I started learning to call long before I thought about ever doing it. I set up Swinging Molly ceilidh band with AIice Little and Jamie Huddlestone back in 2007 and learnt so much watching our callers including Will Hall and Pete North. Handling a crowd is a real art and one that can be honed many ways. I also spent many years at Sidmouth and Towersey festivals, listening to Gordon Potts, Nick Walden and Sheena Mason to name for a few. That rhythmic way of speaking, with a few clear calls instead of lots of words, something of the dance embodied in the speaking and above all that eyes up focus taking in the whole room. I think I’ve got four jobs at a ceilidh: making all my dancers feel good about themselves, working with the band, keeping everyone on the floor safe and finally teaching the dance just enough that everyone can have a good time. As one wedding client said recently “that was just the right amount of chaos“.