Anyone else still traumatised by social dancing at school?!

[DoTheNextRightThing]

Local radio station is currently playing its Sunday ceilidh music block and I swear every time I hear that noise of an accordion starting up, it makes my blood run cold. Images of standing in the gym hall, lined up along the wall, staring across at the boys who you just know have sweaty palms and bony elbows, and wanting the ground to swallow you up.

Is anyone else still haunted by the memories of social dancing?

I didn't mind it too much at school. I was literally scarred for life by Strip the Willow though. My head collided with a concrete pillar after my partner threw me at someone who failed to catch me.

We didn’t do social dancing at my school, only Scottish dancing despite being nearly as far as it’s possible to be from Scotland and still be in the UK.

I also have a memory of having to learn the Twist (in the 90s!!).

I hated social dancing with a passion. I was always the last or second last to be chosen. And then that awful feeling of everyone watching you as you skip down the line in Strip the Willow. Eurgh. The only dance I can abide now is the Gay Gordons.

Social dancing was Scottish dancing...at least it was at my Scottish school. And yes, it was horrific. Having to be picked by or pick someone to dance with. At that age.
Still, the vigour of the activity soon made you too exhausted to be embarrassed. I think.

I hated it and thought it was funny af in equal measures. The most hated pe teacher trying to get us all to dance while the songs are blasting on a knackered coomber speaker 😂😂 ahh they were the days lol

I did hate it, mostly. But my overwhelming memory of the class was our very young, very attractive PE teacher picking me to be his partner to demonstrate one of the dances - I was literally swept off my feet and I’ve never forgotten the feeling 25+ years later

I remember quite liking it, you could go and pick the boy you fancied without ever letting on by sighing that ‘you had to pick someone’ and he was obliged to dance with you whether he liked it or not because you weren’t allowed to refuse. Of course it didn’t always work out so well the other way around.

Oh God, memories of the pervy PE teacher and trying not to be picked by him for the "demonstration" dance.

And every year, EVERY year, there were broken wrists and ankles from too much exuberant throwing each other around in the gym hall.

And the boy I actually wanted to dance with never picked me. Ever.

I quite enjoyed it, despite all that it was fun and when everyone was in sync together in the school hall it worked well and we had a laugh. There was something uplifting about it. And it was better than running round the local Loch in the rain and mud.

I remember our Rector used to do "spot prizes" on the night of the school dance and my partner and I won a box of chocolates. Once in 6 years, haha!

I always had to be a boy... too tall

Hoooo-euch! Or whatever that horrendous noise is people make when spinning or going forwards in a chain. Shudder

We used to do ceilidh dancing at Irish college and I really like it. I didn't often get left without a partner though, so that probably helped, even though there was a large segment of the boys who wouldn't come near me because I was protestant. It was only the Derry boys who had issues with it though, the RoI boys weren't as weirded out. There was always a few who swung you too fast during Ballai Luimnigh and didn't hold on tight enough, but I warned them that if I ended up falling on my arse there would be consequences.

It was the only part of PE I loved 🙊 we didn't have to pick, we all just got in two lines, one boys, one girls and we would make sure that we were opposite the boys we liked 🤣

We used to do it I. PE in the winter; middle school, near Newcastle. I loved it!!

Aw I love a ceilidh but at school you would inevitably get picked by the child with the sweatiest or scratchy hands. Much more fun as an adult when you're tipsy!

I read this as social distancing. Was trying to work out what sweaty palms and bony elbows had to do with it.

I read this as social distancing. Was trying to work out what sweaty palms and bony elbows had to do with it.

Me too, it was quite refreshing to realise it was non covid related 😆

I found it improved as you went up the school years. By 4th and 5th year you could just dance with your friends without the ‘everyone will think I fancy him if I ask him’ fear. Sadly my usual dancing partner was really terrible at dancing. They tried to teach us some Latin American dances in 5th year and he was astoundingly awful. It was very funny though.

I do remember standing against the wall in first year thinking desperately, ‘not Fergus. Please not Fergus’.

@Lozz22

I read this as social distancing. Was trying to work out what sweaty palms and bony elbows had to do with it.

Me too lol

Also read it as social distancing! Very confusing for a short whole!

• while

We called it anti-social dancing 😂

I'm not from Scotland, but we did folk dancing at school (which sounds pretty similar). But only in primary and then sixth form, which I'm pretty sure improved the experience no end! What age did the rest of you have to do it at?

When was this? I never got to do this! I would have loved it!

@bathorshower We had social dancing for PE throughout December for the entirety of high school.

It was excruciating in 1st & 2nd year when most of the boys are shorter than the girls so none of the 'holds' really work (I remember feeling like I had my arm twisted behind my back and the boy I was dancing with probably didn't have his feet on the ground) but from 3rd year on when the boys suddenly grew up it was fun.
And I love it now, at weddings, the 'riding a bike' way you can remember all the steps when you haven't thought about it for a decade or more...