Contra Dancing in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania

When I was a young girl, my Girl Scout trip held an annual Father Daughter Square Dance. This was a night I both loved and feared. Loved, because my father and I have always enjoyed music and a night out with him was a guarantee of fun and laughs. Feared, because as corny as country music is, square dancing has always befuddled me. There seemed to be too many people, too many beats, too many steps, and at some point in the evening I knew I'd be four steps off from everyone else and careening into couples. Still, the atmosphere was one of simple pleasure. Full skirts for twirling. Fiddles sawing the air. Men and women bowing politely to each other before swinging arm and arm across the dance floor.

When I was a young woman and Celtic music began to gain wider mainstream exposure, I let a friend talk me into attending a céilidh, the Gaelic equivalent of the square dance. Here again the music charmed me. Irish reels and jigs tripping along the air as clever feet beat in time up and down the hall. Alas, mine were not among the clever feet. Though I found the sets easier to handle, I somehow could never combine the rhythmic footwork with each part of the dance. I would get the footwork right and confound all my partners by forgetting the next move, or get the set right and trip over my own feet.

In contra dance, I found my home. Here was music I could love - sometimes Celtic in flavor, sometimes bluegrass, always with musicians who could sense the mood of the crowd and throw in twists that would delight the dancers and compliment the dances. Here were sets that were just complicated enough to provide interest, without all the dizzying partner changes of square dance. And here was footwork I could handle - namely, none at all. All the dances can be done with a normal walking step, though many experienced dancers like to embellish with stomps and kicks.

Though the name "contra dance" usually has people thinking more of contraband than dancing, the name contra dance is said to stem from the French phrase contredanse, which was the French interpretation of English country dance. Over time, this came to refer more to New England folk dance style and not English country dancing. So contra dance is folk dance with English, Scottish and Irish flavors, though other folk dances tend to slip in as well. I have seen Israeli dance, squares, and hambo (Swedish folk waltz) regularly performed at contras.

I've danced in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. Many people of the dance community in this area will commute up and down the East Coast on different days of the week in order to get their dance fix. It's not unusual for me to see familiar faces in DC that I've danced with in Pennsylvania. The best part of being a regular dancer is the popularity as a dance partner. I'm a shy person, and found to my delight that the more I established myself as a competent dancer, the more partners I had waiting for dances. When you're tongue-tied and facing a room of strangers, this is a definite plus.

If you're looking for contra dances in the Mideast, there are several online sources that keep up to date with current dances. Charlie Seelig's page is one of the best. So is Ted Crane's dance database, which you can sort by day of the week or region. And for the Philly area, the Philadelphia All-Week Dance Guide will steer you not only towards contra dances in the area (the Glenside Thursday night contra is well attended) but also swing, tango, ballroom, blues, and many more.

http://www.contradancelinks.com/ Charlie Seelig's Site
http://www.phillydance.com/ All Week Philly Dance Guide
http://www.tedcrane.com/DanceDB/ Ted Crane's Dance Database
http://www.thursdaycontra.com/ Glenside Thursday Contra in Pennsylvania
http://www.bfms.org/squarecontra.php Baltimore Contra on Wednesdays
http://www.contradancers.com/atds/index.html Annapolis Contra on third Saturdays
http://www.taylorsmill.com/musicweb/ardnschl.htm Arden Contra in Delaware on first Sundays
http://ceimd.com/php/public.php?Org=fsgw&ProgramID=5&NoTitle=1 Sunday Contra in Glen Echo, Maryland
http://www.fridaynightdance.org/ Friday Contra in Glen Echo, Maryland