I encourage you
to avoid contras in that kind of situation, unless there will be an
active contingent of regular contra dancers in the room.
It is not possible to communicate the basics and culture of contras to an
entire room of
first-timers without at least a small group of enthusiastic regulars to
model the kinds of interactions that make up the experience we call a
"contra dance."
I agree with Greg. Getting a roomful of non-dancers to learn contras is
certainly possible, but it will be successful ONLY if they are REALLY there
to learn contras. If they just want a traditional dance experience, mixers
and simple dances like the VA. Reel are so much more appropriate...and fun.
If you only have an hour, Noah, I'd stick with those and not even try a
simple contra at the end. It's likely to fall apart, making you look bad
and them feel frustrated. You can explain that to the organizers. The
progression & timing of a contra dance is just a lot for a group of newbies
to manage if there are no "ringers" to help them along. (Keep this in mind
if you start getting requests to call "contra dances" at wedding receptions.
It's likely that the either the bride or groom has been to one or 2 dances &
think it would be great fun at their wedding. Unless at least 1/2 of their
guests are experienced dancers, TALK THEM INTO MIXERS AND SIMPLE REELS. Once
you add alcohol and high heels to the mix, you'll be doing good to herd
those cats at all.)
However, contra dancing is now the cool thing amongst many high school kids,
and they may have an honest interest in it. If your school group is keen
on learning a new skill & is prepared for more extensive teaching, then you
could have success teaching a real contra dance. I just don't think an hour
would be enough time. There are contra dance classes for elementary and
high school kids these days, but in general they are a series, not just one
event. If you had 90 mins. or 2 hours, maybe you could pull it off.
Good luck...this sounds like a real learning opportunity for you!
~Barbara Groh
