Where: London, England
When: May 25, 2012
With: A whole bunch of coworkers and Dave
As the kick off to my "proper British social season" this summer, a bunch of my coworkers, with Dave in tow, took me to my first ceilidh (pronounced "Cay-lee"). Ceilidh is the Gaelic word for "gathering" and generally involves music and dancing. Back in the olden days, it was a giant party for young lads and lasses to meet and court each other. Now, it just makes an excellent way to spend a Friday night. (Though they do offer "singles" ceilidh nights, indicating the tradition of courting still continues.)
It was the first hot Friday in London, and the entire office was itching to head out and start the weekend as soon as possible. Back in the states, Memorial Day weekend was about to kick off and I was happy that the mood, heat and atmosphere in England gave the feeling that it was a holiday weekend here too. By 5:30pm, we were out the door and heading up to Camden for our big night out. We made our way to the dance hall, and I was beyond excited.
Inside the giant dance hall were high windows and even higher ceilings. The band stood on a stage in the middle of the floor in their finest tartan kilts warming up their fiddles. Soon, the caller (just like in square dancing) started to explain the steps to the first dance. Dave was an EXCELLENT partner and picked up the steps like a pro, allowing us to just completely throw ourselves into it and have a blast from the very first dance.
As the dances went on, they varied in how many couples were paired, how often you switched partners, and how much you moved around the floor. Some steps were pretty standard (swinging your partner round and round) and some were more complicated. I think my favorite was the basket (of death) which consists of 2 girls and 2 guys forming a tight circle - girls' arms go over the guys' shoulders and guys' arms go around the girls' waist. Then the boys spin as fast as they can in a circle, and let centrifugal force pull the bodies of the girls out from the circle. It's incredibly fun, and only mildly dangerous. Although when one group of four had to make do with 3 guys instead of 2, forcing Jad to be a "girl", he nearly broke the backs of the rest of his circle performing this move.
Apparently, the only thing that will make me stop taking pictures is to bring me to a ceilidh. Taking pictures would have required me to leave the dance floor, and despite the sweltering heat in the dance hall, I refused to stop (and therefore, poor Dave was given no breaks). It was soooooo much fun. So here is the only picture taken of the night, displaying what sweaty beasts we were.
We were able to return two months later, just before I had to return to the states (I know, my blogging is really far behind). However, I was able to capture some video of one of the dances - too bad that big blog of white light is in the background, but I think it gets the point across.
So much fun. I think it will be something we continue trying to do every couple of months.
When: May 25, 2012
With: A whole bunch of coworkers and Dave
As the kick off to my "proper British social season" this summer, a bunch of my coworkers, with Dave in tow, took me to my first ceilidh (pronounced "Cay-lee"). Ceilidh is the Gaelic word for "gathering" and generally involves music and dancing. Back in the olden days, it was a giant party for young lads and lasses to meet and court each other. Now, it just makes an excellent way to spend a Friday night. (Though they do offer "singles" ceilidh nights, indicating the tradition of courting still continues.)
It was the first hot Friday in London, and the entire office was itching to head out and start the weekend as soon as possible. Back in the states, Memorial Day weekend was about to kick off and I was happy that the mood, heat and atmosphere in England gave the feeling that it was a holiday weekend here too. By 5:30pm, we were out the door and heading up to Camden for our big night out. We made our way to the dance hall, and I was beyond excited.
Inside the giant dance hall were high windows and even higher ceilings. The band stood on a stage in the middle of the floor in their finest tartan kilts warming up their fiddles. Soon, the caller (just like in square dancing) started to explain the steps to the first dance. Dave was an EXCELLENT partner and picked up the steps like a pro, allowing us to just completely throw ourselves into it and have a blast from the very first dance.
As the dances went on, they varied in how many couples were paired, how often you switched partners, and how much you moved around the floor. Some steps were pretty standard (swinging your partner round and round) and some were more complicated. I think my favorite was the basket (of death) which consists of 2 girls and 2 guys forming a tight circle - girls' arms go over the guys' shoulders and guys' arms go around the girls' waist. Then the boys spin as fast as they can in a circle, and let centrifugal force pull the bodies of the girls out from the circle. It's incredibly fun, and only mildly dangerous. Although when one group of four had to make do with 3 guys instead of 2, forcing Jad to be a "girl", he nearly broke the backs of the rest of his circle performing this move.
Apparently, the only thing that will make me stop taking pictures is to bring me to a ceilidh. Taking pictures would have required me to leave the dance floor, and despite the sweltering heat in the dance hall, I refused to stop (and therefore, poor Dave was given no breaks). It was soooooo much fun. So here is the only picture taken of the night, displaying what sweaty beasts we were.
We were able to return two months later, just before I had to return to the states (I know, my blogging is really far behind). However, I was able to capture some video of one of the dances - too bad that big blog of white light is in the background, but I think it gets the point across.
So much fun. I think it will be something we continue trying to do every couple of months.
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