Dancing in the Isles

It’s a slow night at the Celtic Arts Center in North Hollywood. But that means something a little different for fans of Scottish and Irish culture gathered here.

Sean Aherne has just finished teaching a free Irish-language class. Now he’s pontificating in his lilting brogue about the beauty of his birthplace, Ireland’s County Kerry--much to the ire of Tom McNamara, a first-generation Irish-American who owes his allegiance to another county.

Kristi Ott, her long, red hair swinging about her, is telling a ghost story about a castle outside Dublin where a rival clan staged a murder.

Nearby, her daughter plays a bodhran, an Irish drum, in a Celtic music jam session. A line forms for the ceili, an Irish square dance. One curly haired lass wears green tights.

Such scenes have occurred each Monday for years at the Raven Playhouse on Lankershim Boulevard, which doubles as the center’s gathering site. Monday nights include a language class, then dance instruction and music.

“This place has definitely become a dominant part of my social life, maybe too dominant!” Adrien Burke, an artist and writer from Sunland, says with a laugh.

Besides the Monday sessions, the Celtic Arts Center hosts monthly concert series, plays and celebrations commemorating Celtic holidays.

After Burke got involved with the center, her husband and granddaughters followed. It’s the kind of place where married-with-children types mingle with singles in their 20s who want to get in touch with their roots.

“It’s the music and the dancing that get people in here, and then they learn more about the culture,” says college student Sarah Magaletta, 20, of Los Angeles. She joined because her mother was born in Galway, Ireland.

These folks have learned more than their share of Celtic trivia. Visitors can overhear conversations about the Celtic inaccuracies in Arthurian mythology or the difference between Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

“It’s like an impromptu Celtic college here,” says Adam Adler, 24, of Northridge. Although Adler has no ties to Scotland or Ireland, his interest in Celtic literature led him to the center.

“The mystique of the Celts draws people,” says Aherne, of Panorama City. He notes that one of the night’s best Irish-music players is Asian American.

“We’re just a bunch of ‘Celto-nerds’ here,” says the flame-haired Dana Sue Collins, 35, of North Hollywood. She is studying the bagpipe and hopes to move to Scotland someday.

McNamara, 40, proposed to his girlfriend here, using Irish words taught to him by Aherne. They’re planning an Irish wedding, complete with soda bread and lots of craick, which means fun and good times. Everyone from the group is invited, even a reporter hanging around for the evening.

Not bad for a slow night.

If you can’t make it to the Celtic Arts Center, try “Spring Equinox Circle--Wish the Snakes Back to Ireland” Sunday at noon at the Johnny Carson Recreational Park in Burbank. There’s a $5 suggested donation. Call (323) 258-0531 for details.

BE THERE

The Celtic Arts Center’s free Monday-night sessions begin at 7 at the Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. For more information about the center or upcoming events, including an annual St. Patrick’s Day Bash and Spring Equinox Celebration, call (323) 462-6844.