Earlier this week I took a Ceili dance class.
We learned three dances:
Siege of Ennis, Bonfire Dance and the Haymakers Jig.
Goodness knows I am way too old and out of shape for this sort of dancing.
My ankles were not happy with me the following day.
But still, it was soooo much fun!
We had good natured teachers who kept smiling even when we made lots of mistakes;
the young ladies of Ceili At The Crossroads.
the young ladies of Ceili At The Crossroads.
(Many of these girls are my daughter's friends, from her Irish dancing days.)
(I did not take this picture. It is from their web site.)
I could not get any pictures or video from our Ceili class.
I was too busy trying to figure out where to put my feet!
I was too busy trying to figure out where to put my feet!
But I did find a couple of youtube videos online
that show other people dancing the Haymakers Jig and the Siege of Ennis.
that show other people dancing the Haymakers Jig and the Siege of Ennis.
Just image it with regular clothes, many mistakes and loads of laughter
and you'll have a pretty good idea of how our class went.
I like that style of dance and its historic roots. Sounds like fun and good exercise all in one.
ReplyDeleteI watched my daughter and her friends do it for years. Tried it myself several years back, but didn't keep it up, and so I thought I could just jump in and do it again. HA! I LOVE watching other people dance. :-)
DeleteWhat fun that must have been! I too would have been collapsing at day end . . .
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun! You should try it sometime. :-)
DeleteI have gone to many Ceilis over the years and they were disastrous; for me, not anyone else. I am so uncoordinated and I always ended up tripping up myself and other dancers. It was fun though! :-)
ReplyDeleteAll the class participants and teachers were good about leading people along when they got mixed up. I certainly did my share of starting with the wrong foot and going right when I was supposed to go left. :-)
DeleteI just love this.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteI think maybe I could do the second one, it looks like fun!:)
ReplyDeleteYes, you could Laurie. And it was a LOT of fun.
DeleteI bet you did have fun - it looks like it is hard to do - but still fun.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest thing for me was remembering If I needed to put my foot down in front of me or in back of me, so that I could start the next sequence of steps going in the proper direction. Sigh... my brain is getting old. :-)
DeleteGood for you! What a beautiful way to get exercise. I bet you were tired but had lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteKim, it had been 4 (?) years since the last time I tried any of these ceili dances. I was pooped after a few seconds!
DeleteOh this looks like a barrel of fun!
ReplyDeleteI bet there was a whole lot of laughing, for sure!
It was so much fun!
DeleteIt looks like loads of fun! Until the ankles start aching. :)
ReplyDeleteMy ankles are fine again. It didn't last long.
DeleteGayle, thank you so much for sharing these two videos. I love Irish dancing and watching these two videos reminded me of two summers ago when we were at the Highlands Festival we try to attend every year. My hubby actually videoed me dancing with the group that was dancing there. It was so fun! Glad you had a good time...the music is so cheerful!
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to post that video, Dianna? :-)
DeleteOh my, what fun. I took flamenco dancing classes a couple of years ago with similar results. Good for you for giving it a try!
ReplyDeleteI think one must have a very flexible back to do flamenco, with all the twisting and turning they do.
DeleteHow fun! I love Irish dancing and have always wanted to take a class. My daughter is a Celtic harpist, so we always have music in the house and it makes my toes itch to start clogging!
ReplyDeleteWe should get your daughter and my daughter together, and then we could sit back and enjoy the music and dancing. :-)
DeleteWhat fun....my daughter is a dancer too...I even took tap classes a few years back...it was so fun. xo
ReplyDeleteI took a tap class in college. Fun. :-)
DeleteI am so proud of you for doing that! You go girl!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a lot of fun. I'm not sure what my knees, ankles or hips would make of it!
ReplyDeleteIt didn't seem to bother my knees or hips, just the ankles. Something I'm sure would ease up if I did it often enough.
DeleteHow fun! I'd take something like this too.
ReplyDeleteI bet there are dance schools in your area that offer classes similar to this. :-)
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