Irish Society – Did someone say ceilidh?

Last Friday, Irish Society went to The Ceilidh Club in Camden. It was an amazing night filled with dancing, alcohol, and sweat.

So, what is a ceilidh/céilí? (I’ll get on to the different spellings later) The easiest definition is that it’s the most fun you can have on a Friday night while still getting a decent amount of sleep! It’s a traditional form of dance where you dance in either a pair or small group with a “caller” on the stage telling you how to do the moves. You’ll start off slow, with the music getting faster and faster and everyone getting very sweaty! There’s always a real mix of abilities, but the dances are easy enough that even if you have two left feet you can easily follow. And even if you do mess up, so many other people will also be making mistakes that it won’t even matter. Besides, most of the time you’re fairly tipsy (or very tipsy if you have an alcohol tolerance like mine) from going to the pub beforehand or visiting the bar downstairs for sustenance, and most of the other dancers will be the same, so no one cares if you mess up – really, we recommend a bit of freestyling.

For those of you who don’t know, this fun event is found in both Irish and Scottish traditions, with the Irish spelling céilí and the Scots ceilidh. Technically speaking the one in Camden is a Scottish version with kilts and free shortbread at the end, but the actual dancing and music is pretty much the same. And who doesn’t want free shortbread?

Admittedly, most students aren’t initially excited at the prospect of attending a folk dancing event. Which is fair enough – many of our members who had never been to a ceilidh before were incredibly sceptical and took a lot of convincing to attend our first ceilidh last term. But all of those who were uncertain yet still came to our first one, were among the first to buy tickets when we went again this second time – and I think that speaks for itself!

If you’re currently feeling sad because you’ve missed out on such an amazing event – there’s no need to worry, because Irish Society will be going to another ceilidh soon! All the details are on our Facebook page, and next time we’ll be going to one in South Kensington. To add to all this excitement, it will also be St Patrick’s Day so this is an extra excuse to join us for drinks and dancing. Everyone is welcome to come along, whether you’re Irish, Scottish, or just looking to have a great night! (But seriously, half of our members aren’t even Irish at all.)