Some tips on making a ceilidh succesful
If you've never organised a ceilidh before, whether a public event or as part of a party, you might find this advice useful.We certainly don't want to tell you how your event must be run, but wedo have a lot of experience of playing for ceilidhs at all sorts of events and parties, andwe're always happy to share this experience to help make an evening succesful.
If you have any other questions about creating a good event please get in touch.
There are some further FAQs, more specifically about booking The Hedgehog's Skin, on the contact page.
- Audiences and events - what is a ceilidh good for?
- Planning an evening
- Advice about venues
Do you need to have done this kind of dancing before?No! The caller tellsyou what to do, the dances can be chosen to suit an audience ofcomplete beginners, and it doesn't matter if you get it wrong! This issocial dancing, not a performance. Most importantly of all,remember that music and dancing have evolved for people to enjoythemselves. Therefore, if you are having a good time, you are, bydefinition, doing it right!Is ceilidh dancing suitable for young children?Children can enjoy ceilidhs. and clearly it's great for them toexperience live music and a healthy, social form of dancing. Not alldances are suitable for children though. The Hedgehog's Skin are experienced at working with young children (it includes anumber of parents and school-teachers!), and can tailor the dances tosuit them.
What is crucial is that young children have an adult as their partner. There is an age, however, below which it doesn't work. You do need to be able totell your left from your right, to listen to instructions, andoccasionally act independently from your partner - very young childrencannot do this, even if they are dancing with an adult.
How long should a ceilidh last?This, of course, depends very much on the event.
Generally it's notworth having a ceilidh for anything less than an hour, and equallyanything more than four hours (including breaks), and people will tire.
It's worthremembering that ceilidhs aren't as intense as other kinds of livemusic and dance: the dances take time to explain, and people generallywant a rest after a couple of dances. This means they last longer! Thus anhour - which equates to five or six dances - is about the shortest amount of time for which it's worth bookinga band.Having a break during the evening, if the ceilidh lasts anything morethan two hours, is always a good idea.
For a full evening ceilidh at a party, a suggested structure could be afirst half of an hour to an an hour and a quarter, a break of around 45minutes (less, if it is simply for a rest), followed by a second halfof an hour and a quarter to two hours.
Can you mix a ceilidh with other types of music, or a disco?Be very wary of pleasing no-one in an attempt to please everyone!That said, having a shorter ceilidh with something else afterwards can workvery well: the ceilidh can go at full-pelt all he the way through, and a change of music can give the night a lift.
What definitely doesn't workis alternating back and forth between a ceilidh and a disco everycouple of dances: neither has any time to establish any momentum andeveryone is dissatisfied.
Ceilidhs are single, self-contained events:the programme of dances andthe order they're done in is crucial to people's enjoyment, and it isimpossible to structure this well if the evening is broken into shortsegments rather than allowed to flow.
So, if you do decide to split the evening with a disco or another band,always have only one stint of each, with a break in between. Thisallows both to have a proper begining and ending, with the audienceraring to go for both halves!
What sort of rooms work best?All that's really needed is a good space for dancing! Ceilidh dancingdoes take a certain amount of space, so filling a room to thefire-limit isn't a good idea.
Squarish dance floors are better than long thin dance floors.
A hard (even better, sprung) floor is good. Carpet isn't good for dancing, neither is concrete.Sports halls aren't acoustically great for live music. For ceilidhs inparticular, the reverberant sound can make it very hard to hear thecaller.
How should the room be set up?It's important to have chairs, and tables too if there's space: atceilidhs the dancing isn't continuous so people need somewhere to catchtheir breath! But leave as much space as possible for dancing.
Make it as easy as possible for people to get onto the floor: settables out one row deep all around the room rather than all packedtogether in one area. This is especially important at parties wherepeople may not have come specifically for a ceilidh - any obstructionto getting on the floor might be enough to disuade them from dancing!
The band shouldn't be too far from the audience (so don't have chairsand tables set up only at the opposite end with the dancing space inbetween). It's best if they are in amongst the party. Remember that thecaller needs to be able to speak to the audience, even when they're notdancing, to announce the dances and encourage people onto the floor.
If the room has a stage, it's best for the band to use that: it's mucheasier for the band and caller to do a good job if they can see thedancers.
In a rectangular room, it's often best for the band to be on one of the longer sides, rather than at an end: this means they are closer to more of the audience.If possible, have the event self-contained in one room. Again, if it'sa party rather than a public event, having (for example) the bar in adifferent room can split the company in half. Ceilidh dance music isn'tusually over-loud or over powering. People who aren't dancing won'tmind being in the same room, it's perfectly possible to hear peoplespeak over the music.
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