The first Odd Fellows Irish Ceili for St. Patrick’s Day was a resounding success. It brought out 62 dancers on a Tuesday night, wearing every shade of green. For some, this is something they’ve done for 30 years. For others, this was their first chance to try it. We even had live musicians – Dave Price, Shelly Crouse-Monarez, and Firefly – who made it easy to start and stop the music and manage the tempo to meet the needs of everyone on the floor. There were plenty of waltzes and dances for everyone including Walls of Limerick, Haymaker’s Jig, Bonfire Reel, Fairy Reel, and Galway Reel. Bob Carragher, known in the dance scene as Bandana Bob, helped out by teaching and calling for everyone, with Ammy Woodbury helping and calling some dances as well. Some of the long time dancers tested their muscle memory on the Humours of Bandon, the 4-Hand Reel, Bronwyn’s Fancy, and finished with a polka set.
Malaya Goris, a long time ceili dancer said, “Everyone had so much fun. I even made it through the Four Hand Reel with only a few mistakes that didn’t break anyone!” Athena Lendvay said, “I was happy to learn bits of it again after oh, so many years, and Lorelei [Athena’s 16 year old daughter] had a good time, so hopefully there will be more dancing in our future.” Paul Wilcox said, ” This was the first time I’d done some serious ceili since… er…. maybe my wedding? I saw lots of old faces, and was heartened to see people I didn’t know who had learned these dances — Berkeley-style ceili is alive and well, and even evolving in the South Bay.” Ammy Woodbury is just thrilled to have a nice, air conditioned space to dance and hopes to repeat the ceili again soon.
— by Ammy Woodbury
