Our final class before Christmas! How lovely to have met so many friendly people this term, thanks so much for coming along to our ceilidh classes. It has been a real pleasure to see you develop your ceilidh skills and to see all your smiling faces!
So, in our final class we went over a few dances we had done before, and then we learned a couple of new ones:
Nina’s Double Troika
Nina Fenner is also a ceilidh caller with The Rosevilles Ceilidh Band and she will be calling a few dances at our Christmas-ish Ceilidh on Friday 8th December so we learned a dance that she created.
Danced in groups of 3, it is a bit unusual in that each figure takes 4 beats rather than the more common 8. So, at times you might have to move fast. It can be danced to jigs and reels. Here are the instructions:
3 people in a circle. Circle left for 4. Then right for 4.
Break the circle into a line with joined hands. You’ll do this a few times in the dance and it is easiest if you keep in the same order in your three, but if you wish to have more of a challenge then you can vary who takes each place in the line by breaking the circle at different point each time through.
The middle person raises their hands. The person on the right hand end of the line dances first, turning anticlockwise towards the middle person and under the nearest arch to them. This takes 4 beats.
The person on the left hand end of the line now does the same through the arch nearest to them. Again, 4 beats.
Reform the circle. Circle left for 4 and right for 4.
Break the circle into a line again as before with joined hands.
The middle person raises their arms again into arches. The person on the right hand end of the line dances first, passing in front of the middle person and through the arch further away from them. The middle person will also need to turn on the spot. Hold hands loosely so you don’t get into a tangle. This move also takes 4 beats and you need to be faster than before.
The person on the left hand end of the line now does the same, passing in front of the middle person and through the arch farthest from them. The middle person turns on the spot. 4 beats.
Back to the start of the dance.
Clopton Bridge (ceilidh style)
Longways set for 4 couples (though we also managed with five couples and an extra pointy star). 32 bar hornpipe or jig as we did. This English ceilidh dance was written by John Chapman and published in 1987.
This was fun, and a gentler introduction to ‘corners’ than our previous attempt at the Reel of the 51st Division! I do like the unusual figure of first corners turning each other in the middle of the dance and then second corners doing this next.
Generally this dance is done to a hornpipe with step-hop footwork (see any video of Clopton Bridge, and below). To be more ceilidh-ish and suitable for events where there are ceilidh beginners we danced this with simple travelling steps and to a jig.
Lisa Heywood describes a variation for advanced dancers where the end couples do rights and lefts around the outside of the set while the middle couples dance right and left hand stars. It is fun, but requires fast movement and for everyone to know what they are doing! Lots more here from Webfeet about extra variations!
Next stop ceilidh! Join us on 8th December!
And new classes start on 9th January – block book in advance here!
Ceilidh Cornwall 