About The Cornish Ceilidh Band – professional ceilidh band based in Cornwall
We can deliver everything from the “Yee Haa” barn dance to a Scottish Ceilidh with piper and can add a touch of Breton Fest Noz with bombard and binou (Breton shawm and bagpipes) if you want something that little bit different.
The dances from our native Cornwall are easy to learn, great fun and always go down well.
Traditionally in Cornwall the term for a Barn dance is “Troyl”. It comes from the Cornish word for a whirl, spiral or a reel...a good description of barn dance!
We draw largely from the social dance traditions of Scotland, Ireland and our native Cornwall but we also include dances from the Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany as well as wider Europe and America.
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Two of our most popular dances are the Newlyn Reel and the Cornish Serpent dance.These were the dances used for the Village dances in the BBC's Poldark series.
We play a variety of instruments but find that the guitar, tenor banjo, sax and flute give us the bass rhythm, middle range and melody lead that drives the music for Ceilidhs/Barn Dances.
To give people a chance to catch their breaths we normally mix in a few instrumental sets amongst the dances. To maintain the atmosphere when the band has a break part way through the evening we play recorded music over the PA system.
Alison is an experienced caller who will tailor the dance programme to suit the audience whether that be accomplished dancers or the absolute beginners.
We use a radio microphone with a head set so that Alison can join the dancers on the floor and help people through the dances without the formality of instructions from the stage.
We are a family outfit and have been doing this kind of thing for several generations. Merv’s great granny played for Troyls – Barn Dances, in the fish cellars at Newquay in the 1880s!
Cas and Jojo work as a duo and have performed at Glastonbury and Cambridge festivals as well their home circuit of Celtic festivals.
Organising a Barn Dance