As the live band strikes up the first few bars, everyone begins to move to the music, some with co-ordinated steps, many with spontaneous spins and twists that just feel right.

There’s an array of finery on show – everything from modern fashion to the most elaborate 18th-century ball dress – but everyone is there for one reason: to dance.

“That freshers’ ceilidh from a couple of years ago was massive,” says Jemima Swain (Darwin 2023), outgoing chair of The Round country dancing society.

“We had more than 150 people, and it was a huge squash to fit everyone in. The energy was so fun, but people got their feet stamped on!”

Thankfully, bruised feet are usually the exception rather than the rule.

The group, comprising students, alumni and locals aged 15 to 85, meet once a week for 10 well-choreographed dances, accompanied by in-house musicians, the Round Band.

Pairs are made up of ‘larks’ to the left and ‘robins’ to the right, so it’s gender neutral, and you change partner for each dance.

“I prefer different people for different types of dancing – the Playford, for example, from Jane Austen’s time, is slower and more graceful, while the contra is a US ceilidh and a bit more vigorous.”

Swain admits it can all be a “bit silly”, and there’s an element of chaos and fun, but you use your brain more than you’d think.

“Some of the dances are very beautiful and flow to the tune – like the Sapphire Sea, danced to the tune of Tom Kruskal’s – which is very satisfying.

Then one dance moves into the next, as the music picks up. It’s complicated, like a puzzle. It can be challenging and you can get bamboozled, trying to work out where you should be.

“The ‘Amazed Geneticist’ is a fun one, for example, where you’re drawing DNA patterns on the floor.

Or there’s the ‘Levi Jackson Rag’ – it’s fun but ridiculous; easy to embellish with spins, and people can go a bit rogue.

I remember being at the Whitby Folk Festival last year dancing a contra with a friend from the Sheffield Ceilidh Soc, and we were trying to teach ourselves a new embellishment to add to the spins, which we finally got working on the very last time.

The move is a bit tricky, but I was so proud we managed to do it at the last moment.”

Making connections is key to the experience, both on and off the dancefloor. Romances have blossomed, and there have been at least 30 ‘Round weddings’ in the 98 years the society has been running.

“We are preserving – and building – traditions,” says Swain. “The freedom of movement and expression is so special, and like nothing you’ll find anywhere else."