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Weekly Plough Review
May. 20th, 2003 11:57 amYes, ladies and gentlebeings, it's an actual real live LiveJournal entry from me. Trumpets do sound from on high, angels do sing, the earth does tremble, the seas do swell, and I'm writing a journal entry.
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mertuil, who usually gives a weekly Plough review, couldn't make it to the Plough last night I thought I'd offer my thoughts on last night's session.
For the one or two of you who might read my journal that have no idea what I'm talking about, the Starry Plough is a greasy little Irish pub up in Berkeley where every Monday for the last 25+ years there's been a weekly Irish Ceili dance. The style of dance done at the Plough is akin to American square dancing, done with partners or sets to the music of a live pick-up band playing traditional Irish tunes. I've been attending for, oh, seven years or so now. Recently I've started sharing MC duties at the microphone with Rachel, helping to announce dances and keep the evening organized.
Usually the Plough is a crowded and popular place. Last night was strangely uncrowded. The missing dancers were mostly advanced folk (at least as far as I could tell). Personally, this meant that many of my regular dance partners weren't there to dance with. Taking a cue from a recent journal entry of Rachel's, it was kind of weird not having one of my girlfriends there.
Without Rachel there I had the microphone to myself for most of the evening (with assists by Forest and Patrick). I started off with a lack of energy, and I could feel it in my rather flat calling of the Haymaker's Jig. I didn't take "caller's privilege" on the High Caul Cap that followed, either, as there wasn't a lady I was comfortable dancing it with close to hand, nor did I feel like making a big fuss about asking someone across the room to dance, so I just sat down. This all changed for me when we came around to the second dance I called, The Rakes of Mallow, a dance for everyone. Rakes is a dance I've never seen before, but Patrick had asked me to give it a shot and I'd studied up on it earlier in the evening. Everyone seemed to really like it despite its simplicity, and my energy level soared.
The rest of the evening was fabulous. I used my lack of regular partners to ask a few ladies I don't routinely dance with to dance, a practice I really should make a regular habit. During a jig set Quinn and I taught two ladies to do the Four Hand Jig on the fly, with triumphant results. The band (also strangely reduced in number that evening; was there a memo I missed on some other activity?) played a number of tunes that they don't normally play, all of which sounded great. As has become our habit of late, we went overtime; even though there were very few dancers left by 11:15, the die-hards still there were having a great time.
Since Matt (my carpool buddy) and I were exhausted we skipped Au Coq. Someone else will have to report on that if anything interesting or gossip-worthy happened there.
Oh, I should also make especial mention of Seamus, who was dressed to the Irish-nines last night (kilt and all) in celebration of his completion of a bachelor's degree in Celtic Studies. And, of course, the embarrassing yet well-harmonized rendition of the Happy Birthday Song for Karin. :)
Since
mertuil, who usually gives a weekly Plough review, couldn't make it to the Plough last night I thought I'd offer my thoughts on last night's session.For the one or two of you who might read my journal that have no idea what I'm talking about, the Starry Plough is a greasy little Irish pub up in Berkeley where every Monday for the last 25+ years there's been a weekly Irish Ceili dance. The style of dance done at the Plough is akin to American square dancing, done with partners or sets to the music of a live pick-up band playing traditional Irish tunes. I've been attending for, oh, seven years or so now. Recently I've started sharing MC duties at the microphone with Rachel, helping to announce dances and keep the evening organized.
Usually the Plough is a crowded and popular place. Last night was strangely uncrowded. The missing dancers were mostly advanced folk (at least as far as I could tell). Personally, this meant that many of my regular dance partners weren't there to dance with. Taking a cue from a recent journal entry of Rachel's, it was kind of weird not having one of my girlfriends there.
Without Rachel there I had the microphone to myself for most of the evening (with assists by Forest and Patrick). I started off with a lack of energy, and I could feel it in my rather flat calling of the Haymaker's Jig. I didn't take "caller's privilege" on the High Caul Cap that followed, either, as there wasn't a lady I was comfortable dancing it with close to hand, nor did I feel like making a big fuss about asking someone across the room to dance, so I just sat down. This all changed for me when we came around to the second dance I called, The Rakes of Mallow, a dance for everyone. Rakes is a dance I've never seen before, but Patrick had asked me to give it a shot and I'd studied up on it earlier in the evening. Everyone seemed to really like it despite its simplicity, and my energy level soared.
The rest of the evening was fabulous. I used my lack of regular partners to ask a few ladies I don't routinely dance with to dance, a practice I really should make a regular habit. During a jig set Quinn and I taught two ladies to do the Four Hand Jig on the fly, with triumphant results. The band (also strangely reduced in number that evening; was there a memo I missed on some other activity?) played a number of tunes that they don't normally play, all of which sounded great. As has become our habit of late, we went overtime; even though there were very few dancers left by 11:15, the die-hards still there were having a great time.
Since Matt (my carpool buddy) and I were exhausted we skipped Au Coq. Someone else will have to report on that if anything interesting or gossip-worthy happened there.
Oh, I should also make especial mention of Seamus, who was dressed to the Irish-nines last night (kilt and all) in celebration of his completion of a bachelor's degree in Celtic Studies. And, of course, the embarrassing yet well-harmonized rendition of the Happy Birthday Song for Karin. :)
