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A Fledgling Scottish Country Dance Group at the South Pole

By Bob Melville

The Amundsen-Scott station at the geographic south pole operates year-round to support a variety of experiments related to physics, cosmology, seismology, space science and atmospheric studies. This winter, 64 people live in relative comfort in the new “elevated station” ? living space, science labs, a medical facility, a greenhouse, etc., resting on huge metal posts so that it does not get covered with drifting snow. Right now, it is quite warm – about -40 C ? but the 35-knot wind howling outside the window reminds everyonee where we are. Last week, I helped deliver liquid nitrogen to another part of the station 1 km away in complete darkness using a snow-mobile. It was a three-person effort with one person tasked to simply drive the snow-mobile around in circles to keep the tracks from freezing at an ambient temperature of -75 C! In such conditions, exposed flesh will freeze in less than a minute, and one must be on constant guard against frostbite.

The Antarctic summer, from October to February, was a beehive of activity with a station population of more than 250, three work shifts, 24-hour sunlight and a massive air-lift operation using military LC-130 aircraft in a frantic effort to stock the station with enough fuel for the long winter. After station closing in mid-February, it has become too cold and dark for safe travel until the much-anticipated opening in late October (and our first fresh fruit in 8 months).

Considering these unusual working and living conditions, recreational activities are an important and integral part of station life. Participation in some sort of recreational activity is encouraged and organizing such an activity counts towards an employee’s final performance evaluation. Early expeditions which spent the winter in the Arctic organized elaborate musical and theatrical productions ? see “Safe Return Doubtful,” by John Maxtone-Graham or “The Arctic Grail” by well-known Canadian journalist and writer Pierre Berton.

One of the visiting scientists over the summer was a Canadian Scott named Donald McEwan. After getting Don’s experiment running, we got several people together and watched the British documentary “Reel of the 51st Division.” Don encouraged me to think about running a dance group over the winter and also suggested the Teachers’ Association of Canada as a resource. Although I have been an avid dancer for more than 14 years, I had never taught SCD before.

The activity has been something of a hit with dedicated class of five gender-balanced couples. Given that there are only 14 women on station (among 50 men ? eat your hearts out, ladies) this seems to be a pretty good tuurnout. We meet for one hour on Thursday evening every two weeks. This is certainly not much by mid-latitude standards, but it seems to be about right. The altitude of the station averages around 3,600 meters and a highly-aerobic activity like SCD quickly takes its toll. The official work-week here is 54 hours long. Also, winter-over personnel tend to get a bit “toasty” (Antarctica slang) towards the end of their tour and many of us have noticed a reduction in our attention span.

In a typical class, I introduce one new figure and then do a complete dance incorporating that figure. My class picks up figures, timing and covering almost immediately although their footwork is a bit ragged. If I had had a strong female teaching partner, I might have spent more time on footwork early on, but the current arrangement seems to hold participants’ interest. Now that class has been running for 4 months, some of the participants are asking for more emphasis on footwork! We started out with a quick-time dance, “Highland Fair,” which required only skip change of step. Predictably, there was a bit of confusion with the Rights and Lefts, but that sorted itself out. Next, I introduced Pas de Basque, which got used in the opening of “Reel of the 51st Division.” Then we did the two-couple allemande for “De’il Amang the Tailors.” There are some serious musicians on station and we presented this dance with live music at the mid-winter celebration ? what a hoot!

Strrathspey came next, with the traveling step used in “Rakes of Glasgow.” For each class, I prepare a one-page handout with a written dance description and a Pilling diagram. I introduced Reels in Strathspey time (because it is a bit slower) for “Balquidder Strathspey,” then continued with this figure in “Mairi’s Wedding,” which has been the most popular dance to date. One of our dancers, Craig Bell, is a member of clan MacMillian, and is organizing the first-ever “South Pole Scottish Games,” to take place in early September. We plan to do Mairi’s Wedding as a demonstration dance, along with Scottish food, clan information and our best effort at a Caber toss.

Class is scheduled to run for 5 more sessions, and I will probably try to finish up with one of the more difficult Strathspeys from the “Scotia” book, which seems singularly appropriate. I have certainly enjoyed doing the class and some of the participants have expressed interest in finding a group in New Zealand when we get off the Ice.

I cannot sufficiently express my appreciation for the support of the Teachers’ Association of Canada, which has provided teaching material, music and encouragement, specifically: Keith Bark, the Shaws, the Howes, June Shore and Colin Philip. I would also like to recognize my Delaware Valley Branch teachers: Geoffrey and Cecily Selling, Jill Emery, Steven Rusche, Alfred Hurd and Cynthia Way. Newly-certificated teachers Dale Mantautas and Ron Lehmkuhl of the Northern Virginia Branch have provided a steady stream of support and dance descriptions.

You can see pictures at the following websites: www.southpole.usap.gov and www.cs.pitt.edu/~kahrs/rcm/