be controlled once they are started.  The format in the CD allows you to stop and start, replay from any point or play frame by frame. (XP allows it to be stopped at any point and run backward or forward at normal speed or frame-by-frame, but not started at random in the middle as with earlier versions of windows.)

Different systems show minor variations in the speed of the animation, but all play the music at a fixed speed, with the result that the music may not synchronise exactly.

It has been reported that the program does not operate on VISTA.

Please be aware that, unlike many programs now available on CD, this program is not self-loading. An elementary level of computer skill is required to copy the program to your hard drive. The CD comes with installation instructions. Also, on request, by e-mail, I will send a copy of the installation instructions. If they are incomprehensible, you may choose to get a more computer-savvy friend to help you, but he or she doesn't need a master's degree in computer science. If your own experience predates XP, you will not likely have a problem.

Price, including airmail , is C$40 to Canada, US $45 to U.S., £25 to U.K.
Airmail to other destinations:  Personal check, PayPal, cash or money order in Euros, Dollars,( US, Can, Aus, NZ) to the equivalent of £20 Sterling (but, ironically, not Scottish banknotes, please. Cheques drawn on Scottish banks are OK)

Send  to
James Smith
2443 Folkestone Way
West Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7S 3J1
Tel: 604-925-1189
email james.smith@shaw.ca

I suggest that you e-mail me before sending any remittance, in case I am on holiday.

If you bought a CD earlier and have upgraded to XP, you may have a problem changing the display mode to 256 colors. On the Start Menu select Help, then enter 256 in the Search box. This will display the procedure, which is quite simple. On request, I will e-mail the instructions, which are now part if the standard instruction package.

Revised Oct. 26, 2007