Click here https://www.tdfs.org/trad-dance-cast/ to listen
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Pomegranates Festival (25-30 April) is launching a new podcast episode highlighting the role of women in traditional dance. Released on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day, the episode features dance researcher and new Scot Alena Shmakova discussing her work on dance history in Scotland, from the Renaissance to the Georgians, with a focus on Mary, Queen of Scots and lead dancer Sophia Parker.
In this new episode, Alena shares her fascinating insights into the French influences on court entertainment in Scotland in the second half of the 16th century. Focusing on political meaning and use of dance performance by Queen Elizabeth 1st of England and Mary, Queen of Scots and the use of masks and costumes in dance. In particular, she discusses the wearing of men’s costumes and the use of daggers by Mary with her court women in dance, and how this provoked John Knox’s fury over Mary’s passion for dance and entertainment.
Alena also discusses her research on Sophia Parker, a late 18th century professional dancer, whose career debuted in Edinburgh as part of a circus troupe at the Jones and Parker Circus. Sophia trained under famous French dancers and choreographers, Noverre and Le Picq in London and also collaborated with Robert Aldridge who was one of the first professional dancers to bring Scottish and Irish themes to the stage in Scotland. This collaboration was influential in Sophia’s career which became strongly associated with ‘Scotch dancing’. Throughout her career Sophia combined teaching and publishing dance and music collections, with a busy performing schedule drawing huge crowds to the fashionable Theatre Royales in Edinburgh, Dublin, London, Birmingham, Manchester.
During this year’s Pomegranates Festival, Alena Shmakova will lead a walking tour sharing stories about dance and politics during Mary Queen of Scots’ reign (25 April, 10:30).
Alena Shmakova is a Master’s student at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), researching dance history in Scotland. She received the UHI Student Development Fund, supported by RES, to study the contribution of women to dance in Scotland between the 1500s and 1800s. In 2024, Alena curated a dance history conference exploring stories of women in dance worldwide, which included a small touring exhibition currently on display at Dundee’s Wighton Heritage Centre. She will be presenting a talk about the project on 13 March at St. Cecilia’s Hall and Music Museum as part of Women’s History Month 2025.
Trad Dance Cast Guest Alena Shmakova said:
“Studying dance history in Scotland is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Despite Knox’s criticism, information about what was danced is quite limited. It often consists of just a few sentences in financial accounts or a brief mention in diplomatic correspondence. Much of what we associate with social dance and enjoyment today had a more performative nature in the past, where your character, education, political allegiance and status were judged by how gracefully and skilfully you moved. It was rarely just a dance. And for men it was equally important as for women. Dance world between the 1500s and 1800s was led by men, so it is interesting to see how women navigated it and succeeded.”
Iliyana Nedkova, Co-curator of the Pomegranates Festival and Trad Dance Cast said:
“So pleased that we are able to continue the conversation about the feisty women of traditional dance past and present through this new podcast episode. Especially, following the success of our two-part episode which we launched on last year’s International Women’s Day. Back then we shared stories about several notable women and their contributions to the history of traditional dance such as Isabel Murray, Betty Jessiman,Ysabel Stewart, Jean Milligan, Elizabeth West, Isobel Cramb and Angela Young. This year we are grateful for the first-time support of Edinburgh College and their Music and Sound Production students and staff who facilitated the recording and editing of this new episode. We hope to continue this new collaboration between the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and Edinburgh College throughout our Pomegranates Festival programme this year, including our Ceilidh Plus events.”
FURTHER DETAILS
Trad Dance Cast is produced by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons, and hosted by Eleanor Sinclair, a trad dance artist, instructor and climate activist. The music theme is by Mairi Campbell, fiddle player, dance caller and theatre maker. This new episode released on 8th March 2025 is recorded and edited at Music Box Studio, Edinburgh College by Christian Torre Zorita, Andrew Lonie, Ziemowit Paszke, Harry Ritchie and Johan Englund – staff and students at Edinburgh College School of Music and Sound Production. For all Trad Dance Cast episodes visit: https://www.tdfs.org/trad-dance-cast/
The Pomegranates Festival (25 – 30 April) is the annual platform for the diverse 250+ individual and organisational members of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to teach, learn and perform in new dance theatre and screen dance shows, as well as new productions and residencies. This is the fourth edition of Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance, initiated, curated and produced by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland. It is presented in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Library, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. In 2025 the Pomegranates Festival is funded by Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland); the City of Edinburgh Council and University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Local Community Fund. For tickets and more information visit: https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland Established in 2014,Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is the only national organisation of its kind dedicated to the advancement of all forms of traditional and social dance. It advocates for and supports the diverse Scottish and world trad dance forms practised in Scotland ranging from Ceilidh to Old Time, Swing to Hip Hop as an integral part of our global intangible cultural heritage. It provides free membership to over 250 traditional dance artists and organisations and supports them through three major routes – productions, residencies and festivals such as Pomegranates. A registered charity (SCIO SC045085) and a founding member of Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland (TRACS) www.tdfs.org
TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland) (SCIO, SC043009) is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. TRACS celebrates the local distinctiveness of Scotland’s places: our intangible cultural heritage. TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum (SCIO SC042867), the Scottish Storytelling Forum (SCIO SC052330) and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (SCIO SC045085). Supported by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council. www.tracscotland.org
Moray House School of Education and Sport has been making a major contribution to the fields of education and sport for 175 years. Moray House staff, students and alumni have influenced, improved and transformed learning, teaching and policy worldwide. The innovative and unique Master’s in Dance Science and Education gives dancers the scientific theory and specialist skills to push the frontiers of dance and dance education. Moray House School of Education and Sport Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity (CREID) MSc Dance Science and Education
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com and the social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. More about the value of art and creativity in Scotland at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
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Featured Image: Portrait of Alena Shmakova. Courtesy the artist
