Contra dancing: You might really enjoy it

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I absolutely adore contra dancing. People ask me what it is, and there are really two ways to describe it. It's a little like the dancing you'd see in a Jane Austen movie (except with less prancing), and it's a little like square dance (except no costumes and it's actually fun).

I have also known that contra dance fits my personality quite well. I also believe that many other aspies would enjoy it, too. Here's why I think so:

It is a structured activity with lots of room for creativity. This makes it almost ideal for shy or socially awkward people. You first ask someone to dance, but it doesn't matter who. Your partner for the dance is simply someone you meet and haven't danced with yet that day... hence there is no commitment or meaning in asking someone to dance. Then you line up with your partner and the caller "walks through" all of the dance moves you do with your partner and two other folks nearby (your neighbors). Then you go through the dance with music. As you get experience, you can add / subtract / multiply flourishes and different moves in almost any fashion.

You don't need to be a particularly skilled dancer. You can learn everything you need to know with a simple half-hour lesson, or you can even pick it up as you go along. Also, there is no footwork at all. If you can walk, you can contra dance.

It's repetitive. You dance one "go round" through the tune, and then the tune and the dance moves repeat with the same partner but different neighbors. You may end up repeating the dance 20+ times before it's done. It's really fun (and expected, in fact) to "zone out." This should appeal to many of our sensibilities.

Tons of freethinking, quirky, and delightfully intelligent people who attend contra dances. I have yet to meet someone abysmally typical or dull at a contra dance. I have made friends for life there (including my wife).

There is probably a contra dance somewhere close to you. It is about as common in rural areas as it is in major cities, at least here in the U.S. (Your mileage may vary in other countries.)

In short, it's a great way for us to meet interesting people in a non-threatening manner. Is anyone else here a contra dancer?

You totally had me there. Then I googled contra dance + my city, and on the promising page that came up, the big caveat in like 20pt red type:
Some Contra Dances are NOT friendly to newcomers!

so, maybe not, eh.

Oh... you must've found Mark Gaines's website. My experience is that he has a tendency to label dances as unfriendly based on experiences he had decades ago. He had mislabled our dance as unfriendly from information he had in the early 90s, and for a long time, flat out refused to "unlabel" it (even though he doesn't live here anymore).

Dance communities change a lot over time. They have generally become much friendlier than even 10 years ago. Any dance that advertises a "beginner's lesson" before the dance (which, these days, are most of them) is intentionally trying to be friendly. Of course, friendly is entirely going to depend on the people there, but generally, as a whole, it's a very open culture.

That's what I get for not providing a link. Anyways, here is a map of places to contra dance in the U.S.:

http://www.contracorners.net/contra/links/dancemap.html

Thanks for the explanation. The link led to some Irish ceili information which I had been meaning to check out also.

That does sound cool, I wouldn't mind doing contra dance.

I went to elementary school in the South The Bronx in the early sixties and they used to have us do that in the basement because the school didn’t have a gym or a play yard.

i cannot follow rythm. i embarass myself really bad if i try to do any kind of dance.

(I think we did some of that type during PE in gradeschool and/or college.)

It looks very symmetrical and very logical:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvBiTfY7lI[/youtube]

I participate in ceilies, not as a dancer but as a musician. The dancing does look like a lot of fun. I recommend these events as well as contra dances.

For those interested, and planning to be in the DC area on July 10th, there will be a ceili in Bethesda MD at the Washington Waldorf School. Starts at 7pm and goes until 10:30. There's a nominal admission fee.

They also take place in Great Falls, Virginia, on the second Saturday of each month. However the last one for this "season" just took place and they don't start up again until September. If anyone is interested in attending them when they start up again, send me a PM and I'll give you the info.

I've played for sets and ceilis as well. I used to play for the Tuesday night Pittsburgh ceili many years ago. I have played Milwaukee's more recently. It's quite a bit of fun. The dancing is exhausting, though! I've been told it's because I bounce too much.

You're the first person I've ever seen/heard expressing that opinion about ceili dancing. You must have been reeally exploding with enthusiasm to have become so fatigued from it!

I saw the Youtube video you posted of the contra dance. It looks very similar to what I see from the stage at the ceilies. Nice playing, BTW.

Gotta bump this thread by saying I agree 110% with FP. I dance Contra regularly and have a few observations to add to the mix:

Contra is usually a good venue, and the unfriendly venues are a minority. There was once a ratings site that some dance gypsies used to rate venues. In the desert SW they are pretty friendly. Only time I see things getting dicey is when there is a major gender imbalance, especially extra men. It is kind of a double standard that extends to most types of dancing. Men are MUCH less willing to dance with other men than women to dance with other women. One bad habit some venues have is booking ahead, where they schedule their partners for the evening at the start, sometimes by phone or email days before the dance! This WILL effectively block out newcomers. If the venue you try does this, look for another venue, or try a slightly different form of dancing like International Folk Dancing or mainstream square dancing etc. Something WILL work for you.

OK that is the downside, and there is not much thankfully, the positives outweigh the negatives like an elephant outweighs a housefly. One of my NY resolutions (and I'm sure many others on WP) was to be more social and more (physically) active. Well, Contra Dancing achieves both goals.

Another good point is the learning curve, go to the lesson a half hour before the dance for 4 or 5 dances and you will be swinging, alamanding, heying with the best of them. This dance was done back in agrarian society where on weekends, farmers would gather in someone's barn and dance this, so it is not elitist. As a rule, the more difficult a dance is, the more snobbish the regulars get.

Go to the venue, and don't let one bad experience dissuade you.

I suspect that I may have run into one of you at our weekly Monday night contra dance (it's officially called a "barn dance," but it's more-or-less the same thing). You were wearing a blue shirt.

In the off chance that you get this note, I'm curious to hear what you thought. Please relate your experiences to me either in this thread or through PM. Thanks!