This was our first Cèilidh dance event! Here's what happened; some local theater friends volunteered to learn how to dance at a Cèilidh while April played the accordion. Back in 2019, after a short visit to the Isle of Eigg, we decided to incorporate Scottish Cèilidh music into the show. April worked with several professional accordionists on Skype during the Pandemic. Mike Aman owns Monarch Accordions and he worked on her repertoire and technique. Sandy Brechin is in Edinburgh, he's one of Scotland's best known Cèilidh accordionists and he helped with the overall Scottish Ceilidh genre.
In any case, earlier this year it felt like it was time to come out of the woodwork so I reached out to several local organizations specializing in Scottish dance and one of them connected me with a Scottish couple living in Colorado who were involved with Cèilidh dancing in Scotland. We had a Skype call to discuss the specifics and penciled in a date to get together. Everyone was eager to participate and learn more about the dances and the culture behind them too. Playing the music was the easy part and everything seemed to flow naturally. We played tune sets for a Gay Gordon, a Reel and a Jig and it was so much fun! 🎭
