I’d agree with Dudley.
Bridge of Athlone is an easy dance for 4/5/or 6 couples (I’d line people up then walk
down the line splitting into sets when I see how many there are)
Waves of Tory is a nice dance – there are several versions of it including a complicated
‘official’ Irish version + the version in CDM. But even that tends to go wrong and (a) not
fit the music (b) end up with one couple at the top all the time instead of finishing the
dip & dive at the bottom. But dip & dive is a fun figure – might puzzle people at
first but the a good feel when they get it. So I strip out all the complications (copying
a caller at the Liverpool Irish centre). I call my version Waves of the Sea, have 1 long
set, lines F&B twice, cast off lead up the middle, dip & dive till I think they’ve
had enough and I shout swing. I warn them that there will be random couples at the top
each time.
From: Dudley Laufman jdlaufman(a)comcast.net [trad-dance-callers]
Sent: 17 January 2019 21:48
To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] Ceili wedding
Just use your usual ONS repertoire, but use Irish music for most of it.
I've been asked by a bride for a ceili wedding. She was very specific about wanting
Irish music, which i booked, but she was very vague about what ceili dancing was. She said
" not really sure the names of the dances, we had the one with torpedo, in lines,
some squares, dosey does spinning and such not sure if that helps."
I do know how to teach ceili, but going into great detail on 3s and 7s and jig step
didn't seem to really lend itself to a wedding. My plan was definitely to include The
Haymaker's Jig, Walls of Limerick, maybe Shoe the Donkey, but not too get much more
complicated than that, subbing in ONS material from my regular wedding dances of squares,
family dances, etc. but done with a little more Irish styling.
So, any advice on more Irish dances that lend themselves well to weddings?
Regards,
Deborah Hyland
St. Louis
--
Chris
www.jigsnreels.com
--
Nancy Mamlin
Durham, NC