Recently, I had the privilege of talking to one of the true legends of the Scottish dancing world.  In this case, the legend in question was Dixie Ingram, a man most widely remembered as the creative genius behind the highly original, innovative and sometimes controversial dance sequences seen on "The White Heather Club".  Although Dixie's name will be forever linked with that famous television show, his dancing career started long before that and continued on after The White Heather Club left the television screens, departed it would appear never to return.  As we shall see later, some of Dixie's televised dance sequences did not please the more traditionally minded party faithful, which makes it worth pointing out that for all his radical ideas, Dixie Ingram was a dancer steeped in the Scottish tradition.  Before finding fame through live theatre and later through television, Dixie had twice won the Scottish Championship for Highland Dancing and twice been runner up in the World Championships.  In addition to that, he ran a highly successful Scottish Country Dancing class in Whitburn where the attendance figures averaged around two hundred per session.  Perhaps Dixie is one of the finest examples of someone who understood the traditions of Scottish dance so well that he was able to build on them and create new ideas out of them rather than be constrained by them.  But tae oor tale, as The Bard said.  Let’s hear from the man himself.

 

If we start at the very beginning, I understand that you share a birthplace with another famous Scot who was later to become one of your colleagues on the White Heather Club?

You must be talking about Jimmy Shand.  Yes, both Jimmy and I were born in East Wemyss, Fife.  In fact, I can remember listening to Jimmy playing on the back dykes of Wemyss long before he became a national icon.  I won't say how long ago that was!

 

How and when did your dancing career start?

As far as I can remember, I started tap dancing at four and a half.  At that stage my mother Peggy had ideas about my becoming the next Fred Astaire.  As you can see, that didn't happen.  By five and a half, I had taken up Highland Dancing as well under the tutelage of Bobbie Cuthbertson and Janet Gardiner.

 

I suppose that most people will remember you from your appearances on The White Heather Club with the Dixie Ingram Dancers.  How did that relationship come about?

I suppose you could say that it all began with a phone call from Andy Stewart who had seen one of my stage presentations in Edinburgh and though that something similar would work on television.  I had been auditioned without knowing it.

 

That of course begs the question, "What was it about your Edinburgh show that caught Andy Stewart's eye?"

That's an interesting point.  It was a chance remark by the late Bobby MacLeod that made me start thinking about doing something a bit different.  The remark in question was typical of Bobby - short, clear and to the point.  All that he said was, "Do something different" and I did.  Somehow or other, the something different that I did appealed to Andy.

 

Was the something different that you did based on Scottish Country Dancing?

Definitely not!  Scottish Country Dancing then, as now, lacked the visual impact that is so essential to a successful television presentation.  The boundaries of the set and the nature of the basic figures limit the effective use of space and make the dancers look very stiff and stilted and give the whole thing a sense of constriction.  Television sets back then were constricted enough.  They didn't need the characteristics of the dances themselves making things worse.  To be perfectly blunt, Scottish Country Dancing simply isn't good television.  It wasn't back then and I don't think that it would be now.  Once Scottish Country Dancing is filtered through the cameras it tends to come across as a lot of bodies milling around in time to music but with no clear pattern or purpose.  As I saw it back then, Country Dancing was fine for the participants but not so fine for the viewers.  I was trying to create something that would look good on the screen even if it played complete havoc with the received wisdom of the time, which incidentally still seems to be received wisdom now.  Not much has changed on that front.

 

If you didn't use Country Dances, what did you use?

I suppose you could call it a mixture of Highland Dance, Classical Ballet and later on Jazz Ballet.  This allowed me to devise sequences that used the medium of television effectively and allow the dancers in the team to make the best use of their skills.

 

What were the backgrounds of the dancers that you used for these sequences?  Obviously, even the best Country Dancers in the land wouldn't have the kind of skills that you were looking for.

All my dancers came from Ballet backgrounds. They alone had the skills and the learning ability to turn my ideas into the reality of a performance.

 

Yours was a highly original approach to the use of Scottish Dance Music. What was the reaction to such an unfamiliar style of dance suddenly being televised into people's homes?

Reactions were generally favourable although not everyone was totally delighted.  As you would expect, the die-hard traditionalists had a few words to say at first (none of which could be described as being all that complimentary) but I honestly believe that the majority of viewers loved it or at least didn't loathe it. Our producer, Iain MacFadyen, thought some of my ideas a bit radical at times but when it came to the crunch, he always gave me his full support.  As far as he was concerned, I was free to experiment.

 

How did the bandleaders cope with the jazzier aspects of your work?

Let's just say that not everyone was totally happy all the time, but Ian Powrie in particular took to it like a duck to water.  He and his colleagues were brilliant at coming up with music to fit some of my more radical pieces of choreography.

 

What brought about the end of The White Heather Club?

To this day, I don't honestly know.  As far as I am aware it was a sudden executive decision made somewhere in the corridors of power at the BBC.  I was deeply shocked and saddened by it at the time.  This may have been partly out of affection for the show but even allowing for that, the decision made no real sense.  It wasn't as if it was failing, it appeared to be getting good audiences right to the end, which suggests that the decision to axe it may have had more to do with the kind of image that BBC wanted to create for itself than with keeping its viewers satisfied.

 

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the last episode of The White Heather Club was broadcast. Do you think that a show along similar lines would work today?

Yes I do.  Obviously it would have to be updated, if only because virtually all the original stars of the old White Heather Club are either dead or retired.  Some of the acts that were great successes back then probably wouldn't work today but I believe that there is still an audience for a high quality show based on Scottish Traditional Music, Song and Dance.  It is worth remembering that shows like "Scotch Corner" attracted good audiences both here and abroad long after The White Heather Club had gone.  There is certainly no shortage of outstandingly talented performers out there.  All that we need is a bit of imagination and a good modern television format to provide a showcase for their talents.

 

What are your views on the present state of Traditional Dancing in Scotland?

To be honest, I haven't been keeping all that close an eye on things but from what I hear it is something of a mixed picture.  Ceilidh Dancing appears to have caught the imagination of the younger people and that has to be a good thing.  New blood is essential to old dancing.  The recent statistics showing a decline on the Country Dancing scene are a bit worrying.  Perhaps the time has come round again for some radical new thinking.