Local News

Ceilidh Dancing in Deerness

By Mike Robertson

The first time I saw the Kirkjuvagr Ceilidh Band was at the Over 60s Christmas dinner in the Deerness Hall.  Apart from the great music what surprised me was the easy comfort between the players and their kids who wondered about the stage while they played.  Their Facebook cover image says it all.

Now, it turns out the same family are also enthusiastic about highland dancing as Move Orkney’s Highland Dancers.  So , when Tina Paterson ,Lee Paterson and Dawn Johnston arrived at the Deerness Hall on Sunday to educate and entertain us at our Ceilidh Dance event it was no surprise to find a bunch of toddlers and older children with them continuing the family business.

Image credit Mike Robertson

Sunday arrived with wall-to-wall blue sky which is normally a good thing, but when you had arranged for Move Orkney’s Highland Dancers to educate and entertain us at the Deerness Community Centre, indoors, it’s not so good.  So even with fewer than expected we had a good range of people of all ages.

Image credit Mike Robertson

Everybody got a break when the Highland Dancers demonstrated how it’s done.  We had the Highland Fling and the Sword Dance.  Here was see Dawn demonstrating the amazing levitating properties of the Sailors’ Hornpipe.

The peedie ones had their moment too.  They start them young!

Although there were fewer turned out than we liked, those who did had a lot of fun and hoped we’d do it again.  We will, later in the year so watch this space.

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