Tag: ceili

Social Dancing at NTIF 4 – 2016

This is the fourth of the posts leading up to the 2016 North Texas Irish Festival.  Got your shoes shined?

This time we’re up to 2007 with the ceili called by Susan & Michael Harrison.

Back 2 Back Hornpipe. Be careful what you grab.

2007 Ceili called by Susan & Michael Harrison

As is usual, great music by the Lone Star Ceili Band

2007 Ceili music by the Lone Star Ceili Band and friends

Pictured are Ken Fleming, Heather Gilmer, ?, Jeff Philips, Kevin Alewine and Rick Cunningham.

I’m not sure who is behind Ken but those don’t look like Peggy Fleming’s legs.

Come on out to the Emerald stage for the dance workshop on Saturday at 1pm and again for the ceili at 7pm-ish.

If you’re on Facebook, add the workshop and ceili events to your calendar.

Social Dancing at NTIF 3 – 2016

You’re getting ready for the 2016 North Texas Irish Festival, aren’t you?

This time we’re up to 2006 with a the ceili workshop by Catherine Bishop nee Sherer, fresh from performing with the Jackson Irish Dancers.

2006 Ceili workshop called by Catherine Bishop

Followed by the ceili called by Susan & Michael Harrison with music by the Lone Star Ceili Band.

2006 ceili called by Susan & Michael Harrison

Come on out to the Emerald stage for the dance workshop on Saturday at 1pm and again for the ceili at 7pm-ish.

If you’re on Facebook, add the workshop and ceili events to your calendar.

Social Dancing at NTIF 2 – 2016

This is the second post of a series that I’m doing during the run-up to the 2016 North Texas Irish Festival.  In each post I’ll feature a photo or two of the social dancing from past festivals to get you warmed up for this year.

This time we’ve got the ceili from 2005 called by Erin Bliss nee Reed

2005 Ceili called by Erin Bliss

and music by the Lone Star Ceili band

2005 Lone Star Ceili Band & Friends

with (from left to right) Mimi Rogers, Peggy Fleming, Allison Hicks, Ken Fleming, Kevin Alewine and (I think) Rick Cunningham.

Come on out to the Emerald stage for the dance workshop on Saturday at 1pm and again for the ceili at 7pm-ish.

If you’re on Facebook, add the workshop and ceili events to your calendar.

Social Dancing at NTIF 2.1 – 2016

This is the second (+1) post of a series that I’m doing during the run-up to the 2016 North Texas Irish Festival.  In each post I’ll feature a photo or two of the social dancing from past festivals to get you warmed up for this year.

I ran across a few older pictures so we’re going back in time from 2005 to 2002. We’ll be heading to 2006 tomorrow.

We’ve got a later afternoon ceili workshop and evening ceili called by Erin Bliss nee Reed

2002 Ceili workshop called by Erin Bliss
2002 Ceili called by Erin Bliss

Come on out to the Emerald stage for the dance workshop on Saturday at 1pm and again for the ceili at 7pm-ish.

If you’re on Facebook, add the workshop and ceili events to your calendar.

Social Dancing at NTIF 1 – 2016

This is the first post of a series that I’m doing during the run-up to the 2016 North Texas Irish Festival.  In each post I’ll feature a photo or two of the social dancing from past festivals to get you warmed up for this year.

Beginning with the ceili called by Jesse Meredith in 2004.

Everyone dance sevens to the right.
Siege of Ennis anyone?

Come on out to the Emerald stage, in the Tower building, for the dance workshop on Saturday at 1pm and again for the ceili at 7pm-ish.

If you’re on Facebook, add the workshop and ceili events to your calendar.

O’Flaherty Retreat Benefit Sept 19, 2015

The benefit for the 2015 O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat is coming up on September 19th at Trinity Hall from 6pm to midnight.  Come out to help support the retreat and enjoy some great music!

BenefitFlyer2015 Continue reading O’Flaherty Retreat Benefit Sept 19, 2015

Set dance classes at Trinity Hall Sep/Oct

Another round of Trinity Hall classes are coming up in September.

Here’s the plan.

Where: Trinity Hall

When: 7-9:30pm
Sep 3rd, 17th
Oct 1st, 15th
Nov 5th (delayed one week!)

What:
We’ll start off with basics/review at 7 for the common steps/movements used in the more popular set dances (advance and retire, sevens, basic battering to be used later, etc).  If you haven’t danced a set in a while (or ever) or if you would like a review (or just want any excuse to get up and move around) this is for you. The others might want to show up during this period just to settle in before we start the first set.

We’ll break for a short while about 7:45-ish and move on to working on the current round of sets.  If you’ve come for the beginner portion, stay for the rest!  There’s usually enough experienced people that we can (gently) drag you through the movements.

We went through The Merchant Set and The Connemara Reel during the last session so we’ll rip through those on the 3rd and follow those in later sessions with the Corofin Plain and Camp Set. Depending on how things go we may add more sets to the list and/or spend some extra time on footwork.

Except for the beginning and ending time, the schedule will be somewhat fluid depending on the experience of the attendees and how quickly we progress.

Who: While there’s no particular age or height limit, this is more of an adult or young-adult kind of class in that it works best with people of similar height and attentiveness.  If you aren’t sure, just ask!

Cost: Whatever you can afford or think the class is worth, we’ll have a tip jar at the entrance to the dance area.

Q. What should I bring?

A desire to get up and move about.  Shoes that are comfortable and allow you to slide easily (but not too slippery!) on a tile floor.

Friends and family!

Q. What should I do to prepare?

Feel free to take a look at the notes linked above though this isn’t required.

We’d also like to know who’s planning on coming so please respond with an “I’ll be there and I’m bringing X people!”

if you can commit to the entire set of classes that would be best.

Set dance classes at Trinity Hall for the summer

It’s official, we’ll be having a bi-weekly set class series through June and July (starting actually at the end of May).

Here’s the plan.

Where: Trinity Hall

When: 7-9:30pm-ish
May 28th
June 11th
June 25th
July 9th
July 23rd

What:
We’ll start off with basics/review at 7 for the common steps/movements used in the more popular set dances (advance and retire, sevens, basic battering to be used later, etc).  If you haven’t danced a set in a while (or ever) or if you would like a review (or just want any excuse to get up and move around) this is for you. The others might want to show up during this period just to settle in before we start the first set.

We’ll break for a short while about 7:45-ish and move on to working on the current round of sets.

We started with The Merchant Set and The Connemara Reel last time so we’ll continue with those on the 28th.  We’ll follow those in later sessions with the Corofin Plain and Camp Set. Depending on how things go we may add more sets to the list and/or spend some extra time on footwork.

Except for the beginning and ending time, the schedule will be somewhat fluid depending on the experience of the attendees and how quickly we progress.

Who: While there’s no particular age or height limit, this is more of an adult or young-adult kind of class in that it works best with people of similar height and attentiveness.  If you aren’t sure, just ask!

Cost: Whatever you can afford or think the class is worth, we’ll have a tip jar at the entrance to the dance area.

What should I bring? A desire to get up and move about.  Shoes that are comfortable and allow you to slide easily (but not too slippery!) on a tile floor.  Friends and family!

What should I do to prepare? If you like feel free to take a look at the notes linked above though this isn’t required.  We’d also like to know who’s planning on coming so please respond with an “I’ll be there and I’m bringing X people!” if you can commit to the entire set of classes that would be best.

Set dance class at Trinity Hall May 7

I know this is short notice but we’re going to have a trial class at Trinity Hall on the evening of May 7.  If the experiment works, we’ll have regular (weekly I hope) classes there.

Here’s the plan.

Place: Trinity Hall
When: 7-10pm
What:
We’ll start off with basics/review at 7 for the common steps/movements used in the more popular set dances (advance and retire, sevens, basic battering to be used later, etc).  If you haven’t danced a set in a while (or ever) or if you would like a review (or just want any excuse to get up and move around) this is for you. The others might want to show up during this period just to settle in before we start the first set.
We’ll break for a short while about 7:45-sh and move on to:
The Merchant Set.  It’s a new set that’s spreading quickly around the world and is a bit different from all the others.
We’ll break again for a short bit about 8:45 or so and then start on:
The Connemara Reel.  It’s a popular set that’s danced at every major ceili.
Except for the beginning and ending time, the schedule will be somewhat fluid depending on the experience of the attendees and how quickly we progress.
Who: While there’s no particular age or height limit, this is more of an adult or young-adult kind of class in that it works best with people of similar height and attentiveness.  If you aren’t sure, just ask!
Cost: Whatever you can afford or think the class is worth.

What should I bring? A desire to get up and move about.  Shoes that are comfortable and allow you to slide easily (but not too slippery!) on a tile floor.  Friends and family!
What should I do to prepare? If you like feel free to take a look at the notes linked above though this isn’t required.  We’d also like to know who’s planning on coming so please respond with an “I’ll be there and I’m bringing X people!”  If we don’t have at least a full set of 8 we’ll may have to cancel the class.