Frequently Asked Questions
What happens at CeilidhKids sessions?
Lots of fun and participation! CeilidhKids is for families so everyone gets involved. You and your child dance, clap, and march together with the music and learn a few very simple (often simplified) dances and figures that you might meet at a ceilidh or Scottish Country dance. We dance to recordings of top bands - or sometimes to an accordion player - and the emphasis is on fun and staying within your child’s comfort zone. Your child doesn’t even have to let go of your hand if they don’t want to !
What will my child learn?
Rhythm and movement to music, and improved confidence, attention and listening skills. Also an awareness of themselves in relation to others and to the available space, as well as the social aspect of dancing with a partner and with friends. We do a lot of counting at CeilidhKids (generally to eight) and introduce the concepts of ‘right’ and ‘left’ in conjunction with the very beginnings of dance steps and simple movements and formations. But above all it’s about FUN for adults and children alike.
Why so much adult participation?
Ceilidh dances have traditionally been passed down through families, with the older generation teaching the younger. More practically, though, the instructions can be tricky for smaller children to follow and a guiding adult hand makes all the difference between carefree participation and bewilderment... So CeilidhKids is not a ‘drop off’ facility. It’s for everyone, especially if the children are not old enough for school. Adult involvement makes the difference between an organised preschool event and herding cats to music.
My child is only 2 - can’t he or she join in?
We never turn anyone away at CeilidhKids and of course everyone is welcome to come along for a dance, no matter how small (or how big). Sessions tend to be aimed at families with children aged 3 and upwards because they get most out of it, so younger ones may find it all a bit beyond them.
But if you want to come, we’re happy to have you. Even if you are so small you have to be carried.
But if you want to come, we’re happy to have you. Even if you are so small you have to be carried.
What do we wear?
Anything you like! T shirts, fancy dress, kilts, party dresses
and tracksuits are all popular. Soft shoes are useful though -
plimsolls are great, and ballet shoes are even better.
and tracksuits are all popular. Soft shoes are useful though -
plimsolls are great, and ballet shoes are even better.
How gender-normative is CeilidhKids?
Not at all. Anyone can dance with anyone, on either side of the set, or next to their partner or partners. Or alone, or in a threesome. Anything goes.
I had to do Scottish Dancing at school - we lined up in the gym hall and the boys had to dance with the girls and it was mortifying. Will it be like that?
No.