by Ian Lewis


Contents
What is a Ceilidh?
Choosing a band
Selecting a venue
The Caller

What is a Ceilidh?

It's what you make it. An evening of dancing to live music, traditional dances from England, Scotland, Wales and a few from the USA and Ireland.

The way we do it you don't need to know much but an idea of right and left will help. The band play traditional tunes that tell your feet what to do, and there's a caller who 'calls' the dances. It's his or her job to explain the moves and gently shepherd everyone through the dance.

You don't need an excuse, but lots of people are choosing a ceilidh for their wedding party. It's a great way to get all sorts of people and all ages to mix and enjoy themselves together.


Choosing a Band

There are some bands who've been playing for ceilidhs for years and have never played for any other purpose. There are others who play mostly concerts. There are lumpy bands and smooth bands, bands that play all Irish tunes and bands that play Scottish material.

If you love the fiddle and hate the accordian, that may make the choice easy. You can have a great night with all of them but if you're not sure, the safest thing is to hear them and see them in a dance, before booking.


Selecting a Venue

The only issue that's special here is that you need some space. You can have a good disco on a large table but for a ceilidh you need space to gallop and swing and polka and the rest. If you have had a sit down dinner in a room there won't be room to dance if you just move one or two tables. There's nothing better than a good traditional village hall. A wooden floor is much nicer to dance on than concrete, you need a little bit of spring. Carpet is something of a killer too!

A village hall with chairs around the outside for a quick breather, a small stage for the band and caller, a bar in the corner or in an alcove - that sounds good to me. If the bar is next door with comfy chairs you can sometimes get too many people sloping off and hiding there for the night. Another good feature is some soft lighting, not pitch black, you need to see where you're going, but try not having fluorescent tubes.

Traditional reserve sometimes means people take a bit of starting up. A convenient pint, pleasant lighting and chairs that aren't too comfortable will all get your crowd dancing sooner.


The Caller

Well, Ian Lewis is one of the possibilities and a regular with Tumladen. He loves dancing in ceilidhs, and believes with a passion that he can share that pleasure. There's no black art to it. The traditional dances have delighted people of all ages for generations.

Ian has no qualifications other than having done it for years. His first experiences of ceilidh dancing were almost 30 years ago in Dundee. Everyone there seemed to know how to 'Strip the Willow' without being told.

After Scottish dancing Ian moved over to traditional Welsh folk dance - enjoyable, but the Welsh dances are complex and best suited to display dancing rather than for the public. Since then his own dancing has mostly been in ceilidhs and as a founder member of the Isca Morris, a Morris side based in Newport, South Wales.

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