Not for Glory: A New Twist on Folk Dance and Bagpipes

A striking new dance production, Not for Glory, is currently being staged at Dance Base in Edinburgh, blending folk traditions with contemporary movement in unexpected ways.

The piece is performed by Jack Anderson and Charlotte Mclean, both of whom began their careers as champions of classic dance forms before turning toward more experimental work.

Anderson was once a celebrated Irish dancer, touring internationally with popular commercial Irish dance shows before enrolling at a contemporary dance school, where, notably, he initially concealed his background in traditional dance.

Mclean followed a similar path as a champion Highland dancer, a traditional Scottish style recognised for its rigid posture and intricate footwork.

In Not for Glory, the two performers reinterpret these classic forms, stripping them of familiar competitive contexts and reshaping them through a contemporary lens.

Accompanying the dancers is piper Malin Lewis, who provides live music on the bagpipes, an instrument deeply associated with Scottish cultural identity.

Rather than using the pipes in a purely traditional sense, the production integrates the instrument's sound into a broader, more experimental sonic landscape.

According to a review of the performance, audiences should not expect a conventional showcase of Irish or Highland dance, but rather a reimagining of these forms.

The show appears to interrogate the heritage, meaning the cultural traditions passed down through generations, of these dance styles, questioning how they might evolve outside competitive or nostalgic settings.

By deconstructing familiar steps and pairing them with unconventional choreography, Anderson and Mclean invite audiences to reconsider what Irish and Highland dance can represent today.

Not for Glory forms part of a wider programme at Dance Base, a venue in Edinburgh known for supporting innovative and boundary-pushing dance work.

The production suggests that folk traditions, often associated with strict rules and competition, can be transformed into something more fluid and personal when placed in new artistic contexts.