Where to Dance

Types of Irish Dance

Ceili Dancing

Social dancing. Fairly simple movements with a high degree of repetition. Most dances are "mixers" where you dance in one place for a while and then move as a couple and dance with the couple in the next line. You usually wind up dancing with everyone, at some point in the evening.

Set Dancing

Like square dancing, but with more complicated formations. You start and end the dance with the same set of people (generally 4 couples in a square). Includes polkas. In some dances you trade partners, so meet others. Can be done with simple steps, or you can add "battering" -- percussive footwork that individuals add on their own to add flair and enhance the rhythm of the music. Like sean-nos dancing (below), it's hard to find someone that teaches battering. But it's battering that puts set dancing into a class by itself. (Good batterers add plasitc taps to their shoes for a lounder sound.)

Step Dancing

Either in soft shoes or "hard shoes" (shoes with fiberglass taps, so they don't mar the floor). Solo dances (even if many people are dancing at one time). This is the no-hands style of dancing where people cover a lot of ground. The most complicated footwork in the world!

Sean-nos ("shay-nohs") Dancing

Old style step dancing. Uses shoes with extra leather for the dull, muted "thud" of the Irish drum (bodhran --"bau-rahn") instead of the ringing "taps" of fiberglass or metal. Some styles emphasize use of arms. There isn't much movement in this style. The dancer tends to stay in one place, and movements are smaller. The point of it is the quality of the sound, like someone playing a drum, rather than how high they lift their leg or how much ground they cover. It's hard to find someone who teaches this style outside of Ireland, but it's one that deserves a resurgence.

The listing below covers the dances I have attended fairly. For a more complete list, go to http://sf.ccewest.org/dance/dance.html

Ceili Dancing

• Second Sunday: Irish Cultural Center, across from the San Francisco zoo, just up the hill from Sloat. Beginner lessons at 6:00. Dancing starts at 7:00. $5 or so.
• Third Saturday: Trinity Cathedral, San Jose. 81 North 2nd Street. On the corner of 2nd and St. Johns, across from the park. Beginner's lessons at 7:30. Dancing starts at 8:00. $10.
• Fourth Saturday, even numbered months: St. Athanasious church, Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View. Half a block on the bay side of Central Expressway. Starts around 8:30. $10.

Set Dancing

• First Thursday: Shannon Arms Pub, San Franciso. On Taraval, just down the hill from 19th. Starts around 7:30. Free.
• First Wednesday: Scruffy Murphy's Pub, Sunnyvale, 187 Murphy Ave., down the street from the parking lot next to Macy's at Sunnyvale St. and Washington Ave. Starts around 8:30. Free
• Third Tuesday: O'Neill's Pub, San Mateo. B Street, just up from 2nd. 8:30 to 11:00.

Irish Dance Instruction

• Ceili Dancing
  • Tuesdays, St. Stephens Green, Los Altos. 169 Main Street.
    Lessons at 7:00 PM Dancing from 9 to 11:00.
• Step Dancing and Ceili Dancing
  • Kineally School of Dance. Los Gatos Community Center (not in Summer months).
  • McGrath School of Dance, Danville/Dublin/Livermore.
  • Kineally School of Dance. San Francisco.
• Set Dancing
  • Thursdays (except the first Thursday): Sunset Recreation Center, on Lawton St., between 19th and Sunset Blvd. (Its big enough that its marked on S.F. maps.) Starts around 7:30 or 8:00. Free.

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