In England musicians have a lot of fun with the Up the Sides tune when playing in pub sessions.

I am a bit wary about calling Cumberland Square at ceilidhs as some people here have the idea that the ladies should fly, which is great fun if it happens naturally from the speed of the basket and you can be sure that the men will keep a firm grip but I've seen it all come apart and tables of drinks spilled, even heard a tale of a broken galss / cut artery. And men can get throttled if the ladies put their hands round the man's neck rather than resting on the nearer shoulder. Knuckles in your back can be uncomfortable too. The Irish 'little Christmas' hold is comfortable, safer, and gender free; all put right hand flat on neighbours back, left arm over and grip your opposites wrist, right foot forward, lean back slightly and pivot. We tend to gallop as far as the music and space allow, not just across the set. A marmite dance, love it or hate it.

My favourite starter for beginners is Galopede. Longways for 4,5,or 6 (I hate telling people to leave the floor, usually gert everyone in longways, then go down and divide them into sets, though that might not work with 75). A 32 bar well phrased tune starts everyone off dancing to the music. I like Winster Gallop, it has a good 2bar, 2 bar 4 bar A so the timing is clear.

A1 Forward and back cross over (1 side lets go the other arches) A2 repeat to place

B1 swing partner

B2 top couple swing / gallop / walk to the bottom, the rest move up one place.

Dancers enjoy a dance with a Strip the willow. Barley Reel  is good.At a ceilidh I teach it then tell people that the sets may get out of time with each other, for a 4 couple set of experienced dancers it is 48 bars but if the sets are longer or people are not sure of the strip the willow it takes longer. I also tell people that the first couple needs to get to the bottomof the set, however they wish (gallop, pggyback, leapfrog etc) but a double strip the willow is fun, teach it but say that if someone goes to the wrong side just accept it. 

There is also the Orcaian Strip the Willow done in one long set. Orcadian Strip the Willow | HotScotch Ceilidh Band | Ceilidh Dance Instructions First couple starts and when they have moved down a bit the next couple swings then starts a strip the willow. It's hard to get side people to remember to move up each time someone turns them

Dances I love and have used a lot:

Up the Sides and Down the Middle (not to be confused with "Up the Middle and Down the Sides").
UP THE SIDES AND DOWN THE MIDDLE (CDM, own tune or any bright jig)
[_Serpentiner_ is very, very nice with this.]



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THE SQUARE EIGHT (Cumberland)
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