ceilidhs!

[cms]

after going to the riverside club 2 weeks running now, i just have to say id forgotton how energetic ceilidh dancing can be! Especially when you try to do 2 rounds of each dance! and although the riversides fab, its lack of air con does leave a lot to be desired! i guess its like doing a few v fast MJ dances in a row - in some cases at double time!!!!!

As for mixing ceilidh with MJ - paul (pretzelmeister) had that down to a T! and andy(style) gave it a good go as well - i had a fab night! :flower:

anyone else got good experiences of ceilidhs recently, or not so recently as the case may be?!

C xx

[LemonCake]

after going to the riverside club 2 weeks running now, i just have to say id forgotton how energetic ceilidh dancing can be! Especially when you try to do 2 rounds of each dance! and although the riversides fab, its lack of air con does leave a lot to be desired! i guess its like doing a few v fast MJ dances in a row - in some cases at double time!!!!!

As for mixing ceilidh with MJ - paul (pretzelmeister) had that down to a T! and andy(style) gave it a good go as well - i had a fab night! :flower:

anyone else got good experiences of ceilidhs recently, or not so recently as the case may be?!

C xx

:yeah: , basically!

Definitely a fab night. Even though I was off dancing for most of it (foot is now back in working order although calf muscles are STILL complaining from ballet!) I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thanks to the lovely people who did the driving - was a novelty for me being taxied instead of taxiing!

N x :flower:

[andystyle]

I had a great night, especially as I'm still getting to know folk - Ceroc certainly has a very big social scene. I think I'd be hard-pressed to find a bunch of friendlier folk.

I think the biggest lesson I learned at the ceilidh was bring more t-shirts! It was well hot! Thanks to pretzelmeister for the loan!

[whitetiger1518]

Anyone up for going to a Ceilidh or two (Riverside or anywhere else?) sometime soon??

I haven't Ceilidhed properly (2 or 3 times a week I mean) since Uni, and I'm missing it badly.. (once a month or so would be cool, so it doesn't clash with CEROC, but I can also keep in touch with Ceilidh)


Would love to go to the Riverside soon, but I am not fond of going by myself..

All date and time suggestions welcome.


Cheers

Whitetiger

[LemonCake]

I'd love to now I can jump up and down again but I'm running out of spare evenings before I leave. Also, that was the last Saturday night at the Riverside club. It's going to be just Fridays from now on. So my first trip there was at the end of an era!

[Yliander]

:Well I had a blast at the ceilidh on Saturday night - thank you so very much to Pretzelmeister & McJester for organising this for me!!

It was a fabulous night - although the head in the Riverside club is rather mad - but a nice chat on the stairs cooled one down for a return to the fray. It has been a long time since I have danced that energetically felt positively unfit!

I just wish I had gone to a ceilidh sooner so that I had more time to go to another one

thank you to all the boys who helped me muddle my way through the dances.:flower: :hug:

Thanks to Pretzelmeister and Lemoncake for a delicious dinner.:flower: :flower:

Also a special thanks to Pretzelmeister for trotting around with me on my tourist missions on the Sunday - it was lovely to have such delightful company

and while I am thanking people - i have to say thank you to Dave Hancock, Jennifer & Caro for a lovely Saturday afternoon - I have to say I felt terriblely spoilt over the weekend

[Yliander]

Oh and girls if Pretzelmeister asks you to dance the sweddish masquerade watch out ! :wink: :eek:

[ducasi]

Oh and girls if Pretzelmeister asks you to dance the sweddish masquerade watch out ! :wink: :eek:
Ooh! I haven't done a Swedish Masquerade in a long time! Can't recall how it goes, but I do remember them being a lot of fun! :D

[PretzelMeister]

:Well I had a blast at the ceilidh on Saturday night - thank you so very much to Pretzelmeister & McJester for organising this for me!!
Pleasure! :flower: - Was lovely to have you come visit again, shame you're leaving so soon! :sad:


It was a fabulous night - although the head in the Riverside club is rather mad ~snip~
Hmmmmm.....wondered where you'd got to! :devil: :wink:


Also a special thanks to Pretzelmeister for trotting around with me on my tourist missions on the Sunday - it was lovely to have such delightful company
Again - pleasure! :D :flower:

[Divissima]

Yli - do not fret! :hug: You can find some pretty good ceilidh action in London, too. I would highly recommend the Ceilidh Club who hold monthly events in Camden and Battersea complete with live band, caller, and a good proportion of punters in kilts.

I've always had great experiences there - I do love a good ceilidh!

[Yliander]

Yli - do not fret! :hug: You can find some pretty good ceilidh action in London, too. I would highly recommend the Ceilidh Club who hold monthly events in Camden and Battersea complete with live band, caller, and a good proportion of punters in kilts.

I've always had great experiences there - I do love a good ceilidh!:clap: :clap: that is so good know - now it's just a matter of finding a free weekend for another Ceilidh adventure

oooooo boys in kilts:drool:

[whitetiger1518]

Ooh! I haven't done a Swedish Masquerade in a long time! Can't recall how it goes, but I do remember them being a lot of fun! :D

Swedish Masquerade is the one where you have a waltz section, then a jig section alternating.. - Can be a bit dangerous as the jig has kicks in it (very painful if the guys have combat boots on - :eek: one Uni ceilidh memorable for wrong reasons - guy combat boots, me open toed sandals :tears: :tears:)

The Virginia reel, and St Bernard's waltz are my favourites, though like my dad, I am a fan of The Eightsome Reel too... but only if done well, preferably with 8 people who know what they are doing!!
:grin:

Whitetiger

[Dizzy]

Yli - do not fret! :hug: You can find some pretty good ceilidh action in London, too. I would highly recommend the Ceilidh Club who hold monthly events in Camden and Battersea complete with live band, caller, and a good proportion of punters in kilts.

I've always had great experiences there - I do love a good ceilidh!

I never knew that - Thanks for the info Divi :clap: :flower:

I would love to go Ceildh dancing to find out what it is like. It sounds like great fun!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

I have done Irish Ceildh dancing before and I loved it.

Yliander, if you need someone to go with when you are in london, let me know :flower:

[Yliander]

Yliander, if you need someone to go with when you are in london, let me know :flower: WOO HOO it's a date - the date of which will be determined once I am settled in the South

[Divissima]

Count me in! (pretty please :wink: )

[Yliander]

Count me in! (pretty please :wink: )of course my darling! :hug:

[Whitebeard]

The Virginia reel, and St Bernard's waltz are my favourites, though like my dad, I am a fan of The Eightsome Reel too... but only if done well, preferably with 8 people who know what they are doing!!
:grin:

Whitetiger

Sounds a bit like the Old time dancing I did all those years ago. Some Chapel ladies took me under their wing - think they quite fancied a young rooster !!

Do I recall the Gay Gordons ? Or have they changed the name ?

[Little Monkey]

I went to a fab ceilidh on Saturday too! It was an old mate's wedding party / ceilidh, and there were lots of old friends from my university mountaineering club there, and they're all totally bonkers...... :D

The scariest part was when we were doing an orcadian strip the willow..... The first 1/3 of the set was nice and gentle, until my partner and I got to the section of crazy mountaineers..... By God, I've not been flung around like that for ages! Club ceilidhs (back in my uni days) were always more like battles to music, than actual dancing (although we do know all the dances, we just add a bit of, ummm, force!!), and the girls would always compare bruises the next day. The amount of bruises you had, the better, as being bruised was a sign of a really wild ceilidh!:rolleyes: :eek: I do have a few rather nice bruises to show from Saturday.....

My favourites are Cumberland Square Eight, Swedish Masquerade (although some bands don't know it!:( ), and the St. Bernhard's Waltz. Oh, and I quite like the Dashing White Sergeant, and the Canadian Barn Dance! Can't stand the Flying Scotsman, although it always goes down very well with kids.

Must drag Sheepy along to a mountaineering club Burn's Night and ceilidh in January.......:whistle:

[Little Monkey]

Do I recall the Gay Gordons ? Or have they changed the name ?

The Gay Gordons....... Normally the first dance at most ceilidhs, and one of the old favourites (not mine, though, it's a bit dull). Still don't know what Gordon was so gay about... :rolleyes:

[CJ]

Reel of the 51st is my particular fave.:D

(I don't know the Swedish Masquerade:blush: )

I'm not sure if you know where I stand on this subject.... but kilts are good!!:D :D :D :D :D

:rolleyes:

[Yliander]

Reel of the 51st is my particular fave.:D didn't encounter this one on Saturday


(I don't know the Swedish Masquerade:blush: ) it's an experience


but kilts are good!!:D :D :D :D :D I'll second that - boys in kilts is one of many things I will miss when I leave Scotland in a few weeks

[whitetiger1518]

Reel of the 51st is my particular fave.:D

(I don't know the Swedish Masquerade:blush: )

I'm not sure if you know where I stand on this subject.... but kilts are good!!:D :D :D :D :D

:rolleyes:


Kilts are always good on you CJ :blush:
I have looked up the directions for the Reel of the 51st.. I don't remember having done it, but then I remember the dances better in the diagrams of the little green book from the RSCDS. Will try and look it up tonight or tomorrow.

:cheers:
Whitetiger

[Beowulf]

at most scottish schools we were all forced to learn ceilidh at a very young age :( I used to dread it coming round to party time and having to learn dancing.

And I certainly didn't/ wouldn't wear a kilt. Wore one once for my sister's wedding.. looked a right sight!

[andystyle]

at most scottish schools we were all forced to learn ceilidh at a very young age :( I used to dread it coming round to party time and having to learn dancing.

And I certainly didn't/ wouldn't wear a kilt. Wore one once for my sister's wedding.. looked a right sight!

No way! I quite liked the ceilidh dancing at school - it was better than being flung outside in the cold rain/snow/wind/all of it to kick a ball around.

[whitetiger1518]

at most scottish schools we were all forced to learn ceilidh at a very young age :( I used to dread it coming round to party time and having to learn dancing.

And I certainly didn't/ wouldn't wear a kilt. Wore one once for my sister's wedding.. looked a right sight!

Beo - the only ceilidh dance I regret getting at school is "Strip the Willow" overpracticing that has made me very ankle unwilling to do it at any speed (particularly Uni speed - 3xs normal :eek: ) I have a tendancy to collapse in my partner's arms after an orcadian! - So I don't do them - just about everything else though - just keep me off the floor!

Whitetiger

[andystyle]

the only ceilidh dance I regret getting at school is "Strip the Willow"


I think this is the only ceilidh dance that has ever had me in fear of my life. Especially, like whitetiger says, when done at high speeds! Sooooo much fun. :devil:

[Beowulf]

was better than being flung outside in the cold rain/snow/wind/all of it to kick a ball around.

Ah but you see.. i had a permanent excusal from sports due to ill health, however it didn't excuse me from dancing..

Usually I'd be sent to the library instead, which was usually a punishment for some. I loved it.. Probably why I ended up library monitor. :rolleyes:

[Freya]

I love ceilidhs!!!!! :clap::clap:

At my school we used to have to do Social Dancing every year for the weeks leading up to Christmas. In 1st, 2nd & 3rd year it was torture! You had to touch boys....Yuck :sick: Then 4th, 5th and 6th you used to do everything in your power to go to PE to dance.

We even used to have end of term ceilidhs instead of waiting around in classes and for assemblies.

Don't get to many of them now, really should make an effort to go to more. Their so energetic and a great laugh.

I like the gay gordons because although simple doing it storming round the dance floor triple time is an absolute Hoot!

Strip the willows is a battle of wills. Only one thing for it dig your heels in and spin the guy harder than he can spin you. by the end of the danc eI'm parctically flying.

My friend and I have a great way to start a fast track in Ceroc. Instead of stepping back :whistle: we clasp hands ceilidh style and spin round and round as fast as we can go then he wraps himself in and spinds me out. Great fun and a different way to start a dance.

[Whitebeard]

Could some kind celtish person explain to this poor sassenach (sp?) just what a ceilidh is ?? I'm pretty sure I've previously only of them in connection with folk music and assumed them to be a sort of sing along jam session.

[Yliander]

Could some kind celtish person explain to this poor sassenach (sp?) just what a ceilidh is ?? I'm pretty sure I've previously only of them in connection with folk music and assumed them to be a sort of sing along jam session.will an explanation from a visiting Aussie lass do? any way here goes

ceilidh dancing is social folk dancing also known I think as Scottish country dancing

in Aus we have something similar which is generally refered to as bush dancing as normally it was done it the country (bush) areas - however bush dancing in aus is not looked on as fondly as ceilidh dancing is in Scotland

hope that helped

[Dorothy]

No...
Ceilidh dancing is distinct from Scottish Country Dancing. The former is less complex, more violent (imo) and more sociable.

[whitetiger1518]

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society dance books do in fact include Ceilidh dances - but Country dancing includes a lot more set dances (usually only Virginia Reel and Strip the Willow are the only 2 mainstay set dances at Ceilidhs) and as Dorothy states the country dances are usually more complicated...

It is best to consider Ceilidh as a subset of Country Dancing.

(Sorry my parents and I were members of the RSCDS for years :blush: )

Cheers

Whitetiger

PS both are very sociable but as country dancing is more complex, it takes a little more to learn them and as such is usually associated with a slightly older age group - though there are plenty of all ages enthusiastic for both....

[Freya]

Could some kind celtish person explain to this poor sassenach (sp?) just what a ceilidh is ?? I'm pretty sure I've previously only of them in connection with folk music and assumed them to be a sort of sing along jam session.
Ok I'm not gonna even try and explain but here is Wikipedia's explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceilidh


Ok best way to explain is to show.

Couple of videos I found:

Dashing White Sergeants (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4599957824691541788&q=ceilidh)
The Gay gordons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHuvdpa8BM&mode=related&search=)
Orcadian Strip the Willow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uew8Y4UXqRw)

Ok I hope they work

[whitetiger1518]

Cool vids Freya,

although the Strip the Willow was done at rather a sedate pace :waycool: - I remember Uni subjecting me to 4 times the pace :eek: hence my reluctance to do so again.:sad: .. Oh and for the uninitiated Orcadian is a slight variation on the usual dance of Strip the Willow - the main difference being that the entire roomful of people pair up - not just the 8 in an ordinary set - oh and don't under any circumstances try to come back up the set like you do normally - you will be either knocked flat or beheaded :eek: :eek:

:cheers:
Whitetiger

[Freya]

Yeah they all were very Sedate. Couldn't find good videos at their normal pace!

[Whitebeard]

Ok I'm not gonna even try and explain but here is Wikipedia's explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceilidh


Ok best way to explain is to show.

Couple of videos I found:

Dashing White Sergeants (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4599957824691541788&q=ceilidh)
The Gay gordons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHuvdpa8BM&mode=related&search=)
Orcadian Strip the Willow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uew8Y4UXqRw)

Ok I hope they work

Thanks for all the info; especially Freya for the videos. Haven't really got used to having those resources available. And I do remember the Gay Gordons.

Yikes, is does look very good (not) for rusty knees and depleted stamina. I'll just toddle off back to the Slow Dancing thread ;-)

[Lynn]

The amount of bruises you had, the better, as being bruised was a sign of a really wild ceilidh!:rolleyes: :eek: Ah, the student ceilidhs! We sometimes call them 'barn dances' over here - and I've been to some in barns, sitting on hay bales beside the tractors! Rather nice on a summer evening.

The worst collision I had at a barn dance was while I was sitting watching... one of the more enthusiatic chaps was swinging so much he broke free from his partner and crashed into me, sending me flying sideways along about 3 plastic chairs until my progress was brought to a sudden halt by an encounter with a table. Ouch.

I traditionally go to a Boxing Night one, and the past few years had been running an end of year MJ party a few days later, so we always did a 'demo' :rolleyes: of MJ in the interval while folk were having supper. Somewhat surprisingly it didn't actually put people off coming along to the party!

I'll miss the next one as its while I'm away in Southport. :(

[mrs_warwick]

Ok I'm not gonna even try and explain but here is Wikipedia's explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceilidh


Ok best way to explain is to show.

Couple of videos I found:

Dashing White Sergeants (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4599957824691541788&q=ceilidh)
The Gay gordons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHuvdpa8BM&mode=related&search=)
Orcadian Strip the Willow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uew8Y4UXqRw)

Ok I hope they work


That has made me feel all nostalgic. Haven't been to a good ceilidh for ages. I had a ceilidh instead of a disco after my wedding, as did both of my sisters and three of my cousins. Strip the Willow and the Cumberland Square (also called the Hexham Horsemen or 'that one with the basket') were the favourites - and violent!

[ducasi]

Could some kind celtish person explain to this poor sassenach (sp?) just what a ceilidh is ?? I'm pretty sure I've previously only of them in connection with folk music and assumed them to be a sort of sing along jam session.
And you'd be right... If you were a true Celt. I've been to a ceilidh in Skye, where there were rows of chairs set out and some folks singers and poets and such up at the front doing their thing. (Didn't stay for long! :wink:)

But that's in a part of the word where "ceilidh" isn't a funny word in a strange language... In the rest of Scotland and the world what we call a ceilidh, they call a ceilidh dance.

[AllanMcC]

I was told the literal translation of ceilidh is a 'gathering' or I suppose a social get together which could include singing and dancing. But in my experience it's a dance.
My first experience of ceilidh dancing was in the Officers' Training Corps at University, in the Mess after training, so picture the general enthusiasm during Strip the Willow with male and female students in combat uniform and army boots.
While Strip the Willow etc is good fun, I prefer the partner dances and they don't have to be fast. The St Bernard's Waltz is one of my favourites and quite relaxing after a fast dance.
Allan

[Lynn]

While Strip the Willow etc is good fun, I prefer the partner dances and they don't have to be fast. The St Bernard's Waltz is one of my favourites and quite relaxing after a fast dance.I've only been to wedding Scottish ceilidhs and I noticed that everyone knows the dances. I guess that's because you learn them in school? Here we have a caller who demonstrates the dance, then 'calls' the parts as we dance it through.

We do a mix of group dances (like Strip the Willow) and partner dances (the ones where you keep changing partners are fun), simple line dances and, depending on who is running it, sometimes games :what: I think this is the overlap between 'ceildh', 'barn dance' and 'social'. A social seems to be more of rural thing here. (When I say games I mean like musical chairs where the men have to grab a woman when the music stops before they sit on their chair.:sick: )

And sometimes we get 'the Music Man' - at which you either sit and cringe or join in will full flying airplanes, trumpets and general silliness - which is what I do. (But then I like a little silliness at times!)

[whitetiger1518]

Wedding ceilidhs are successful or not depending on who the bride and groom are friends with / related to.. One of my English cousins got married up in Glasgow - and they had a lot of not Scottish friends who either hogged the bar all night, or joined in completely randomly and without a clue (usually half drunk) - Not the best ceilidh I have ever been to..

On the other hand my favourite cousin (Shhh don't tell the rest of my family) had her wedding with all our nuts ceilidh mad family and friends around her. They were friends with half the band, and the bride and groom danced every dance that night... Superb


Some bands have callers, and will sometimes do a poll of how many people know a particular dance.. If 3/4 of the party know the dances inside out, then there is no point in calling, as it slows everyone down. However, if you have a high proportion of beginners then it is worth having one or two of the more complicated dances called (or them all if necessary)

I used to help with an International students initiative, and they ran a ceilidh class before the real ceilidh began, so that everyone felt comfortable, and they knew what the caller was talking about.

:cheers:

Whitetiger

[cms]

i was also a 'scottish country dancer' when i was a kid - even earning my 'gold' award - i loved it! when moving house last week i even found my old white dress and tartan sash i had to wear for exams - ah the memories! i must say kilts are much better than those outfits tho - and more fun to guess whether the man is a true scot or not!:wink:

but everyones right - scottish country may be more technical but ceilidh can be just as hard, and you dont need perfect footwork to make it work! if you've not seen the dances before then a caller can certainly be a good way of getting through it but by the end of the night people are usually laughing so much they hardly listen - following others is just the best way really!

maybe this is something i can show people when i go travelling - what would they say if i pulled out my jimmy shand cd and asked someone to dance (apart from calling my music taste rather dodgy!!) :rofl:

C xx

[Whitebeard]

..... my jimmy shand cd and asked someone to dance .....

C xx

Ooh ar, oi remembers 'im. An' there were that feller-me-laad ooze "troozers" kep forlin' dahn.

[andystyle]

i must say kilts are much better than those outfits tho - and more fun to guess whether the man is a true scot or not!:wink:


Who needs to guess? We're not called 'cheeky Scots' for nothing, you know... :wink:

[cms]

Ooh ar, oi remembers 'im. An' there were that feller-me-laad ooze "troozers" kep forlin' dahn.

oor donald? - aye he wore the kilt well - dont remember the part of the song where his troozers fell doon tho - just that they were non existent!?!! :grin:


Who needs to guess? We're not called 'cheeky Scots' for nothing, you know... :wink:

and you were wearing yours on saturday night? well then......... :wink: :whistle:

C xx

[andystyle]

and you were wearing yours on saturday night? well then......... :wink: :whistle:


:grin:

[Little Monkey]

My friend and I have a great way to start a fast track in Ceroc. Instead of stepping back :whistle: we clasp hands ceilidh style and spin round and round as fast as we can go then he wraps himself in and spinds me out. Great fun and a different way to start a dance.

:yeah: My ex and I used to do this when he was still dancing (many moons ago now), and always got funny looks from other dancers on the floor!:rolleyes: :rofl:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, there should be a university mountaineering club ceilidh coming up in October...... I may have to go along to that.... Scare the freshers...:devil:

[amadancer]

That has made me feel all nostalgic. Haven't been to a good ceilidh for ages.
Me too! :)

[ShinyWeeStar]

I love ceilidhs!!!!! :clap::clap:

Strip the willows is a battle of wills. Only one thing for it dig your heels in and spin the guy harder than he can spin you. by the end of the dance I'm practically flying.
:yeah: :clap: :clap:

boys in kilts is one of many things I will miss when I leave Scotland in a few weeks
Yup, you gotta love men in kilts (provided they've got the legs for it of course ;) ). :drool:

My friend and I have a great way to start a fast track in Ceroc. Instead of stepping back :whistle: we clasp hands ceilidh style and spin round and round as fast as we can go then he wraps himself in and spinds me out. Great fun and a different way to start a dance.
Sounds great fun! :clap:

Club ceilidhs (back in my uni days) were always more like battles to music, than actual dancing (although we do know all the dances, we just add a bit of, ummm, force!!), and the girls would always compare bruises the next day. The amount of bruises you had, the better, as being bruised was a sign of a really wild ceilidh!:rolleyes: :eek: I do have a few rather nice bruises to show from Saturday.....
I love a good birl and feel cheated if I come away from a Strip the Willow without any bruises! :rofl:

[PretzelMeister]

I think this is the only ceilidh dance that has ever had me in fear of my life. Especially, like whitetiger says, when done at high speeds! Sooooo much fun. :devil:

A few of us Glasgow crew went on holiday to the States last year and, amongst other things, spent a week on a dude ranch in Arizona.

On one of the evenings, they taught us a little line-dancing. As we had brought some ceilidh music with us, we thought we would return the compliment and try to teach them some ceilidh dancing.

Hmmmmm.....perhaps not the best choice but I chose Strip The Willow, on the basis that it's easy to do and there was a good reel on the CD....if a little fast! :blush:

Boy did they run for cover after it was finished, with murmurings about having to get early nights and all the rest of it due to early starts, etc, etc! There were 5 of us spread around 3 sets I think, both of the lads in kilts, all of us in party mode and the natives didn't really know what had hit them.

But what a laugh!

PM

[Yliander]

It's taken a little while - but better late than never here are the photos (http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=bn23palx.cc49qul9&Uy=9qakkh&Ux=0&localeid=en_GB) from Ceilidh dancing in Glasgow

[cms]

theyre great! the one of us all is fab under the sign is fab!

lets do it again soon! :flower:

C xx

[whitetiger1518]

Can I come??

Ceilidhs have vanished from my calender rather deppressingly lately, and i didn't even make it to the Glasgow party on Saturday (seriously depressed about that!! :tears: :tears: )

Will have to make up for it on the 6th at GUU - Guys - forewarned is forearmed - I'll be dancing every dance that my legs and lungs will allow!! JJ's is out of the question (:angry: Mutter mutter - who put a double family birthday party there? Can't they just have it next Monday when I don't do anything??? :confused: :confused: )

Depressed Whitetiger

[purplehyacinth]

Reel of the 51st is my particular fave.:D

(I don't know the Swedish Masquerade:blush: )



:rolleyes:


Where on earth have you managed to find a ceilidh (and I mean ceilidh as opposed to a proper Scottish Country Dance) with Reel of the 51st? I want to know (as it must be a v.g. standard of ceildh). Normally at a ceilidh the most you can get them do do beyond the normal "ceilidh" dances is Dunedin Festival Dance (becoming more popular - great mixer dance - I can provide instructions if required) , or Postie's Jig (nice and easy 4-couple dance :nice: .

Swedish Masquerade....

Facing the line of dance (ie anticlockwise), man on inside, lady on outside, nearer hands joined.

March for 16 counts (or simply adopt the tactics of the Ministry of silly walks: the march is VERY slow).
Waltz tempo section. Retaining nearer hands, balance away from your partner, then towards your partner, then away from your partner. Join in ballroom hold and waltz. Repeat X1
Polka tempo. Same as waltz section but polka tempo. Balance is quite bouncy (note doing a pas de basque for the balance works well).

Depending on the band, they may finish the dance with a prolonged polka section. If they do this (you can tell as it goes beyond the 2x through of polka) then simply keep polka-ing. In a prolonged polka finish, you don't do the balance: just polka!

"IVFDF" variation: In polka section, have both hands joined and bounce (there is no other word to describe this) towards and away from your partner rather than balancing with nearer hands joined. The key to this variation is to miss striking your partner's head with yours. The aim is to have your heads passing each other (think air-kiss but a lot faster) on each side, rather than putting the heid on your partner. (NOTE:This is a particularly violent variation (I was taught it on a dance trip to Germany, and have to admit it scares me), and not to be done with the inexperienced/inept.)

Another good variation of a ceilidh dance is the eightsome reel. In the middle section (ie the one where the ladies and men go into the middle, show off etc while everyone else circles, then person-in-the middle sets to partner and opposite, then does reels of 3), fun things to do are:

Reel of 3 - try a follow-on reel of 3, tandem reel/dolphin reel, promenade reel (the ultimate aim is to get a reel of 3 with all 8 people in the set participating - although I must confess to having been in one set (of 8) where we ended up with 10 people in the reel, as two bystanders decided they wanted some fun too!).

Or, instead of say one man/lady going in the middle, the man/lady and the man/lady opposite (really should be the person of the same sex to make it work) go into the middle at the same time, and do tulloch turn during the circle. Then set to and turn partner/opposite simultaneously, switching between the two turns (so you always have two people setting to/turning each other at the same time), then do a reel of 4 rather than a reel of 3 (the reel of 4 can also be varied with tandem, promenade etc as those not involved decide to come and play....)

Again variations which need people who know what they are doing, but FUN when done well.... (*evil grin*).

Hmmm. I fancy a ceildh now.... *wanders off to check ceilidh diary*.....

[Lethe]

Another good variation of a ceilidh dance is the eightsome reel.

that's one of my favorites :nice:, going to the ceilidh club in camden on Friday night :clap:

[purplehyacinth]

Oops

Amendment to previous post.

In Swedish Masquerade - first 16 counts = march. Should be 8 steps in line of dance, turn and 8 steps against line of dance. Sorry, should have made that clear.