Lynne told us about a "Monster Céilí" in Enfield tonight and we could not resist. We all packed into our little rented VW and headed west on the N4. The traffic was incredibly awful so we missed an hour of dancing before we even got there.
In my opinion, it is nearly impossible to really understand a different culture. Prior to heading out to Enfield for this event I asked several of our friends to describe to us the nature of a "Fleadh", a "Céilí" and why this particular event seemed to be elevated to such importance.
Note that the very start of this kind of a conversation is difficult because you first have to start out trying to pronounce the word. As many words in Irish are spelled similarly, this is crucial to really getting your question across. As said in a prior post, I finally learned that the pronunciation of Céilí is "Kay-Lee". What a real Céilí is, I had no idea other than that it had to do with Irish dancing.
What a "monster Céilí" is is anyone's guess.
Sheila and I had had some experience at a Céilí and had looked it up to find that it "is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing."
We also knew that there would be some degree of competition at this event as Sheila had emailed with one of the coordinators.
But there are a few different types of Irish dancing, and lots of Irish music.
This event, the people, the dancing and the music ended up being part of the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann movement to promote Irish culture, movement and dance. " The organisation was founded in 1951 and has since been extremely successful in promoting Irish music and culture among the Irish people and the Irish diaspora."
When we got there, they were hosting a "set dancing" competition that included people of a wide age range, and groups of dancers from the region. I'm sure I won't be able to upload the videos I took from tonight but here is a Youtube video of another group of Irish set dancers.
Here are a few of my photos.
We were told that there would be a "session" after the dancing competition so we hung around until one or more kid complained a little too loudly and then we thought about heading out.
It was not at all what I expected. I thought there was going to be a group of musicians getting together to play Irish music (as we had seen at the other location). Instead, there was a Céilí band and at least 50 couples out on the dance floor dancing set dances!
It was really really fun to see. Again, I am blown away by Irish culture. Here was yet another group of people together, a fairly wider range of ages, on a Friday night for the sole purpose of getting together, dancing, and listening to Irish music. Lynne was saying that other countries certainly promote their own cultural heritage but perhaps it is more touristy... This event and all of the others like this are decidedly NOT touristy... There were no tourists (other than us) there. Frankly, were tourists LOOKING for such an event, it would be hard to find let alone to understand. On the way home we were talking about this a bit -- this decidedly pro-culture movement that Ireland has created in its music, its language, its dance and sport. Maggie talked a little about how America is a melting pot of so many cultures. This is true but I wonder if we end up resorting to the least common denominator and end up not really promoting any culture really at all.
You can see so many benefits of this purposeful promotion and protection of Irish culture. People of all ages get together for a specific purpose at a public event. They have common goals and these cover a large swath of people -- here an entire country. Even Johnny commented -- how do they ALL know the same dance?? They learn Irish not because it will get them somewhere economically (our kids, for example, learn Spanish to be able to speak to other people and to help them get a job some day) but because it protects their culture. It could help them economically -- you need to know Irish to be a teacher or to participate in politics -- but because only the Irish speak it, it won't necessarily help you around the world.*
I continue to be blown away by this place and all that it has to offer.
*I do recognize that learning any language helps with all languages as well as loads of other subjects.
In my opinion, it is nearly impossible to really understand a different culture. Prior to heading out to Enfield for this event I asked several of our friends to describe to us the nature of a "Fleadh", a "Céilí" and why this particular event seemed to be elevated to such importance.
Note that the very start of this kind of a conversation is difficult because you first have to start out trying to pronounce the word. As many words in Irish are spelled similarly, this is crucial to really getting your question across. As said in a prior post, I finally learned that the pronunciation of Céilí is "Kay-Lee". What a real Céilí is, I had no idea other than that it had to do with Irish dancing.
What a "monster Céilí" is is anyone's guess.
Sheila and I had had some experience at a Céilí and had looked it up to find that it "is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing."
We also knew that there would be some degree of competition at this event as Sheila had emailed with one of the coordinators.
But there are a few different types of Irish dancing, and lots of Irish music.
This event, the people, the dancing and the music ended up being part of the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann movement to promote Irish culture, movement and dance. " The organisation was founded in 1951 and has since been extremely successful in promoting Irish music and culture among the Irish people and the Irish diaspora."
When we got there, they were hosting a "set dancing" competition that included people of a wide age range, and groups of dancers from the region. I'm sure I won't be able to upload the videos I took from tonight but here is a Youtube video of another group of Irish set dancers.
Here are a few of my photos.
We were told that there would be a "session" after the dancing competition so we hung around until one or more kid complained a little too loudly and then we thought about heading out.
It was not at all what I expected. I thought there was going to be a group of musicians getting together to play Irish music (as we had seen at the other location). Instead, there was a Céilí band and at least 50 couples out on the dance floor dancing set dances!
It was really really fun to see. Again, I am blown away by Irish culture. Here was yet another group of people together, a fairly wider range of ages, on a Friday night for the sole purpose of getting together, dancing, and listening to Irish music. Lynne was saying that other countries certainly promote their own cultural heritage but perhaps it is more touristy... This event and all of the others like this are decidedly NOT touristy... There were no tourists (other than us) there. Frankly, were tourists LOOKING for such an event, it would be hard to find let alone to understand. On the way home we were talking about this a bit -- this decidedly pro-culture movement that Ireland has created in its music, its language, its dance and sport. Maggie talked a little about how America is a melting pot of so many cultures. This is true but I wonder if we end up resorting to the least common denominator and end up not really promoting any culture really at all.
You can see so many benefits of this purposeful promotion and protection of Irish culture. People of all ages get together for a specific purpose at a public event. They have common goals and these cover a large swath of people -- here an entire country. Even Johnny commented -- how do they ALL know the same dance?? They learn Irish not because it will get them somewhere economically (our kids, for example, learn Spanish to be able to speak to other people and to help them get a job some day) but because it protects their culture. It could help them economically -- you need to know Irish to be a teacher or to participate in politics -- but because only the Irish speak it, it won't necessarily help you around the world.*
I continue to be blown away by this place and all that it has to offer.
*I do recognize that learning any language helps with all languages as well as loads of other subjects.
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