#ceili dance

[thetextilealchemist]

I know it’s a week early, but we had the St Patrick’s Day ceili tonight, so I got to pull out my fascinator and dress in Ravenclaw/Dunne colours.

[crowdhangoutofficial]

Seachtain Na Gaeilge, Day 9: Irish Ceili Dances

Irish Ceili dances, or "social" dances, are dances performed with multiple people, or a long line of couples.

Ceili dances are often fast and complex, performed with as little as two people to as many as sixteen. In social settings, a Ceili dance may be "called", meaning the next steps are announced during the dance for the benefit of newcomers.

With love, Crowd Hangout.

[silly-little-lizard]

I'm realizing that I am (in most cases) utterly incapable of narrating something in writing unless I have a really clear, solid picture of what's going on. I can't just be like "ah yes there was some dancing of some kind and Cassian thought Nesta was utterly entrancing" because where does the detail come from???

combine that with me being a lifelong social folk dancer, and a sucker for when authors write in great detail about their special interest, and you get :

Neighbors Chapter 5 : The Choreography Notes.

I've had this section of the fic written for like, 8 months ahaha more like 14 months now. It might have been one of the easiest-flowing segments-- sure, a lot of the repairs and building flowed well but then I had to keep looking up particulars or bothering Partner now-Ex for appropriate plumbing issues. Nesta doing social folk dance in a working-class fae pub that's unashamedly based on the pub I learned Irish dance at? I don't need to look anything up. This is home.

So, in order from when the musicians start playing :

-the warm-up set, which I added after-the-fact to give Nessian a little more time to settle in. Mentally stringing together two of my favorite tunes : Avant l'Orage by Genticorum, and Fleur de Mandragore, a popular reel taught to me by two of the people I unashamedly based the fictional fae musicians on.

-A schottische, an originally-Eastern European couples' dance which always results in me throwing out a hip by hopping too much. Thus, I don't do them often and had to poke around for music, but here, have a lovely recording by Vasen so you know what the nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle that Cassian can't identify) sounds like.

-an Irish ceili dance called the Waves of Tory. I should here note that I learned Irish ceili as part of a specific American tradition that . . . prioritizes approachability and fun over perfection, shall we say? So my choreography may not be The Most Traditional. Unlike English country dance, these don't have specific music for each dance, just time signatures, so it could be any set of jigs like this one by The Outside Track.

-a waltz. Folk waltzes are a lot less "proper box step + ballroom posture" and a lot more "swirly magical something in 3/4", with a vague gesture at a counterclocwise circular path around the floor to try to avoid collisions. I had this particular tune in mind while I was writing. Nesta's leading this one, by the way! No patriarchal roles about who dances what for Lady Death.

-"The Black Nag" (referring to a horse), an English country dance done in sets of three pairs, which is why I chose it, Sorry Cassian, no room for you! English country dances usually DO have corresponding tunes and Spotify had no good/findable recordings of this one, but here you can see some dancers I don't know doing the whole thing.

-an Irish ceili "polka set", which I believe is part of my weird little local tradition. While there are Actual Traditional Irish Ceili Polkas, what we call polka sets/squares are 100% shenanigans : one dancer calls out figures from other dances, making shit up as they go along. Between each of those figures, all four pairs dance a polka step in, out, then around one place, four times. It is EXTREMELY common for something to go wonky mid-figure, and you just sorta meet back up in the center and the caller gets to work it out. Despite being called polkas these are just as often danced to reels, like this fairly classic set by Liz Carrol. If you want to hear what the polka rhythm sounds like, here is an almost-too-fast-to-dance-to polka set by Imar.

-another waltz! Since the exact steps can be improvised, I wanted to show off Nesta's skill with a partner who can match it-- the good version of her dance scene with Eris, if you will. I had a specific tune in mind for this too : Les Poules Huppees ("crested hens"), the first tune in this set by Lily Henley. There are other better-known recordings, but usually too slow and dirge-like. This one has tension! It's sexy!!

-finally, Cassian loses his shit to the tune (ha, ha) of Childgrove, another English country dance. The choreography is perfect for placing characters predictably in eachothers' line of sight, allowing for that glorious moment of accidental eye contact as Cassian leaves. This has corresponding music, here performed by the Brunos. Can confirm, they are that fun to dance to for real.

A bonus point of etiquette : Dancing with someone three times in one evening does hold some significance, although not nearly as much as it used to! Historically three dances in one evening was A Big Deal, indicating familiarity to a degree that was rude unless you were engaged or married. In the modern world, sure you might be flirting, but you might also be good friends, spending time with someone you don't see often, or just really enjoy dancing with that person even if you have no intentions off the floor. If Velaris is meant to be this egalitarian utopia of a city (HA), I'd expect to see social norms at least as permissive as ours, where one can enjoy a few dances with someone without owing them anything. So tl;dr Nesta's behavior towards the dude with the braid is perhaps partial, but not out of the ordinary. I really did do my best to write that sequence in a way that shows that Cass's repressed feelings are what's making him struggle, not any intention on Nesta's part.

[thetextilealchemist]

This year's ceili dance nights https://www.instagram.com/p/BpfAijRnwWc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1g1hknpuevys7

[thetextilealchemist]

I got to reuse my pirate coat again for the Hallowe’en ceili dance tonight, which was fun as always. My feet are ready for a rest after four hours of dancing! To do my hair, I used this lovely tutorial, which was easy to follow, although my curling iron didn’t want to cooperate. I need to incorporate more historical hairstyles into my daily life.

[one-foot-after-one-foot]

tbh i just want a cute girl to take ceili dancing

it’s low-key awkward to go without anyone, although i’ve def done that before, and i don’t think my friends would be interested in going??? 

[tcrgadventures]

Check out this rare book that was published in 1924. I like to consider it the original Ar Rinci Ceili. :P My mom purchased this juicy collection of Ireland's National Dances about 16 years ago for 224 pounds from P. and B. Rowan Antiquarian and Rare Books Manuscripts in Belfast. It includes the sheet music for each dance as well. Based off of J.M. Lang with original composition by Arthur Darley. It's really interesting to see how the dances explanations have slightly changed according to the 2014 version of Ar Rinci Ceili. I've included photos focusing on the Gates of Derry & the Duke Reel from this book, the 2003 ARF, and the recent 2014 ARC. Check out how it evolved from a 'long dance' into the 'eight hand dance' it is considered now.

Another fun fact that I recently discovered: if you've ever watched Olive Hurley's Step-By-Step Ceili Dancing DVDs, during the introduction of the Duke Reel, it is explained to be a fairly new dance, created in the 1950's by Dick Duke of Saint Margret's County Dublin. This seems to be false as the Duke Reel is in this book (printed in 1924) with a slight variation in the second movement. Check out the photo comparisons below to see the differences in the second movement of the Duke Reel.

If you are interested in seeing more from this book, shoot me a PM. Not all 30 ceili dances that are currently in ARC are in this book. Enjoy!

[asyoulikeitpurchase-blog]

Ceili Dancing

The word "ceili," derived from "le cheile", originally meant the gathering of neighbours in a house at night to have a chat and to have an enjoyable time together; it was some time before music and dancing became part of a "ceili". Ceilithe can be traced back prior to the famine when dancing at cross-roads was one of the most popular pastimes in rural Ireland, usually on Sunday evenings. After each dance there would be a change of partners, as it was considered unseemly for the same couple to dance two consecutive dances together unless they were actually married or engaged to be married. The priests generally denounced cross-roads dancing, considering it to be an occasion of sin - young boys and girls being allowed out until an ungodly hour without supervision. Crossroads dancing was eventually forbidden by the clergy in many parishes around Ireland and so the dances moved indoors! This, in turn, led to the birth of the Ceili Band for non-house dances. It is felt that some of the present day ceili dances were invented by the Dancing Masters to hold the interest of those pupils having difficulty with the solo dancing and to give them an opportunity to enjoy themselves. They gave us plenty of variety with Round, Long (progressive) and Square Dances. The side-step in Ceili dancing is unique to Irish dancing and is not to be found outside of Ireland. The great Dancing Master, O'Kearin (O'Kearing) from Kerry is reputed to have been mainly responsible for the crystallisation of Irish dances, reducing them to the order and uniformity they have now attained.

*all information from Donncha O Muineachain