What is ContrA DANCING?
Contra dancing is a modern social dance with roots in square dancing and English country dance. There are regular contra dances in every major North American city, and across Europe. Contra dance weekends attract hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dancers, and fly in professional bands and callers. In Calgary there has been a regular contra dance for over 30 years!
Why do we love it so much? Well, for starters, it’s real. Contra dancing is about disconnecting from the phone and connecting to others through eye contact, shared weight, smiles, movement and music. We welcome all genders, sexual orientations, and ages. You can come alone, with a partner, or with a group of friends.
Second, contra dancing is easy to learn. You don’t need to take lessons or spend weeks mastering complex movements. You can be having fun on your first dance.
Each dance is a sequence of simple moves, like making a circle, or forming lines, or walking around another person with hands joined. The dance is led by a caller who teaches the dances and calls out the moves after the music starts. There's also a live band that plays toe-tapping tunes.
We start most dances with a partner in a long line with the other dancers. We switch partners every dance, so there's no reason to bring your own. We don't care about gender roles. Anybody can dance any part, although we still use the traditional terms of "ladies and gents".
After learning the dance, the band starts the music. You, your partner, and the dancers around you dance the moves. At the end of the sequence, you'll find you and your partner have magically moved to a new spot in the line. The dance repeats until you’ve moved through the entire line at least once. We teach 12 dances each evening and they’re all different.
If you can tell left from right most of the time, you can contra dance. It’s fun, easy, inclusive, and will leave you with a smile on your face.
Why do we love it so much? Well, for starters, it’s real. Contra dancing is about disconnecting from the phone and connecting to others through eye contact, shared weight, smiles, movement and music. We welcome all genders, sexual orientations, and ages. You can come alone, with a partner, or with a group of friends.
Second, contra dancing is easy to learn. You don’t need to take lessons or spend weeks mastering complex movements. You can be having fun on your first dance.
Each dance is a sequence of simple moves, like making a circle, or forming lines, or walking around another person with hands joined. The dance is led by a caller who teaches the dances and calls out the moves after the music starts. There's also a live band that plays toe-tapping tunes.
We start most dances with a partner in a long line with the other dancers. We switch partners every dance, so there's no reason to bring your own. We don't care about gender roles. Anybody can dance any part, although we still use the traditional terms of "ladies and gents".
After learning the dance, the band starts the music. You, your partner, and the dancers around you dance the moves. At the end of the sequence, you'll find you and your partner have magically moved to a new spot in the line. The dance repeats until you’ve moved through the entire line at least once. We teach 12 dances each evening and they’re all different.
If you can tell left from right most of the time, you can contra dance. It’s fun, easy, inclusive, and will leave you with a smile on your face.