Céilidh refers to a traditional Gaelic social dance originating in rural parts of Ireland and Scotland. In the times when there are no discos or nightclubs, there used to be Céilidhs held in most town and village on different scale in private or public houses on Friday or Saturday nights. It’s common for some clubs and institutions like the sports clubs, schools, universities or even employers to arrange some céilidhs events on a regular or at least annual basis. And these events are still quite common even today. These events can vary in formality.
The general format of this kind of step dancing is a set consisting of 4 couples, with each couple facing another in a square or rectangular formation. Each couple will exchange position with the facing couple. Meanwhile the facing couples will exchange partners. But about 50% of the modern Scots céilidh are performed by fixed couples dancing in a ring, or in a more sociable “progressive” manner, with the lady moving to the next gentleman in the ring at or near the end of each repetition of the steps. All these need to be done keeping in step with the beat of the music. However, the knowledge and use of the basic dance steps isn’t always strictly necessary, and the dances often change with songs, poetry recitals, story telling as well as other kinds of “party pieces”. There is even mix modern pop music to go with such country dancing; while the dress codes can range from compulsory highland dress to informal ones.
Now this kind of social outlet is still very popular throughout the Celtic diaspora. The Ceilidh Culture is Edinburgh’s annual showcase of traditional arts. And there is English ceilidh, which is also called as eCeilidh. The eCeilidh has many things in common with the Scottish/Irish one and it can be considered part of English Country Dance. It’s a good option for family’s evening entertainment.