About Contra Dancing
What is Contra Dancing?
Video by Doug Plummer. Used with permission.
Contra is traditional New England folk dancing. Americans have enjoyed contra dances since Revolutionary times. They combined ideas from French and English country dancing with their own way of having fun and came up with contra dancing. It's a social dance akin to square dancing which has retained its simple, open, community-oriented spirit.
Contra dancing is great exercise and great fun enjoyed by people of all ages and life-styles. It shares some elements with square dancing such as "swing your partner" and "dosido," but the couples form long lines rather than squares. It involves mixing with the other dancers as each couple performs a short routine with another couple before progressing to a new couple and repeating the routine.
Contra dancing is easy, mostly involving a smooth walking step. Most people learn the basics after one to three evenings. Each dance is composed of a different sequence of figures, so the sequence is "walked through" with the assistance of the caller before each dance begins. If you'd like to learn how to contra dance before hand, please consult this 8-part video prepared by the Chattahoochee Country Dancers (Atlanta). Part one:
You may jump directly to parts two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight -- on YouTube, for free.
Musicians from near and far provide lively music for our dances. The reels and jigs played for contra dancing trace their origins back to the folk traditions of the British Isles. Most evenings will include a few other kinds of dances such as squares, circle mixers, waltzes and other types of couple dances.
General Information
Dress is casual and comfortable. Shoes should be comfortable, supportive and soft-soled. To protect the dance floor do not wear street shoes or high heels. This will help us maintain good relationships with our venues.
It is not necessary to attend with a partner. It is customary to change partners after each dance and for women to ask men to dance as often as men ask women. At the end of a dance we thank our partners respectfully. People of the same gender often dance together as well.
People look at each other while they dance and we refer to this as "eye contact." It is a way of maintaining contact with and acknowledging your partner as you dance. It also may help you from getting dizzy while swinging.