Today was the day of the Quaker ceilidh. I got home from work catching the earlier bus and had time to get changed to go out. I decided against wearing my kilt, and wore my orange chinos instead. When I got to the meeting house all seemed to be in hand, and the band were warming up. Several people commented on my "summery" look, which was nice.
The turnout at the ceilidh was fantastic with about 75 people turning up, which was just right for the size of the hall. I was not feeling too great, but did one dance - "the Foula Jig" - and was a bit disappointed that despite giving the band four good Scottish dances, they went ahead and did English versions of the Scottish dances they usually do ... a bit rambling. For instance in the Gay Gordons the men stood still while the ladies turned under their arms; whereas they should have moved forward with pas-de-bas steps. In the Dashing White Sergeant, the setting step was reduced to a hop, stamping of feet was added and instead of two groups of 3 standing out between turns he made the bottom 3-some rush to the top so they could continue dancing. If that's how the English do Scottish dancing then I say no thanks.
However I guess I am a purist, because everyone seemed to have a great time.
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