Well, I did it.....I went to my first contra dance! I've been hearing about contra dance for a few years now, how it is kind of a New England institution and that the music is great and has direct links to Bluegrass, Celtic, and Old Time fiddle music. So I've been curious for a long time and on New Year's Eve, a contradance was being held in Concord, MA and I went with my friends who are really experienced with contradance and were kind (and patient) enough to walk me through the night.
Here is a brief description I found online:
"Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several partnered folk dance styles, sometimes described as New England folk dance, in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length."
Contra dances were fashionable in the United States until the early to mid-19th century, when they were supplanted in popularity by square dances (such as the quadrille and lancers) and couple dances (such as the waltz and polk
By the late 19th century, square dances too had fallen out of favor, except in rural areas. When squares were revived (around 1925 to 1940, depending on the region), contra dances were generally not included. In the 1930s and 1940s, contra dances appear to have been done only in small towns in widely scattered parts of northeastern North America, such as Ohio, the Maritime provinces of Canada, and particularly northern New England."
I loved it. The only issue I had was that of getting pretty dizzy with all the spins. But once I kind of had a sense of what the next step/move was, I didn't feel like the inertia made me as dizzy. Also, for the record, I totally failed at square dancing......I was dos-a-dos-ing when we were supposed to be gypsy-ing and allemande-ing when everyone else was promenading. It was a mess. But a good mess.
These are some photos I took of the night...
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