I have danced most of my life and always loved it -- exercise for mind and body, nice music and sociable company.

When I came to live in France 35 years ago, there was no Scottish dancing outside of Paris, and I found French folk dancing to be very dull indeed. So I created one club after another in every town I lived or worked in, and now there are clubs all over southeastern France (as well as others in the north that I was not responsible for).

Although some of the old fogies of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society tend to frown on fun and games, in most clubs, people come for the friendly atmosphere, and a smile is more important than perfect footwork. And it really is an international, rather than just Scottish, pastime these days with clubs and classes in the most unexpected places with no connexion with Scotland whatsoever, from Oslo to Malaga, Britanny to Ukraine, but also Japan, Abu Dhabi, southern Africa...

the kilt is never compulsory, but I have met only one dancer who refuses to adopt our favorite garment.

There are some photos on my Flickr page:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/10989205@N05/sets/72157602903634784/>

Martin,
in Grenoble, France.