Ceilidh tuition

Da Hooley ceilidh band’s dancing crash course/induction/orientation/familiarisation session

Ceilidh dancing is inherently inclusive, relaxing, flowing, cathartic, exhilarating and above all great fun! You may be surprised to learn it is also remarkably ‘free-form’. For many of the dances, as long as you are in roughly the right place in the dance nothing else matters and you’re free to just ‘let rip!’ Many couples have family/friends who have never danced before. There are certain moves, steps and forms that more experienced dancers can use to move around more effectively and appear more ‘polished’. It also helps if you’re familiar with the dances.
If you or your family and friends would like to get a pre-ceilidh head start, we can offer a tuition session with our experienced caller. The session will be tailored to your specific needs but would typically include:

• Two fiddles, playing either acoustically or with a small sound system, depending on the size of your venue
• Drew, our caller, to walk you through and demonstrate some of the common simpler dances
• Specific guidance on some of the dancing basics (e.g. setting steps, travelling step, birling, dance holds, etc.)
• Ceilidh etiquette
• Tuition for particular dances (including, for example, how to waltz for a bridal 1st dance!)

If you just want a quick brush up on half-remembered ceilidh dancing skills you can download written instructions for some of the common ceilidh dances from our site.