Satisfying energetic children can be a task for even the most patient of adults, but CeilidhKids seem to have found a simple but effective solution to combine family bonding with children dancing and jumping around to their hearts content. Vast hordes of families swarmed into the hall at The Counting House and members of all generations lined the walls as we waited for the music to begin. The organisers did not seem overwhelmed in the slightest by this incredible first day popularity; as one simply stated, this was their day job.
This became quickly apparent by the high skill and efficiency with which the workshop was orchestrated. A gradual warm-up game of ‘Follow-the-leader’ proved to be a simple but effective way of getting the children on-board with following microphone commands, whilst allowing accompanying adults to ready themselves as well before the real dancing began. The dances themselves were tailored and edited down from their adult counterparts for their audience; ‘The Flying Scotsman’ for example simply became ‘Trains’ with those not moving in parts of the dance happily being swaying trees instead and at least one jump-filled dance seemed to be newly devised specifically for the children. Partners were helpfully directed as ‘adult’ and ‘child’ rather than ‘male’ and ‘female’. Advanced and daring adults might find themselves dancing with multiple children at once, but of course advanced children will remember to bring multiple adults along with them to allow for effective grown-up tag-teaming between dances and maximum enjoyment for themselves.
CeilidhKids offers a great opportunity for those with young children and an interest in Scottish culture. For those potentially put off by large crowds, an advertisement at the end touted the possibility of extra sessions at 11am, so check online for details. Fun to satisfy all ages rarely comes for free, or with such delightful enthusiasm from those running the show, so pop in and ceilidh your woes away.
