Dances

There are hundreds of ceilidh and ceilidh-like dances, and more and more being made up all the time, but here are a few of the most popular and some of our favourites. We’ll add to this page over time.

Descriptions and videos here are the way Ceilidh Cornwall usually does the dances, but note that there are regional variations and different callers adapt dances or have their favourite interpretations, so if you’ve danced these before you might have done something different, but the ‘essence’ will have been the same, and no variations are really right or wrong.

All ceilidhs will have a mixture of couple and group dances, suitable for people who have never danced before and fun for experienced ceilidh dancers too. At a ceilidh event a caller will make sure that you quickly pick up what to do. If you’d like to learn beforehand or want to dance more regularly, come along to one of our classes or ask us to run a workshop for you.

Virginia Reel

An energetic long-wise set dance (two lines facing each other) that works well for groups of 6 – 10, but could be more. The name ‘Virginia’ comes from the dance being brought by the English to Virginia, USA, in the 17th Century. It probably evolved from an Irish dance, rinnce fadha, which then became the English dance Sir Roger de Coverley.

Having been on the go for so long it has many variations. American versions often have some spinning, or a reel as in the dance ‘Strip the Willow’, but this version in the video below (at a wedding on the Lizard Peninsula) is the one most common in Scotland and danced in Ceilidh Cornwall classes. To make it into a good first dance at a wedding an even simpler version can be danced that allows the wedding couple to really show off!

A Virginia Reel at a wedding ceilidh with The Rosevilles Ceilidh Band, 2022.

Flying Scotsman

In the Flying Scotsman we dance in celebration of the great, express passenger steam train that ran from 1862 between Edinburgh and London, taking 10.5 hours for the journey, stopping for half hour at York for lunch. In 1888, with improvements to the railway, this time was cut to 8.5 hours. The Flying Scotsman was the world’s first steam train to officially achieve 100 mph, in 1934.

The dance has a number of versions, we do the version more common at ceilidhs, which is simpler than the original, but we encourage silliness and creativity about which routes the trains take (you’ll have to try it to find out), so long as they get to their destination fast!

The Flying Scotsman in Cornwall, video by Kernow Viddy, 2013.

Flying Scotsman with the Clamjamfrie Ceilidh Band

Gay Gordons

A couple or pair dance, named after the nickname for the army regiment the Gordon Highlander, and initially called the Gordon Highlander’s March, first printed in the 1800s. Lots of dances like this exist across Europe and the US, with distinctive ‘promenade’ or walking sections. Once you’ve got the distinctive hold, in the photo below, you’ll be pretty close to mastering the dance.