John Sweeny wrote: > What is a contra dance?...I guess most Americans who have only been to a > limited number of clubs > would expect all (most of?) the dances to be:...
Actually I, personally, have never been to any contra dance club. Almost all of the events I have ever attended here in the United States have been open public dances with live music where first-timers are encouraged to attend without separate training of any kind. Most of the dances during a typical evening will be contras. Other formations are often explored, but the open public nature of the event seems to favor simple contras where first-timers can be quickly and effectively integrated into the dance. The other type of "contra dances" we have here are special events, camps, and festivals designed for contra dance enthusiasts and social dance enthusiasts. While open to anyone these events are promoted and positioned in a way that effectively assures that few, if any, non-enthusiasts or first-timers attend. These events explore more non-contra formations. We also have "barn dances" which--oddly enough--are seldom held in actual "barns," but have adopted that name. Squares and other formations are fairly common at events sporting this name as well as contras. These are open to the public and they usually have live music. There are a pretty wide variety of "contra dance" venues. Some using that name are more similar to the "barn dances" described above. There seems to be an effort afoot to keep the "contra dance" name open for those kinds of gatherings--thus resisting a modern trend to limit the formations. All of the events above explore other formations and other dance forms to some degree. That's the way I see our local scene. The survey cited was done at open public contra dances that focus on contras as a way to sweep in first-timers. These are some of the most popular dance events in the area and are thus able to support live music at every dance evening. Please feel free to "correct" this interpretation with your own perception. - Greg McKenzie
