That's KAY-lee

Last night we went to a ceilidh with some friends. Admission was only £5 and included a buffet dinner as well as the dancing. The event was to raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance, but in truth I just went because I like square dancing. The music is similar but the dancing is rarely as simple as the two couple squares we had in grade school. It involves big circles or sets of 5 couples and you dance with all the opposite sex partners in your set at some point.


It’s not uncommon for 2 women to dance as a couple if their husbands don’t dance, which I think is a good thing, but it can make it even more confusing who to 'swing' with next.

The caller talks everyone through the steps before the music starts, but abandons you after the first couple of rounds and the music gets faster at the end of the song. This, with the increasing complexity of the routines as the evening goes on, means that it’s pretty much a muddle by the end of the dance, but fun all the same. No one seems to mind if you don't do it perfectly, though no doubt there are serious aficionados to be found (see man below in yellow patchwork trousers).

Many thanks to John for sharing his pictures even if his camera does completely distort how I really look.