Contra Dancing!

On Friday night I went Contra Dancing at Glen Echo Park! It was so much fun! :) Back when I was active in MyPC there was an event coordinatorm, Robert, who did a lot of Contra Dancing and been hoping to go with him, but I never did and he moved away. Then a few weeks ago,while hiking at Sky Meadows State Park, I met Andrew and he goes Contra Dancing and I decided that now was my chance!

Now I know you are asking, what is Contra Dancing? That's a hard question - it's so hard to capture into words! It's like a hybrid folk dance - with elements from English and French and Irish Dancing as well as some elements from Square Dancing, although it's def not "Country" like square dancing is. Most dances are done in two lines and you have a partner and two couples come together to form groups of four - you do the dance with that group then everyone moves down and you and your partner have another differnt couple to do the dance with - it moves fast though.

Most events have a beginners lesson before the dance starts - I found this very helpful, although the caller did give everyone a chance to review the dance and practice before the music got going fast. Once you get in the rythem of each dance it's hard to really think about what you are doing.

One fun thing about Contra Dancing is that you change partners every dance and you dance with pretty much everyone, so it's very social! Your partner is almost more of a point of orientation than anything else - helps you remember where you are in the dance and who you belong with! Maybe I'll think differently as I learn more about dancing, but that's what it seemed on Friday!

Another fun thing about Contra Dancing is the spinning! It is NOT for people who get motion sick as almost all the dances involve lots and lots of spinning! I didn't think I'd enjoy that part as much as I did, but I found that the faster the better when it came to spinning! There were a few dances that involved so much spinning that I couldn't walk straight...luckly Contra Dancing involves lots of hand holding also (prob for this very reason!)

Here are some links to learn more about Contra Dancing....

http://www.fridaynightdance.org/ - This is the page about the dance here in Washington DC

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance

I can't wait to go back next Friday! :)