The Cast of The Celtic Year

The Red Thistle Dancers joined the San Jose School of Highland Dance on an enchanting journey in Scottish music and dance through the seasons of The Celtic Year to the harmonies of the highland pipes and drums, accompanied by the Macintosh Pipe Band and Piper Laura Boothby.

The dancers portrayed the ancient festivals in choreographies and traditional Scottish highland and country dances set to new and old music.   The Celts, like many ancient peoples of Europe, divided the year into light and dark time marked by eight seasonal festivals. Four of these festivals: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain pre-dated the Celts. The other four marked the two equinoxes and solstices, marking the Sun's progression across the sky. The ancient peoples believed that the Sun was a disk and it was pulled across the sky on a wagon. Festivals and rituals were adhered to in order to ensure the progression of the year and the changing of the all-important seasons.

The Red Thistle Dancers dressed for the Season of Samhain and Yule