Contra dancing
On Saturday, my parents and I headed to the "big city" for an evening of contra dancing. From my internet researches, I found that contra dancing descended from English country dancing, so I reasoned that it would be somewhat similar, and likely to be fun. I went without knowing at all what to expect!
It was interesting to see all the different types of people that came to the dance. ;) Quite the variety! There was a bit of a female surplus, but ties were provided for the ladies to wear if they danced the male role with another female partner. More experienced dancers were kind enough to give me some pointers, and I was able to pick up the dances quickly.
The ladies and gents lined up in two long lines opposite each other to start every dance, and then partners worked their way up or down the lines through various walking steps and formations. One common step, called the "swing," involves spinning your partner in a waltz hold -- the quickness of the spin depends on the man who's dancing with you. My parents complained of dizziness, but I didn't have that problem and rather enjoyed the faster spinning! :)
Now that we know what to expect, next time we'll invite some friends along to enjoy the evening with us.
It was interesting to see all the different types of people that came to the dance. ;) Quite the variety! There was a bit of a female surplus, but ties were provided for the ladies to wear if they danced the male role with another female partner. More experienced dancers were kind enough to give me some pointers, and I was able to pick up the dances quickly.
The ladies and gents lined up in two long lines opposite each other to start every dance, and then partners worked their way up or down the lines through various walking steps and formations. One common step, called the "swing," involves spinning your partner in a waltz hold -- the quickness of the spin depends on the man who's dancing with you. My parents complained of dizziness, but I didn't have that problem and rather enjoyed the faster spinning! :)
Now that we know what to expect, next time we'll invite some friends along to enjoy the evening with us.
Labels: dance
posted by Laura at
12:36 PM
4 Comments:
I had not heard of this before. Sounds like such a great evening! What did people wear, was it dressy or formal?
Most people wore very casual clothes, which was a good thing since most of us were kinda sweaty by the time it ended. ;) I wore jeans and a tee, though next time I will wear a skirt.
Hi Laura! This is Tara from the S&S Board--I enjoy reading your blog, but have never gotten around to commenting until now. You see, I LOVE contra dancing. :) My family has been doing it once a month for almost a year now. My brothers are amazing dancers. It's great fun and SO exhilarating.
Yes, it's a lot more fun to wear a skirt because it twirls so prettily when one is swinging. :)
Enjoy the contra dancing!
Tara
Tara, thanks for saying hi! How fun that you do contra dancing, too. I'm looking forward to going back and learning more!
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