Dance Hall Days
Country dancing in the heart of the city.
Hypothesis
Dancing is the food of a fine, stout love.
Background
When I was in middle school, my mother enrolled me in cotillion lessons at the local women’s club. I thrived in these etiquette classes: I set the table for eight courses like I was the staff at Gosford Park, and I wrote a thank you note like nobody’s business. But my favorite part were the dance lessons. We learned to waltz, fox-trot, and cha-cha. And even though I didn’t have much appreciation for boys at the time (thank goodness for the white kid gloves that protected us from cooties), I loved the feeling of spinning and twirling and dipping.
I always wanted to take up dancing again as an adult, but I was too intimidated to pull the trigger. That is, until last year when I joined the Caledonian Society at St Andrews in Scotland. At the beginning of term, all of the societies held events to try to entice new students, and I fell hook, line, and sinker for the Caledonian Society’s invitation to a beach ceilidh and bonfire on West Sands beach. My friends and I showed up to the wide shores of the blustery North Sea, and immediately fell in love with reeling.
Reels are traditionally Scottish folk dances that have also been adopted in England and Ireland. Think of it like a country dance that you might see in a Jane Austen movie. Most Scots learn the traditional dances in school and they’re frequently included at balls, weddings, and ceilidhs, which are more casual dance gatherings. Reeling was one of the highlights of my time in Scotland, and I’ve been searching for a place to relive my glory days ever since I moved to London.
