Tag: comhaltas

Interesting things – Comhaltas 2011 Sunday

We were able to start a bit later this morning it being Sunday and all. This was good since bed didn’t rise up and smite us until quite early in the morning.

Padraig started off with the Valentia Right and Left, a fairly simple but fun set.

Unfortunately the workshop was cut short as Padraig and Roisin had to make an earlier than expected flight back to Ireland.

Next up though was the farewell ceili. Nearly four hours of solid dancing.

Even though most people had departed by the last set there was still something around 6-8 sets on the floor!

It was a wonderful weekend full of great music and dance and I look forward to the next convention organized by Tom and Company!

There are more pictures in the Comhaltas 2011 gallery, some videos on my YouTube channel and if you like you can see my twitter posts done live from the convention. I’ll be doing more tagging and linking of things very soon.

Here are links for the doings on Saturday and Friday

Technorati : ceili, comhaltas, dance, irish, music, san antonio
Del.icio.us : ceili, , dance, , ,

Interesting things – Comhaltas 2011 Saturday

I have no idea what time we got to bed Friday night but I have notes showing we started the plain set about 12:30am.

We got up early for breakfast and started the day with Susan teaching a ceili workshop including Harvest Time Jig, Fairy Reel, Rakes of Mallow, Haste to the Wedding and Siege of Carrick. There was a good sized crowd and smiles all around.

Next up was a Sean Nos workshop by Emma O’Sullivan. She did a wonderful job. Her dancing was clean, instructions were clear and easy to follow and we ended up with a number of easy but good looking steps to add to our dance toolbox.

Here’s Emma after the workshop, demonstrating the step one-on-one.

The rest of the day was reserved for set dancing.

Continue reading Interesting things – Comhaltas 2011 Saturday

Interesting things – Comhaltas 2011 Friday

It was our first day of the 2011 North American Comhaltas convention and it was grand.

For everyone else it was the second day and for many of the orginizers I think it was something like the 3045th day. I’m sure they’ll be wistfully sad/happy when the convention is over.

We arrived safely (thank you Southwest), was given a short tour by Tom Macken and sent up to the Control Room to get Susan’s official "I work here" shirts. They didn’t have shirts for the roadies.

After wandering about for a bit and checking out a few vendors and the lobby schedule

We went up to the room to unpack.

Continue reading Interesting things – Comhaltas 2011 Friday

Comhaltas 2008 wrap-up

Oh my god.

This was a fun weekend. If you can ever come up with any excuse at all that will get you out to the annual Comhaltas convention(or Cape May weekend) go with it. If you like set dancing you won’t regret going to one of these events.

Continue reading Comhaltas 2008 wrap-up

Comhaltas 2008 pre-wrap-up

It’s a pre-wrap-up post because I didn’t get the chance to post information on the Saturday Banquet and ceili or the Sunday workshop and ceili or the final 9 beers, multiple mixed drinks and two pizzas party that Susan, Jean and I had in the bar on Sunday night so I’ve decided to include those in a final wrap-up tied with a bow post later this week.

Work’s kinda busy so hopefully it’ll only take me a few days to finish it and get all the good pictures and video posted.

Whistle workshop with Joanie Madden

This turned out to be a "beginner workshop" that I should have shown up on time for. Beginner is in quotes because while she wasn’t teaching raw basics, she was running the group through a basic tune that I might have been able to do if I’d been able to brush up on the fingerings before the weekend.

It was worthwhile anyway to see how she teaches and to listen to the cantankerous lady play.

JoanieMadden

"the next part goes… shh, SHHH"

Ask me about "There’s no F in bus"

I wonder how many people she’s told about the idiot she ran into Thursday night who asked her if she was here for the music or dance. I didn’t know what she looked like!

Ceili workshop with Maura Mulligan

She started out with the Fairy Reel with a couple dozen people and had Susan, Jean and I stand in as half a demo set.

There were a few fits and starts as new people got used to the dance. We danced it several times with some restarts due to short music but overall a good session.

I bailed partway through (near the beginning of the Duke Reel) so I could "audit" the whistle workshop with Joanie Madden.

DukeReel