Ceilidh dancing involves a group of people, a caller, and upbeat Irish music.
For Central Hawke’s Bay woman Breige Rendell, there is nothing better for lifting the spirits than dancing with friends and strangers.
Rendell, a nurse working out of Hawke’s Bay Hospital and a nursing home in Central Hawke’s Bay, is organising a Ceilidh dance evening at the Ōtāne Hall onSaturday.
The event doubles as a birthday celebration for an 89-year-old and an 18-year-old, but the community is welcome to join, she said.
Together with her band of up to 12 members, Rendell said, they play traditional Irish and Scottish music for people to dance to.
She described the sound as lively, upbeat, and strong and said her favourite part was watching everyone’s enjoyment.
“Just watching the laughter on everybody’s faces because they come in some of them a bit anxious, not knowing what to do, and within half an hour they have made friends ... all the week’s worries fade away once that tune starts up.”
She said it was important to have an enjoyable outlet for survival, with the Irish practising this throughout history.
“Centuries of hard struggles, their expression to release and survive was through their music, through poetry, through song and dance, and [they] have carried that tradition with them globally.”
Breige Rendell plays the bodhran, a traditional Irish instrument, with bandmate Robert. Photo / Supplied
Her motivation behind the community event was to offer others a great night out with a chance to make new friends.
“We get loads of people coming, they come from Palmerston North, Woodville, Dannevirke ... Napier, Hastings, all over because they know that there is a traditional Ceilidh dance going on.”
Rendell said the Irish dance involved groups of eight people, with a caller signalling what happened next in the sequences.
“Traditionally, in ancient days, in the old days you would dance in a very small space, in a kitchen, you cleared the table away, and everybody would come in locally, and the accordion and the fiddler would sit in the corner and crank up the tunes.
“They would have dance sequences that they know like the back of their hand because they danced them every Saturday night.”
She said for those worried about not knowing or being able to dance, the style was set up to support them.
“You don’t have to know how to dance to join in.”
Rendell said the Ceilidh dance brought people together and acted as a fun outlet to relieve daily stress and pressures.
“They laugh themselves silly, and they lose a lot of weight and they eat a lot of food in the middle and drink a lot of water.”
She said there were no age restrictions for participants and casual, loose clothing and sneakers were best to wear.
Event details: Saturday, 6pm; Ōtāne Hall - $5 entry.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
