Contra dancing is a form of American folk dancing, usually danced to live music of Celtic origin. Although it has been done since the eighteenth century, contra dancing is a living tradition. Thousands of people contra dance every week all over the country, and new contra dances are being written all the time. Contra dancers form an informal community locally, regionally, and nationally.
Contra dancing is a very easy form of dance to learn, but the music is lively and the dancing is vigorous and aerobic. Each dance is taught by the caller, who cues the dancers through the moves in the dance. Contra dance moves are similar to square dance moves, but sets of couples dance in facing lines. Each time through the dance, each couple dances with the couple next to them, and ends by trading places with that couple. In the course of a dance, each couple dances with every other couple in the set. Contra dancing combines the pleasure of dancing with your partner with the pleasure of dancing with everybody in the room.
Contra dances are community events. At almost any contra dance
you will find people of all ages and all dance skill levels, from
young to old, beginner to expert. Contra dancers form a very open
and welcoming group of people. And you don't have to come with a
partner. At a contra dance, it is customary to dance with a
variety of partners. It is perfectly acceptable for either a man
or a woman to ask someone they haven't met before to dance. You
will find contra dancing a great way to make new friends.
You may also want to check out some attempts by Gary D. Shapiro
to answer the question, "What
Is Contra Dance?"
In Fort Collins, Friends of Traditional Dance puts on a contra dance on the first and third Saturday of every month, from 8:00 to 11:00 pm, at City Park Center. If there is a fifth Saturday in the month, there is a potluck at 6:30 followed by an advanced contra dance at 8:00. Admission is $6.00. These dances always feature live music and are always smoke-free and alcohol-free.
For those who are new to contra dancing, a free one-hour lesson is offered before the first and third Saturday dances from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.
Call the Friends of Traditional Dance Hotline: (970) 493-8277, or e-mail to FoTD@FortNet.org
Hosted by: Clarke Computer Company(www.clarkecomputer.com)
Back to contra info.