BBC Scotland reveals its Christmas presents

BBC Scotland have taken the wraps off their selection of seasonal goodies to entertain audiences throughout the festivities. The line-up this year includes an extended Hogmanay offering of music, chat and entertainment plus celebrations from around the country as Scotland counts down to 2020. Inside Central Station at Christmas on the BBC Scotland channel on…

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Scottish Field visits Scottish Ballet’s Snow Queen

Scotland’s national dance company, Scottish Ballet’s 50th anniversary is currently being marked by CEO/artistic director Christopher Hampson’s The Snow Queen. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s much-loved tale, which was also the basis for Disney’s hit film Frozen, this glittering new production opens at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre on Saturday 7 December (until December 29), before touring…

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What is The Ideal Scotsman in the 21st century?

A new documentary is to look at what makes The Ideal Scotsman. In this new documentary, writer and cook Rachel McCormack takes a trip into the psyche of the Scottish male and poses the question ‘what makes the ideal Scotsman these days?’ Along the way, she explores the changing face of Scottish masculinity, as the…

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Fringe: A production of two halves – and it’s superb

BalletBoyz is an outstanding production. The production is presented in two halves, Them and Us, both choreographed and executed perfectly to the accompanying music score by Charlotte Harding and Keaton Henson respectively. ‘Them’ explores individuality of movement, ‘Us’ explores human connections. The all-male dance troupe are metronomic in their precision, graceful in their movement, expressive…

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Going underground with Scotland’s stoats and weasels

With their fearsome reputation as bloodthirsty hunters, weasels and stoats demand respect from gamekeepers and farmers alike. For most of us, stoats and weasels are only occasionally glimpsed rushing across a road and more usually viewed as casualties lying on the verge. These quite extraordinarily lithe mustelids seem elastic, with sinewy little bodies perfectly suited…

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The Scottish newt is a natural born survivor

Around for a million years, adapted to land and sea, and with remarkable regenerative powers, the newt is a creature like no other. I have long been fascinated by newts. If they survive the attentions of their many predators, they may be fairly longlived. They also have an extraordinary ability to regenerate various parts of…

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Spring has sprung with the Scottish Ballet

How to celebrate the Scottish Ballet’s 50th anniversary… With tutus and tiaras? Princes and princesses? Glass slippers and fairy godmothers? Think again. Bucking the trend, the Scottish Ballet put on a riotous party, bursting with energy and colour, to see in their fifth decade of dancing. The explosive two-part show, Spring! – which refers to…

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Enjoying natural highs at Wemyss Castle

When Charlotte Wemyss arrived at her husband Michael’s family home in Fife, its six-acre walled garden overlooking the Forth contained a few redcurrant bushes, five ancient apple trees and three geese. Twenty years on, and the gently sloping south-facing site at Wemyss Castle has been transformed into a striking garden, a skilful combination of traditional…

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Performances full of passion and power

Three months of not-to-be-missed music, drama, dance, opera and musical theatre are coming to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Powered by passion and performance, the professionals-in-training at Scotland’s national conservatoire unleash an eclectic and electrifying new season. Expect sumptuous symphony and jazz orchestras and experimental electronics, bold new dance works and powerful drama productions as…

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Catalan choreographer is new artistic director

Scottish Dance Theatre is delighted to announce the appointment of Joan Clevillé as artistic director. The internationally renowned choreographer becomes the seventh artistic director of this award winning company. Clevillé has a long history with Scottish Dance Theatre joining as a dancer in 2009. As a choreographer he made his first piece for the company…

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