Ceili dance
Where to dance
There are quite a few places to do ceili in the Bay Area. Here are a few, for starters, that are advertised to the public:
- Stanford Ceili dances on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Hacienda Commons at Stanford. They also have a book of dances on their website.
- The Starry Plough in Berkeley has dances on Mondays.
- Alatriel organize a monthly ceili on last Saturdays at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley in Kensington. Information is on Facebook.
- The Elderberries organize a monthly ceili on second Fridays at the Marxist library in North Oakland.
Polka set figures
Here are some fun things to call in polka sets.
- Left-handed double quarter chain: mirror image of double quarter chain from High-Cauled Cap. Starts and ends with left to your corner.
- Trios and pass through: trios as in Trip to the Cottage forward and back and forward and pass through as in Haymaker's Jig (but without setting). I recommend going in the order: head men, side men, side ladies, head ladies.
- Heads ladies chain, sides quick squares: or any of a number of equivalent variations. You can make a fun inventory out of which figures for 4 cross the set at what times to find new entertaining combinations like this one.
- Iris (from Laura Gorrin): men follow their contra corner, ladies follow their partner, via sevens, without setting.
- Star pull through as couples (untried): good luck!