On Saturday night we went along to the fundraiser ceilidh organised by a couple of the girls who play basketball for City of Edinburgh Club. Over the years I have been to many ceilidhs but never on as inspirational as this one. What made this one so special?

• It might have been that the youngsters who were there got up and danced from the very first dance. It is usually only a hardy few who take to the floor to encourage others  – but not this time
• Maybe the addition of 30 or so Spanish visitors introduced something? Every one of them got up and tried almost every dance
• It could be that the band was excellent. I really don’t know where they got the energy .
• Or the “caller” of the dance steps – who was hugely encouraging in both English – with a bit of Spanglish thrown it
• Or maybe we were all just in the right frame of mind

But what it showed me was that a successful night ( or success generally) can come from a combination of many factors

• desire to have a go without worrying what anyone thinks ( the youngsters and Spanish guests)
• leadership – those who knew the dance steering those who didn’t ( yet)
• willingness to make mistakes and realising that there is a lot more to be added by contributing than by sitting on the sidelines
• clear instructions ( the caller)
• inclusion regardless of age/ability/gender eg the youngest was about 5. The oldest – well let’s say there were many gray hairs.
• having fun!

Congratulations to all of those involved.

If you are interested here are  videos of  the most popular dances we did -  Dashing White Sergeant and Gay Gordons