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The Gay Gordons is one of the easiest dances to learn and is often the most popular (at least in terms of the number of people on the dancefloor) at a ceilidh. It is traditionally the first dance and if you have ever been taught ceilidh dances you will very likely know the Gay Gordons.
DIFFICULTY RATING: EASY
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
A partner. This is a steady couples dance to the tune of a 2/4 March, but is faster than a waltz.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING
There are two dance holds you need to master beforehand, a traditional waltz hold and the shadow hold. The latter is demonstrated below:
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Shadow Hold - Description
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- Gentlemen stand with your partner on your right, with your right arm behind the ladies shoulder and your left arm across your chest;
- Ladies raise your right hand to shoulder level (to take the gents right hand) and left arm slightly up and to the left (to take the gents left hand).
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THE STEPS |
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Beats
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Description
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1-8 (8)
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- Starting position is the shadow hold with couples in a circle facing anti-clockwise;
- Walk forward for 3, both moving off on the left foot;
- On 4 both about turn to the right (without dropping the shadow hold) so that you are facing the opposite direction and gents have their partner on their left;
- Walk backwards for 4.
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9-16 (8)
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- Walk forward for 3, both moving of on the left foot;
- On 4 both about turn to the left (without dropping the shadow hold) so that you are facing the opposite direction and gents have their partner on their right;
- Walk backwards for 4.
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17-24 (8)
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- Drop the Shadow Hold but remain side by side, gents take the lady’s left hand in their right and raise their right arm above their head;
- Walk forwards for 8 while the lady spins under the gent’s right arm.
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25-32 (8)
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- Take a waltz hold and polka (similar to waltzing to the count of 4) round the room for the count of 8;
- Break back into the Shadow hold ready to start again.
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HOW TO CONTACT THE HEADLANDERS CEILIDH BAND
If you would like a specific dance included on these pages or want to know more about us then please let us know.
Email: mail@headlanders.co.uk, or telephone/text: 07721 494 004
If you want a list of ceilidh related books with a wide range of dances please refer to the links page.
We have invested substantial time and effort in putting these resources together and you are welcome to use these dance instructions if you are seeking to organise your own ceilidh. In return all we ask is that you do one, or more, of the following:
- send us an email saying thanks, let us know how you found the site (Google etc, recommendation by a friend), some details about your ceilidh - how it went, what it was for etc, tell us if the instructions are clear enough;
- if you’re in Aberdeen or the North East of Scotland why not ask us for a quote/check our availability. Our prices are competitive and having a band, with all the equipment, music and dance calls can make organising the ceilidh significantly easier on you - we know the amount of work that is involved in organising a ceilidh (and how heavy PA equipment is!) having been there ourselves;
- mention us to your friends and relatives if they are looking for a ceilidh band;
- provide a link to our homepage on your own website. All you need to do is paste the code between the square brackets into your own html code: [<A HREF=”http://www.headlanders.co.uk”>the Headlanders ceilidh band</A>]
- buy something from amazon (US or UK) or musicroom.com, just follow the links
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