Chinese Ceilidh

20 April 2010

Chinese Ceilidh

In conjunction with Pròiseact nan Ealan, a group of pupils from the Nicolson Institute are involved in an exciting pilot project that seeks to establish a relationship between teenagers and Gàidhlig arts.

Under the guidance of arts workers, the pupils are encouraged to explore their own understanding of the arts and then apply this to an event which they themselves have planned, organized and will ultimately undertake.

The pupils form part of an exchange group who plan on visiting Hefei 168 Middle School in Anhui, China, a trip for which they must secure their own funding through a variety of activities and sponsors. The event which the group have been organizing will be a fundraiser for their trip aswell as an exciting family orientated evening which demonstrates links between Chinese and Gàidhlig culture in a fresh and fun way. Live music by Calum Martin and Oidhche Chìadain will make for a great cèilidh and kids will have fun with face paints, decorating and releasing lanterns and take part in a Chinese dancing workshop. The highlight of the evening will be the unleashing of the dancing dragon which the group have made themselves.

Through their involvement with Pròiseact nan Ealan, the group have been learning new skills and all agree that the experience has been a beneficial one. Seamus Cunningham says: "We weren't aware of how much organizing goes into running an event like this, there's a lot to do and as we do them we can then apply them to other things we do, just now and once we have left school. We've been getting in touch with bands, booking a venue for the cèilidh and we're going to be working on marketing and advertising soon."

Eileen MacLennan continued: "We weren't aware of the links between our culture and that of the Chinese, they both had a very prominent focus on proverbs, or seann-fhacail, so we will be placing a particular emphasis on that at our cèilidh"

From Pròiseact nan Ealan's perspective, they are developing a strand of their work on which they place particular importance. Kirstie Anderson explains: "As part fo our Audience Development strategy, we are keen to engage key groups with the Gàidhlig arts and one of these groups is teenagers.

“We would like to learn more about how they engage with and use the language, as well as how we can better communicate with them and how to design Gaelic arts initiatives that appeal to them. Kirstie continues: “We hope to encourage the young people to think outside the box, to understand what Gaelic and the arts mean to them, and to learn more about creating their own projects, gaining experience in project planning and marketing."

The Cèilidh is to take place on Friday April 23rd in Stornoway Town Hall, kicking of at 7pm. Cost is £5 per adult, £3.50 per child or £10 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 kids). Ticket cost covers the cèilidh and Chinese snack from the buffet.

For further info, contact Marina on 01851 704493 or email marina@gaelic-arts.com.