The Ireland Dispatches
Vaughan’s set dance barn in Kilfenora has been invaded by 24 Aquinus College juniors from Michigan. Sara, who met me earlier in the pub at dinner, begs me to dance the Connemara Reel with her. "I don’t know anything! But I really want to do this! Will you show me?"
I dance with her aloud. "Here’s the step. Right-left-right-right, left-right-left-left, here, give me some weight, we cross the set, now. Forward and back now, it’s step, step, one-two-three. Now, this is a ceili swing, I grab your waist, you grab mine, we hold hands, pivit on the inside foot. Now, swing him, ladies chain, swing me." It’s not just my partner I’m looking after, another college student is opposite us too. I barely know how to do this myself, now I’m a dance instructor. The locals in the head positions are shoving us the right way when I mess up. They’re tolerating the slaughter of their dance with typical good grace. We laugh a lot. Five figures later the dance ends. Everyone is smiling bigger than it seems possible.
30 March 2000
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