He is hopeful for the same amount of enjoyment during the monthly céilí's he holds at the Winona Grange (céilí means "celebration") and the concerts held at the music room he built on the back of his home in Tualatin. You could almost say he has a passion for encouraging social interaction.

"A céilí is truly a gathering and not just a dance. It's a social experience," he said. The same goes for the drop-in dance lessons held during the week.

"I make sure [everyone has] nametags on, that way they can get to know each other, meet each other," he said. "The drop-in class is that way because every week I don't know who is going to be here, so it's a nice surprise when I see someone I haven't seen in a while."

Keator's two-hour classes are relatively simple - participants grab a nametag at the front and then follow him along for some step-by-step moves that will later be strung together into more complex dance maneuvers. The music rings through the air, but Keator's strong voice carries out above it with instructions, compliments and critiques - always infused with a bit of humor.

Mary Meyer is a familiar face at the Wednesday night gatherings, with regular attendance since around the time the class formed. The 82-year-old from Tigard has more than 28 years of dancing experience under her belt, and she said she appreciates the opportunity to continue what she loves.

"In the first place, it's good exercise, it's fun, you get to meet a lot of good people," Meyer said. One of the things she makes a point of doing is talking to people who look like they are unsure or a little out of place, which coincidentally furthers Keator's goal of everyone getting to know everyone else.

"I make a point of talking to everyone who comes in... I like to involve everyone," she said. "It's an outing, so it's something different to do. It's just people that you try to get involved."

Meyer also tries to get her neighbors to come out to the class. On this particular Wednesday, she arrived with two other women she knows from around her neighborhood. Donna Witten is one of Meyer's neighbors who was encouraged to give it a try about a month and a half ago, and she has been coming ever since. She said she likes getting to know the other people there and also the great workout she gets from it.

"I like coming to the grange because it's still old fashioned, country, with a small-town feel," she said.

Meyer said she likes to encourage every one of all skill levels to at least give the Irish dances a shot.

"Come and try it, and see if you like it," she said.

PLEASE NOTE: Weekly classes have moved to the Winona Grange in Tualatin on Thursday nights!

The 500-square-foot room embodies a participatory ideal of music that Celtic and other folk cultures never forgot: that music is best made at home and shared among friends.

Keator does his part. He teaches Irish dancing classes twice a week, puts on monthly céilís in Tualatin's historic Winona Grange, teaches seasonal dance classes at various parks & rec departments and sets up about 30 ceilis a year for wedding receptions, reunions and other private or corporate events. He devotes his time to perpetuating the very Irish idea that art and music and life and conversation and dancing entwine in an intricate, beautiful Celtic knot called life.

"Céilí really means celebration," he said. "A gathering of friends to enjoy each other's company and music, poetry, song, food, dancing its more than just a dance."

Keator, 55, is a true believer and all the more dedicated because he came to it later in life. He was born in Broward County, Fla., at a considerable remove from Ireland, though Anne Doherty is very much from County Donegal, where the two were married in 2005 in a party that lasted days.

Keator worked in and managed family-owned cypress sawmills, until he moved west in the 1980s following a divorce. He worked for Louisiana-Pacific Corp. in Samoa, Calif., where, after several rounds of downsizing, Keator was laid off. He moved to Oregon to work for a large lumber wholesaler in the early 1990s. That's about the time a friend sent him an inspirational card listing 101 ways to reduce stress.

"Right in the middle was the sentence, 'Dance a jig,' and it just leapt out at me," he said. "I could do that. I knew I had an Irish background."

That chance encounter set him on the search for Irish dancing classes. He eventually found Portland's All-Ireland Cultural Society. He first learned Irish dance at their Tir Eoghain (tyrone is a close pronunciation) weekly ceili dance lessons, which he has taught since 2001.

He's gone on to dance competitions, and in 2005 was certified as a ceili teacher by Dublin's commission of Irish dance. That's no small test, by the way: It included a written section on the 30 ceili dances and a practical portion in which he had to teach two of the dances.

Many of the hundreds of students he's taught through the years keep coming back because of his relaxed style. Keator has strict rules for the class: Move, smile and have fun, he tells students.

At a recent Wednesday night drop-in class at Tigard's historic grange, the two dozen dancers ranged in age from Mandy Thomas, 12, to Mary Meyer, 82.

"Even though other people are better than you or more experienced," said Tualatin photographer Carol Cummings, "they make you feel a part of it, there's a lot of camaraderie. I'm hooked now; I went out and bought dancing shoes after the second class."

When he puts on a céilí for a wedding reception or a business event, Keator provides the sound system, hires musicians as needed and calls the dances. He knows that if he can get people up and moving and smiling, they likely won't stop. He gets paid for his work, but sharing the joy he takes in music and movement is part of the reward.

Sam Keator's events

House concert: Traditional fiddler Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh is one of Celtic music's young stars. 7 p.m., Feb. 29, Wee Ceili Room, Tualatin $20; 503-691-2078.

Tir Eoghain Ceili Dance Class: 7-9 p.m. Mondays, Yeates-Malone Studio, 4231 N. Interstate, $3 a week, 13 & older.

Tigard Irish Dance Class: 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays, Tigard Grange, 13770 S.W. Pacific Highway, Tigard; $5 a week, 13 & older, drop-ins welcome. 503-691-2078.

Tualatin Ceili Mor (The Big Dance): 7-11 p.m., March 7, Tualatin Winona Grange, 8340 S.W. Seneca St., Tualatin; $10, family maximum of $40, all ages, live music. 503-691-2078.

Web site: http://mysite.verizon.net/res0i3uk/samkeator

He is still a part-time lumber broker and consultant, which is just as well, because he won't likely get rich from the dance classes at three or five bucks a head. Nor from the house concerts --all the ticket money goes to the players except for a maximum of $80 for the rental of three dozen folding chairs.

"I make zero on the concerts," he said. "We even have to clean the house beforehand. But I get to hear world-class music right in my home among people I know and new friends that I meet every time."

--John Foyston; johnfoyston@news.oregonian.com

PLEASE NOTE: Weekly classes have moved to the Winona Grange in Tualatin on Thursday nights!

He still works in the lumber industry, but now he is the two-time president of the All-Ireland Cultural Society, the beloved instructor of hundreds of Irish dancers statewide, a frequent visitor to Ireland with his Irish wife and a renowned dancer on the West Coast céilí scene. He teaches weekly drop-in classes in North Portland and Salem and has classes starting in West Linn and Newberg in April.

It all started when Keator read that dancing a jig was a good way to reduce stress. Then he happened to meet a woman who turned out to be one of the area's premier Irish dancers. He started dancing and soon after found himself attending the Irish club meetings and unlocking his Irish heritage.

"For whatever reason, it just started hitting me big-time," said Keator.

When he eventually met Anne Doherty at an Irish club meeting, he surprised her with his passion and knowledge.

"He embraced his Irish side with all of his energy," said Doherty, now his wife. "He loves it so much and he's learned so much about it. He's become such a big part of the Irish community."

Keator devotes most of his time to sharing his passion for céilí dancing. céilí (pronounced KAY-lee) is a traditional form of Gaelic dancing that resembles square dancing but, as Keator said, is "more brisk and more lively."

If you picture the wheels, reels, lines, hand-clapping and knee-slapping of square dancing and add Irish music and the flourishes and legwork of Irish step dancing, you'd be on the right track.

Learning the high-energy dances is only part of céilí's appeal. Loosely translated, céilí means "the gathering," and each lesson/meeting truly is that.

The North Portland class draws many participants who've been attending for more than 25 years. Everyone has or gets a name tag to encourage familiarity, and members approach socializing with the same passion they bring to the dance floor. They share food, songs, poetry, updates on past and current members and much more over special tea prepared by Bette Lou Halterman.

With a shamrock sticker affixed to her glasses, Halterman has been coming to the weekly get-together since 1978. She raved about Keator's skill and teaching approach and singled out his enthusiasm as the factor that separates him from other instructors.

"If the music is playing, he's out there dancing," she said. "He gets out on the floor and he's out there dancing when nobody else is dancing. He's waiting for somebody to come and dance."

As soon as Keator senses the dancers have the basics, he signals the musicians to pick up the pace. "Here we go," he urges the group with a laugh. "Just stay with the music and you'll be dancing your hearts out before you know it."

Fifteen minutes later -- after nonstop whirls, twirls and promenades -- everyone is breathing hard. A few are perspiring.

"I didn't know if I wanted to try it at first," said a panting 29-year-old Dan Sorensen of Vancouver, whose good friend, Gwyn Dryden, 22, talked him into the two-hour session in North Portland. "I'm not usually very good at these kinds of things, but this is great fun."

On Sept. 7, Keator and other members of Tir Eoghain céilí and the All-Ireland Cultural Society of Oregon will offer céilí (pronounced kay-lee) dance lessons in Washington County at the Winona Grange in Tualatin. The program kicks off with an hour-long lesson in reels, jigs and waltzes, followed by live music, dancing and lots of friendship-building.

A tall, graceful man with a leprechaun smile that fills his face, Keator, 54, took up traditional Irish dancing about 10 years ago to relieve stress after he lost his job in the lumber industry. "I've been dancing ever since and have never felt better."

Members of the All-Ireland Cultural Society are quick to point out that a céilí is more than three and seven-step dance movements.

"The word really means 'a social,' " Keator says. "If you were invited to someone's house for a céilí,, that likely means that there'd be lots of socializing, then someone would start singing, or telling a story, or playing some music, and pretty soon everyone would be up dancing."

During the past seven years, Keator has been teaching classes and traveling around the Northwest spreading the joy of this centuries-old Gaelic tradition. He's persuaded many of his students to dress up and perform with him in nursing homes, community centers and community festivals.

Friday's program will be a homecoming of sorts for the 17-year resident of Tualatin.

"It's hard to believe that I've lived in Tualatin all these years and never offered lessons here," he said with a laugh. "I've spoken with some old-timers in town, and I think this will be a first for Washington County."

Fans of Irish dancing say that it offers the cardiovascular benefits of an aerobic workout and the sociability of an old-fashioned barn dance. And, it's fairly easy to learn. "All you have to do is get out on the floor, find a partner and someone will help you along," said 81-year-old Mary Meyer of Tigard. "Even if you turn the wrong way, people will keep moving until you sort it out."

Bette Lou Halterman, now in her 70s, has been a member of the All-Irish Cultural Society for nearly 30 years and said that through the years, couples have met at céilí's, married and now their children are signing up for lessons.

"You come for a while and you'll begin to feel like you're part of one big, happy family," she said.

So, whether you want to release some extra endorphins, enhance your mood or mix up a little blarney while kicking up your heels, Dublin native Robert Deans, also in his 70s, said that Irish dancing is just the thing.

"Try sitting still -- it's impossible," he said. "Once that music starts, your toes will start tapping and before you know it, you'll be up and dancing."

I have sort of poo pood my involvement with starting the céilí lessons years ago. It's just last night that I realized how significant it was for Brother Eugene and I to launch something that had never been done before and not know how it was going to go. It is simply amazing that it has gone on that many years and that it has branched out to the céilí club. I remember that Peggy was one of the spear headers of the Portland céilí Club. She and another woman came over to our house on Omaha and Anna Marie and Sheila worked with them on their three's and sevens and the jig and reel. I often wonder about Peggy. She was a dark haired girl, looked a bit Jewish, can't remember her last name. Marilyn Zorn was another one of the beginners.

Anyway, thanks Sam for the accolates.

Lucky. It ended Friday the 13th beautifully. I was thrilled and felt greedy. I made out a check in advance for $30, expecting to make a donation and to turn in a few tickets in the bucket. That was so fine that the Halterman's won the big one.

Well, I'm off to do some serious work now.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mary Rose"

There are many options other than ballroom dancing these days, and they don't require you to find a dancing partner or wait on the sidelines to be asked. Classes give you the chance to enjoy such activities as folk, Irish, square and salsa dancing that are done as a group rather than in couples. You can join a roomful of people having fun without the pressure of pairing up.

Dery has participated himself and is enthusiastic.

"Recently I went to an Irish dance class taught by Sam Keator. My only prior knowledge was watching 'Riverdance,' so I was unsure of the skill required. But the people were very welcoming, there were lots of different skill levels, and everyone had a good time and a good workout," he recalls.

Even if you don't want to venture out of your house, dancing is still a fitness option. Put on your favorite music and boogie around the living room (feel free to sing along, too). Have your young children join in whatever kind of dancing you choose-youngsters naturally like to connect with music and be part of group exercise.

"This is exercise that's enjoyable and is also addictive in a good way," says Dery. "Women are usually enthusiastic about it from the start; men take a bit longer. They may be reluctant to try dancing, but after a few classes theyÕre sold on it as well."