Saorsa Highland Dancers Perform in the New York City Tartan Day Festival
Yup, this was pretty much a "pinch me" moment for us.🥹
In April 2025, we had 7 dancers go from New Brunswick, Canada, all the way to New York City to perform in the annual Tartan Day Festival.
Not only did we get to see some pretty incredible sights in the city, we got to perform in Central Park, Bryant Park, and right down the middle of 6th ave! Come along with us behind the scenes of our NYC dance adventure.
Highland Dancer Vlog: Tartan Week in NYC
Watch our experience in NYC and be sure to subscribe to us on Youtube!
How do highland dancers get international performance opportunities like these?
One of the reasons highland dancers stick with their craft into adulthood is for the amazing performance opportunities out there. How do you find highland dance opportunities?
For this trip, we were lucky to be performing with Fling Together Collective, and their partners for the festival, Shot of Scotch NYC.
In Fall 2024, each dancer auditioned via video and after being successful, was placed on one of the Fling Together squads. Nicole, Kate, Sarah, and Julia danced with Squad 1, and Alyssa, Kiera, and Leah danced with Squad 2.
To prepare, we learned steps via video to be done in the parade and in our pop up performances.
Part of the reason we LOVED this particular performance opportunity so much was that it was open to younger dancers – for example, this was Leah’s first international performance experience. At just 13 years old, she got to perform for crowds in New York City!
Highland Dancers Take on New York City!
Thursday: Travel Day, Exploring Manhattan, Wicked on Broadway!
We flew in on Thursday, and got to spend the afternoon exploring mid town. What we got up to:
- Lunch at Ellen’s Stardust Diner (where the waitstaff all sing and perform – they’re all stars!!)
- Exploring Times Square
- Seeing Wicked on Broadway – so incredible
Friday: Rehearsal, Performance in Central Park, Social Evening
Friday was our first day meeting the other dancers in our Squads and getting into some dancing!
- Fuelled up with bagels, of course
- Morning rehearsal for Squad 1, while Squad 2 was off performing on Ellis Island
- Squad 1 performance in Central Park. Got to see the beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom!
- Team ceilidh at a local community centre, featuring dancing (of course) and a game of musical chairs. Kate won the game for our group (we highly, highly recommend watching this part of the vlog – LOL)
Saturday: Bryant Park Performance, Tartan Day Parade, Broadway
Saturday was the main event!
- More bagels (duh)
- Bryant Park performances for Squad 1 and Squad 2 – the crowds for these were so great!
- Tartan Day Parade down 6th avenue (highlight of the weekend!)
- In the evening, Nicole and Kate went to Cabaret on Broadway (amazing), and Sarah, Alyssa, and Julia saw Aladdin on Broadway (also awesome!!)
Sunday: Ellis Island Performance, More Exploring!
By Sunday, we were pretty tired, but pushed through!
- Visit to Liberty Island
- Performing on Ellis Island
- Visit to the Natural History Museum
- Saw a comedy show
Then we flew home (completely exhausted at this point) on Monday morning!
Explore more opportunities open to highland dancers through our vlogs
Highland dance can open doors to opportunities you didn’t even know were out there! Here are a few other vlogs we think you’ll like:
