Tag: ceilidh caller

barn dance, ceilidh, dance night, party, wedding

Summer: ceilidh season

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Weddings – birthdays – garden parties – community fairs – festivals

The warmth of summer, the bright skies and long days make for a joyous season, and it is the natural time for celebrating with dancing. Since becoming a ceilidh caller I’ve attended more parties and weddings than I’d ever done before, and seen such a variety of event styling and party vibes, from smart, formal weddings in grand hotels to relaxed events in family gardens and cowsheds. All have their own special appeal.

Dancing Old Swan Gallop to The Brim Ceilidh Band – a wonderful wedding ceilidh at Harefield Barn near Crediton

If you fancy something that will bring all your guests together, of all ages, then a ceilidh is for you. You need space (1m2 per dancer is a good guide, and space for a minimum of 8 people to dance), a couple of electrical sockets, a band with caller and some friends and/or family.

“Thank you SO much to your incredible band! We couldn’t have asked for a better band. Everyone commented on how fun it was… one of their favourite parts. And G said you had the best caller he’d ever experienced!”

“You and The Brim were brilliant!! I’ve heard lots of really lovely comments about the music and the dancing. I realise it was probably a pretty tough gig for you given the acoustics, heat and uncontrollable members of the party, but you coped with the demands magnificently!! We’re both so happy we decided to have a ceilidh, and that you were the chosen band!!“

Outdoor wedding ceilidh at Enys House and Gardens near Penryn with The Rosevilles Ceilidh Band

Summer 2025 is fairly full (weddings, parties, village halls, and a cider festival!), especially the weekends, but do get in touch if you want to book a ceilidh for your event and we’ll do our best to fit you in and make your party one to remember. Having now experienced many wedding and party ceilidhs feel free also to ask for advice, I’m happy to share what could work best for your occasion and group to have the best time.

barn dance, ceilidh, community, dance night

Dance to The Brim Ceilidh Band – 16th May, Devoran Village Hall

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We are excited about our upcoming ceilidh with The Brim Ceilidh Band on 16th May in the lovely Devoran Village Hall. Do come and join us. Everyone welcome!

What people said last time:

“The music was outstanding. The caller was super clear. Loved it!”

“Great crowd, great music and dance choices”

“Really friendly people. Great musicians, clear instructions. The whole event was fun and inclusive”

Book your tickets now!

Doors open 19:30. Dancing from 20:00.

A bar will be run by volunteers from the Devoran Village Hall Committee and will support the village hall.

The hall has a car park and the village is served by public buses 36, 36A and U1.

A hybrid of Cornwall’s top folk musicians, The Brim Ceilidh Band specialise in providing an upbeat ceilidh / barn dance with an exciting and energetic mix of both new and traditional dances combined with an upbeat and full sound from the band. Check them out at www.brimceilidh.co.uk – accordion, fiddle and bouzouki.

No need to have any idea what ceilidh dancing is, just an enthusiasm to have some fun. Ceilidh dancing is very inclusive, suitable for everyone even those with two left feet. No experience or partner required. Kate Smith will be the caller for the evening and will show you how to do all the dances.

We want to keep our public ceilidhs affordable for everyone so you will see there are different adult tickets prices for those booking in advance. The regular price (£8.50) will cover our costs. The supporter price (£12) allows us to pay the band a modest fee. The budget price (£5) is because we don’t want you to be excluded from dancing if you would struggle to afford the regular price. Please pay as you feel you can afford. Accompanied children age 8 – 16 £3. Under 8s free, but please still book a ticket.

Do book in advance if you can to ensure you can come – there are limited tickets numbers due to venue capacity. Last time, in October, we sold out before the doors opened. If any tickets are left then we’ll have some available on the door at the set price of £12.

Get your tickets here

We very much look forward to seeing your smiling faces on the dancefloor!

barn dance, ceilidh, community, dance night

Dance to The Brim Ceilidh Band – 11th October, Devoran Village Hall

ceilidhcornwall

We are excited about our upcoming ceilidh with The Brim Ceilidh Band on 11th October in the lovely Devoran Village Hall. Do come and join us.

Book your tickets now!

Doors open 19:30. Dancing from 20:00.

A bar will be run by volunteers from the Devoran Village Hall Committee and will support the village hall.

The hall has a car park and the village is served by public buses 36, 36A and U1.

A hybrid of Cornwall’s top folk musicians, The Brim Ceilidh Band specialise in providing an upbeat ceilidh / barn dance with an exciting and energetic mix of both new and traditional dances combined with an upbeat and full sound from the band. Check them out at www.brimceilidh.co.uk – accordion, fiddle and bouzouki.

No need to have any idea what ceilidh dancing is, just an enthusiasm to have some fun. Ceilidh dancing is very inclusive, suitable for everyone even those with two left feet. No experience or partner required. Kate Smith will be the caller for the evening and will show you how to do all the dances.

We want to keep our public ceilidhs affordable for everyone so you will see there are different adult tickets prices for those booking in advance. The regular price (£8.50) will cover our costs. The supporter price (£12) allows us to pay the band a modest fee. The budget price (£5) is because we don’t want you to be excluded from dancing if you would struggle to afford the regular price. Please pay as you feel you can afford. Accompanied children age 8 – 16 £3. Under 8s free, but please still book a ticket.

Do book in advance if you can to ensure you can come – there are limited tickets numbers due to venue capacity. If any tickets are left then we’ll have some available on the door at the set price of £12.

Get your tickets here

We very much look forward to seeing your smiling faces on the dancefloor!

barn dance, Carharrack, ceilidh, classes, community, dance instructions, new dances, Uncategorized

Ceilidh class notes (5/12/23)

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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

Learning Nina’s Double Troika at our ceilidh classes

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.

Clearly shows where dancers go, though rather a lot of ‘step-hop’ instructions!

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!

barn dance, ceilidh, dance instructions, new dances

Jonny’s birthday reel

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Ceilidh is a living tradition, with new dances and new tunes evolving all the time.

Here I’d like to share Ceilidh Cornwall’s new dance for the summer of 2023, to celebrate Jonny (who likes longways sets with arches) and those ceilidhers for whom OXO isn’t quite their cup of tea (perhaps due to more beer, or prosecco, than either OXO, bovril or tea!).

Formation: Longways sets, works well with 8 dancers but also fine with as many as will. Stand opposite your partner.

Music: 32 bar jigs or reels. Number of repeats at least equal to the number of couples in a set.

Bars 1 – 16 (A part):

Hold hands in lines.
Forward 4
Back 4
One line makes arches by lifting arms. Forward 4, under arches and swap sides 4.

Repeat above, but arches made by the other line.

Bars 17 – 32 (B part):

All join hands and make one large circle. Circle left for 8, right for 8. Back into original lines.

Top couple hold hands. Everyone else joins hands with partner and makes a tunnel of arches. Top couple gallop under arches to the bottom of the set. (8)

If there is time, everyone swing until time to start again. For fun, couples can swing as soon as the top couple have gone through their arch. (8)

Without calling from a stage it can be hard to see whether the top couple have reached the bottom of the set or not, if the set is very long. So best to encourage the top couple to move fast under the arches and call based on the beats, or whether it looks like dancers are mostly keeping up, or if there is chaos!

Reform into lines and hold hands in lines for the next time through the dance.

Would be lovely to know if you try this dance and enjoy it!

Carharrack, ceilidh, dance night

Ceilidh with The Rosevilles, 15th July

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Come along and dance to The Rosevilles Ceilidh Band on 15th July at the Carharrack Social Club. If you tried a taster class come along and have a ball to live music. If you didn’t try a class – no problem, you can pick up the dances on the night with Kate Smith calling. We look forward to a fantastic evening with you of lively, happy music and endorphin-generating dancing!

Get your tickets in advance here (£5 for adults, free entry for accompanied under 16s):

Register on Eventbrite
Carharrack, classes, free, taster

Whoop – ceilidh taster class 7th July

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Come dance with us – try ceilidh dancing for free on 7th July 19:00 – 20:30 at the Carharrack Social Club. I’m super-excited about all the interest in ceilidh classes from my tentative questioning last month.

Everyone welcome. Remember comfy clothes, flat-ish shoes and a water bottle.

More info and a registration link here
ceilidh, classes, community

Hello World!

ceilidhcornwall

Welcome to the new Ceilidh Cornwall website! Join our ceilidh-loving community.

Try a class, or find out more about what ceilidh is and check what’s on in Cornwall.

I’m a Scot living in Cornwall, with a love of dance. Even on the darkest, wettest winter day a good dose of ceilidh dancing can cheer the darkest mood, and an hour of ceilidh is, for me and many others, way more fun than an hour in the gym, but just as good for keeping fit.

Looking forward to meeting other ceilidh-lovers and inviting others to try it out. Smiling (virtually) guaranteed!

Do please explore this new website – it’ll expand shortly to include more information on ceilidh and ceilidh-like dancing, about this project and what we offer.

Please tell your friends about Ceilidh Cornwall!