Contra dance

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A Thursday night contra dance at the Fresh Pond VFW in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A Thursday night contra dance at the Fresh Pond VFW in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Contra dance (also Contradance, Contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in the United States.

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[edit] History

At the end of the 17th century, English country dances were taken-up by French dancers — hybrid choreographies exist from this period using the steps from French court dance in English dances. The French called these dances contra-dance or contredanse. As time progressed, English country dances were spread and reinterpreted throughout the Western world, and eventually the French form of the name came to be associated with the American folk dances, especially in New England (this Frenchified name change may have followed a contemporary misbelief that the form was originally French[1][2]). As of 2005, there is a regularly scheduled contra dance in most North American cities or regions, as well as in Belgium, Denmark, England, Czech Republic and Australia.

[edit] Contra dance events

A typical evening of contra dance is three hours long, including an intermission. Many events offer beginner-level instructions for up to half an hour before the dance. A typical event consists of a number of individual contra dances, divided by a scattering of other partner dances, perhaps one or more waltzes, schottisches, polkas, or Swedish hambos. In some places, square dances are thrown into the mix. Music for the evening is invariably provided by a live band playing jigs and reels, from the British Isles, Canada, or the USA; often the tunes are traditional and more than a century old, and sometimes a few tunes have been composed by the musicians on stage.

Most contra dance events are open to all comers, regardless of experience. Generally, a leader, called a caller, will teach each individual dance in the period immediately before the music for that individual dance begins, a time called the "walk through." During each dance's walk through, the dancers learn the dance by walking through in order the moves that comprise an individual contra dance, following the caller's instructions.

The contra dance tradition in North America is to change partners for every dance, while in the United Kingdom typically people dance with the same partner the entire evening. One who attends an evening of contra dances in North America does not need to bring his or her own partner. In the short break between individual dances, the dancers invite each other to dance. The music begins and the dancers repeat that sequence some number of times before the dance ends. Then the dancers thank their partners, and find new partners for the next dance.

At most dances no special outfits are worn, but "peasant skirts" or other full, light weight skirts are popular, as these have a very pretty effect when swinging and are more comfortable to dance in than pants. This includes some men as well; contradancers can be quite liberal in the way they dress. Low, broken-in, soft-soled, non-marking shoes are recommended and, in some places, required. Perfumes, colognes, or other scented products are not commonly worn.

As in any social dance, cooperation is vital to contra dancing. Since over the course of any single dance, individuals interact with not just their partners but everyone else in the set, contra dancing might be considered a group activity. As will necessarilly be the case when beginners are welcomed in by more practiced dancers, mistakes are made; mistakes will be overlooked, in most circles, as long as they do not upset the experience for the rest of the group -- as long as dancers are not thrown off from the music, and as long as no one is hurt.

[edit] Form of a contra dance

See main article: Contra dance form

[edit] Formations

A view of contra dance sets, seen from the balcony of the town house of Peterborough, New Hampshire.
A view of contra dance sets, seen from the balcony of the town house of Peterborough, New Hampshire[3].

Contra dances are arranged in long paired lines of couples. A pair of lines is called a set. Sets are generally arranged so they run the length of the hall, with the top or head of the set being the end closest to the band and caller. Correspondingly, the bottom or foot of the set is the end furthest from the caller.

Couples consist of one lead (also gentleman, or simply gent) and one follow (or lady). By custom, leads are male, and follows are female, though this need not be the case.

Couples interact primarily with an adjacent couple for each round of the dance. Each sub-group of two interacting couples is known to choreographers as a minor set and to dancers as a foursome. Couples in the same minor set are neighbors. The couple at the top of each minor set are 1's (the active couple or actives); the other couple are 2's (or inactives). 1's are said to be above their neighboring 2's; 2's are below. Minor sets originate at the head of the set, so that at the start of the dance the topmost dancers are 1's - if there is an uneven number of couples dancing, the bottom-most couple will wait out the first time through the dance (see "Progression," below).

There are three common ways of arranging dancers in the minor sets: proper formation, improper formation, and Becket formation. There are many additional forms a contra dance may take. Five of them are: triple minor, triplet, indecent, four-face-four, and whole-set. (For diagrams and full descriptions, see Contra Dance Form main article.)

[edit] Progression

A fundamental aspect of contra dancing is that the same dance, one time through which lasts roughly 30 seconds, is repeated over and over - but each time you dance with new neighbors. This change is effected by progressing the 1's down the set and the progressing 2's up (also up the hall and down the hall; see Contra Dance Form main article for full characterizations of the progression in the eight dance forms mentioned above.)

A single dance runs around ten minutes, long enough to progress 20 times. If the sets are short to medium length the caller will often try to run the dance until each couple has danced with every other couple both as a 1 and a 2 and returned to where they started. With longer sets (more than ~40 people) this would require long enough sets that the caller will usually only run the dance all the way around on (rare) non equal-turn dances.

[edit] Choreography

See main article: Contra dance choreography

Most contra dances consist of a sequence of about six to twelve individual figures, prompted by the caller in time to the music as the figures are danced. As the sequence repeats, the caller may cut down his or her prompting, and eventually drop out, leaving the dancers to each other and the music. Notably, contra dance figures (with a few exceptions) do not have defined footwork — within the limits of the music and the comfort of their fellow dancers, individuals move according to their own taste.

A figure typically takes eight counts, although figures with four or sixteen counts are also common. Each dance is a collection of figures assembled to allow the dancers to progress along the set (see "Progression," above).

A count (as used above) is one half of a musical measure, such as two quarter notes in 4/4 time or three eighth notes in 6/8 time. A count may also be called a step, as contra dance is a walking form, and each count of a dance typically matches a single physical step in a figure.

Typical contra dance choreography comprises four parts, each 16 counts (8 measures) long. The parts are called A1, A2, B1 and B2. This nomenclature stems from the music: Most contra dance tunes (as written) have two parts (A and B), each 8 measures long, and each fitting one part of the dance. The A and B parts are each played twice in a row, hence, A1, A2, B1, B2. While the same music is generally played in, for example, parts A1 and A2, distinct choreography is followed in those parts. Thus, a contra dance is typically 64 counts, and goes with a 32 measure tune. Tunes of this form are called "square"; tunes that deviate from this form are called "crooked". Crooked tunes are more commonly used in square dancing, where the phrasing of the dance does not have to align as closely with the phrasing of the music.

[edit] Terminology

Formation terminology:

  • set
  • Orientation in the set: top/head, bottom/foot, side; above, below; across, next to
  • Dancers: lead/gentleman/gent, follow/lady
  • Intra-set organization: minor set, major set; foursome, sixsome
  • Common formations: proper, improper, Becket
  • Less common: whole-set, duple minor, triple minor, triplet, indecent
  • Couples' relations: neighbors; 1's/actives, 2's/inactives
  • Non-proper dances: cross over

Progression terminology:

  • progression, progressing
  • (waiting) out
  • Directions of movement: down/down the hall, up/up the hall

Other terminology:

  • Weight is the force (pulling connected dancers apart from each other) that results from the centripetal acceleration of dancers as they revolve around one another in figures such as an allemande, rollaway or a swing. Such figures may be done faster and with extra flair if the dancers "give weight". Most experienced dancers feel this adds an important dimension to the dance, of dancing with the other person and not just near him or her. Weight is also known as spring or springiness and tension.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Contra dance". Merriam-Webster OnLine. (2006). Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  2. ^ "Contre-dance, -danse, contra-dance". Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1989). Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
    (as access to the OED online is not free, the relevant excerpt is provided) "Littré's theory, that there was already in 17th c. a French contre-danse with which the English word was confused and ran together, is not tenable; no trace of the name has been found in French before its appearance as an adaptation of the English. But new dances of this type were subsequently brought out in France, and introduced into England with the Frenchified form of the name, which led some Englishmen to the erroneous notion that the French was the original and correct form, and the English a corruption of it."
  3. ^ Although most people think a municipal hall is always called "town hall," there is a long tradition of calling the building with town offices the "town house" as Peterborough calls their municipal building. Peterborough NH: Town House Rentals, Park Rentals & Tent Rentals

[edit] See also

[edit] Related dance articles

[edit] Callers and dance composers

*still active

  • Dudley Laufman*
  • Duke Miller
  • Ralph Page
  • Tony Parkes*
  • Ted Sannella

[edit] External links

[edit] Contra dance organizations

[edit] Contra dance defined

[edit] Different traditions and cultures in contra dance

[edit] Research resources

[edit] Photography and Video

[edit] Locate dance events

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