Thursday, November 24, 2005

Irish dancing

When I was in college there was an annual céilí on the campus organized by a local Irish organization. Almost no students went, but a couple of my friends and I used to turn up, partially (okay, mostly) because for $10 the bar was unlimited for the night. That was a bargain even then (mid 80s).

Still, we used to have fun. These middle-aged Irish women would insist on dragging us out onto the dance floor and instruct us in that tolerant, but firm tone that middle-aged Irish women have. Most of the women were older than my mother, which explains why I was alarmed to read the following from a court case in North Carolina:
Dr Hanna's argument was that Irish dance "involves a rigid upper body and a leg pounding upon the ground [which] can be associated with the phallus pounding the female."
Whoa! Even with twenty elapsed years this is a heart-stopping revelation. I presume this means that at the very least I should immerse myself in the River Jordan as an act of atonement.