Contra dance
Encyclopedia
Contra dance refers to several partnered
folk dance
styles in which couples dance in two facing lines. Sometimes described as New England
folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in North America
.
s 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 Gallicized name change may have followed a contemporary misbelief that the form was originally French).
Contra dances were fashionable in the United States until the early to mid-19th century, when they were supplanted in popularity by square dance
s (such as the quadrille
and lancers
) and couple dances (such as the waltz
and polka
). By the late 19th century, square dances too had fallen out of favor, except in rural areas. When squares were revived (around 1925 to 1940, depending on the region), contra dances were generally not included. In the 1930s and 1940s, contra dances appear to have been done only in small towns in widely scattered parts of northeastern North America, such as Ohio
, the Maritime provinces of Canada, and particularly northern New England. Ralph Page almost single-handedly maintained the New England tradition until it was revitalized in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly by Ted Sannella
and Dudley Laufman
.
By then, early dance camps, retreats, and weekends had emerged, such as Pinewoods Camp
, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became primarily a music and dance camp in 1933, and NEFFA, the New England Folk Festival
, also in Massachusetts, which began in 1944. These and others continue to be popular and some offer other dancing and activities besides contra dancing.
In the 1970s, Sannella introduced heys and gypsies
from English Country Dance
to the contra dances. New dances, such as Shadrack's Delight by Tony Parkes, featured symmetrical dancing by all couples. (Previously, the actives and inactives —see Progression below— had significantly different roles). Double progression dances, popularized by Herbie Gaudreau, added to the aerobic nature of the dances, and one caller, Gene Hubert, wrote a quadruple progression dance, Contra Madness. Becket formation was introduced, with partners next to each other in the line instead of opposite. The Brattleboro
Dawn Dance started in 1976, and continues to run semiannually.
In the early 1980s, Tod Whittemore started the first Saturday dance in the Peterborough
Town House, which remains one of the more popular regional dances. As musicians and callers moved to other locations, they founded contra dances in Michigan, Washington, California, Texas, and elsewhere.
Gender-free contra dancing started in the 1970s, with the Boston Lesbian and Gay Folk Dance as perhaps the first group regularly contra dancing without gender roles. In 1981, a group in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, called "Les be Gay and Dance" was started, in which contra dance was done without any reference to gender, avoiding calling moves with any reference to "ladies" or "gents." In 1987, Chris Ricciotti started a gay dance group in Providence, RI, using the terms "ladies" and "gents" although dancers were not lining up according to gender. Other gender-free dance groups started up in the area after that, and in 1989, at the gender-free dance group in Jamaica Plain, MA, a group of dancers led by Janet Dillon protested the use of these terms, and the armband system was devised: the traditionally male-role dancers would wear armbands and be called "armbands" or just "bands," and the traditionally female-role dancers would be called "bare arms" or just "bares." The Lavender Country and Folk Dancers organization now serves as an umbrella organization for dances in Massachusetts, New York, Georgia, and California. Gender-free philosophy can be used almost anywhere conventional traditional dances are currently being held. It is useful for community dances where “keeping on the correct side” is difficult because of a large gender imbalance, for children’s dances and for groups who want to add a little variety and a creative learning experience to their traditional dance venue.
Contra dance events are open to all, regardless of experience. They are family-friendly, and alcohol
consumption is not part of the culture. Many events offer beginner-level instructions for up to half an hour before the dance. A typical evening of contra dance is three hours long, including an intermission. The event consists of a number of individual contra dances, divided by a scattering of other partner dances, perhaps one or more waltz
es, schottische
s, polka
s, or Swedish hambo
s. In some places, square dance
s are thrown into the mix. Music for the evening is typically performed by a live band, playing jig
s and reels
from Ireland
, Scotland
, Canada
, or the USA
. The tunes are traditional
and more than a century old, or modern compositions which follow the same form as the traditional pieces. (See "Music", below.)
Generally, a leader, known as a caller, will teach each individual dance just before the music for that dance begins. During this introductory "walk-through" period, participants learn the dance by walking through the steps and formations, following the caller's instructions. The caller gives the instructions orally, and sometimes augments them with demonstrations of steps by experienced dancers in the group. The walk-through usually proceeds in the order of the moves as they will be done with the music; in some dances, the caller may vary the order of moves during the dance, a fact that is usually explained as part of the caller's instructions.
After the walk-through, the music begins and the dancers repeat that sequence some number of times before that dance ends, often 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the length of the contra lines. Calls are normally given at least the first few times through, and often for the last. At the end of each dance, the dancers thank their partners. 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, women and men invite each other to dance. Booking ahead (lining up a partner or partners ahead of time for each individual dance), while common at some venues, is often discouraged.
At most dances, no special outfits are worn, but "peasant skirts" or other full, lightweight skirts are popular, as these have a very pretty effect when swinging or twirling and some dancers find them more comfortable to dance in than pants. Low, broken-in, soft-soled, non-marking shoes, such as dance shoes, sneakers, or sandals, are recommended and, in some places, required. However, dancing barefoot is also common.
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 necessarily be the case when beginners are welcomed in by more practiced dancers, mistakes are made; most dancers are very willing to help beginners, and will often go out of their way to give extra instructions to help them learn the steps.
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 farthest from the caller.
Couples consist of two people, traditionally but not necessarily one male and one female, referred to as the gent, gentleman or man, and lady or woman.
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 or hands four. Couples in the same minor set are neighbors. Minor sets originate at the head of the set, starting with the topmost dancers as the 1's (the active couple or actives); the other couple are 2's (or inactives). The 1's are said to be above their neighboring 2's; 2's are below. If there is an uneven number of couples dancing, the bottom-most couple will wait out the first time through the dance.
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.)
s, 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 progressing the 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 15-20 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.
specifies the dance formation, the figures, and the sequence of those figures in a dance. 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.
Most contra dances consist of a sequence of about six to 12 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.
A figure is a pattern of movement that typically takes eight counts, although figures with four or 16 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 one quarter note in 2/4 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".
Sample contra dances:
, Scottish, French Canadian
, and Old-time
tunes are common, and Klezmer
tunes have also been used. The old-time repertoire includes very few of the jigs common in the others.
Tunes used for a contra dance are nearly always "square" 64-beat tunes, in which one time through the tune is each of two 16-beat parts played twice (this is notated AABB). However, any 64-beat tune will do; for instance, three 8-beat parts could be played AABB AACC, or two 8-beat parts and one 16-beat part could be played AABB CC. Tunes not 64 beats long are called "crooked" and are almost never used for contra dancing, although a few crooked dances have been written as novelties.
Until the 1970s it was traditional to play a single tune for the duration of a contra dance (about 5 to 10 minutes). Since then, contra dance musicians have typically played tunes in sets of two or three related (and sometimes contrasting) tunes, though single-tune dances are again becoming popular with some northeastern bands. In the Celtic repertoires it is common to change keys with each tune. A set might start with a tune in G, switch to a tune in D, and end with a tune in Bm. Here, D is related to G as its dominant (5th), while D and Bm (dorian) share a key signature of two sharps. In the old-time tradition the musicians will either play the same tune for the whole dance, or switch to tunes in the same key. This is because the tunings of the banjo are key-specific. An old-time band might play a set of tunes in D, then use the time between dances to retune for a set of tunes in A. (Fiddlers also may take this opportunity to retune; tune- or key-specific fiddle tunings are uncommon in American Anglo-Celtic traditions other than old-time.)
In the Celtic repertoires it is most common for bands to play sets of reels and sets of jigs. However, since the underlying beat structure of jigs and reels is the same (two "counts" per bar) bands will occasionally mix jigs and reels in a set.
In recent years, younger contra dancers have begun establishing "crossover contra" or "techno contra" - contra dancing to techno, hip-hop, and other modern forms of music. While challenging for DJs and callers, the fusion of contra patterns with moves from hip-hop, tango, and other forms of dance has made this form of contra dance a rising trend since 2008; it has become especially prevalent in Asheville, NC, but regular techno contra dance series are spreading up the East Coast to locales such as Charlottesville, VA, Washington, DC, Amherst, MA, and Greenfield, MA.
Partner dance
Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner.In the year 1023 the German poet...
folk dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
styles in which couples dance in two facing lines. Sometimes described as New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
History
At the end of the 17th century, English country danceEnglish Country Dance
English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of...
s were taken up by French dancers; hybrid choreographies exist from this period using the steps from French court dance
Baroque dance
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era , closely linked with Baroque music, theatre and opera.- English country dance :...
in English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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 Gallicized name change may have followed a contemporary misbelief that the form was originally French).
Contra dances were fashionable in the United States until the early to mid-19th century, when they were supplanted in popularity by square dance
Square dance
Square dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...
s (such as the quadrille
Quadrille
Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
and lancers
Les Lanciers
Les Lanciers is a Square, or a Quadrille, which is the pan-European term for a set dance performed by four couples. It is a composite dance made up of five figures or tours, each performed four times so that all couples will dance the lead part. We find Les Lanciers or The Lancers in many variants...
) and couple dances (such as the waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
and polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
). By the late 19th century, square dances too had fallen out of favor, except in rural areas. When squares were revived (around 1925 to 1940, depending on the region), contra dances were generally not included. In the 1930s and 1940s, contra dances appear to have been done only in small towns in widely scattered parts of northeastern North America, such as Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, the Maritime provinces of Canada, and particularly northern New England. Ralph Page almost single-handedly maintained the New England tradition until it was revitalized in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly by Ted Sannella
Ted Sannella
Ted Sannella was a professional square dance, contra dance and international folk dance caller and choreographer who was active in the region surrounding Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States....
and Dudley Laufman
Dudley Laufman
Dudley Laufman is a renowned contra and barn dance caller and musician. In 2009 he was made a National Heritage Fellow.Laufman attended his first dance as a boy while working at the Mistwold Farm in Fremont, NH, in 1948....
.
By then, early dance camps, retreats, and weekends had emerged, such as Pinewoods Camp
Pinewoods Dance Camp
Pinewoods is a dance and music camp located between Long Pond and Round Pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on . It has multiple activity buildings and residential cabins which are occupied and used by visiting customers in the summer. Initially known as "Pine Tree Camp", it was founded in 1919 by...
, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became primarily a music and dance camp in 1933, and NEFFA, the New England Folk Festival
New England Folk Festival
The New England Folk Festival is an annual weekend festival of traditional dance and music. It takes place in the Boston, Massachusetts region each spring. It is conducted by the New England Folk Festival Association. Both the festival and the association are colloquially known by the abbreviation...
, also in Massachusetts, which began in 1944. These and others continue to be popular and some offer other dancing and activities besides contra dancing.
In the 1970s, Sannella introduced heys and gypsies
Contra dance choreography
Contra dance choreography specifies the dance formation, the figures, and the sequence of those figures in a dance. The figures usually repeat in a consistent pattern aligned with the phrasing of the music...
from English Country Dance
English Country Dance
English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of...
to the contra dances. New dances, such as Shadrack's Delight by Tony Parkes, featured symmetrical dancing by all couples. (Previously, the actives and inactives —see Progression below— had significantly different roles). Double progression dances, popularized by Herbie Gaudreau, added to the aerobic nature of the dances, and one caller, Gene Hubert, wrote a quadruple progression dance, Contra Madness. Becket formation was introduced, with partners next to each other in the line instead of opposite. The Brattleboro
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
Dawn Dance started in 1976, and continues to run semiannually.
In the early 1980s, Tod Whittemore started the first Saturday dance in the Peterborough
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
Town House, which remains one of the more popular regional dances. As musicians and callers moved to other locations, they founded contra dances in Michigan, Washington, California, Texas, and elsewhere.
Gender-free contra dancing started in the 1970s, with the Boston Lesbian and Gay Folk Dance as perhaps the first group regularly contra dancing without gender roles. In 1981, a group in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, called "Les be Gay and Dance" was started, in which contra dance was done without any reference to gender, avoiding calling moves with any reference to "ladies" or "gents." In 1987, Chris Ricciotti started a gay dance group in Providence, RI, using the terms "ladies" and "gents" although dancers were not lining up according to gender. Other gender-free dance groups started up in the area after that, and in 1989, at the gender-free dance group in Jamaica Plain, MA, a group of dancers led by Janet Dillon protested the use of these terms, and the armband system was devised: the traditionally male-role dancers would wear armbands and be called "armbands" or just "bands," and the traditionally female-role dancers would be called "bare arms" or just "bares." The Lavender Country and Folk Dancers organization now serves as an umbrella organization for dances in Massachusetts, New York, Georgia, and California. Gender-free philosophy can be used almost anywhere conventional traditional dances are currently being held. It is useful for community dances where “keeping on the correct side” is difficult because of a large gender imbalance, for children’s dances and for groups who want to add a little variety and a creative learning experience to their traditional dance venue.
Events
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
consumption is not part of the culture. Many events offer beginner-level instructions for up to half an hour before the dance. A typical evening of contra dance is three hours long, including an intermission. The event consists of a number of individual contra dances, divided by a scattering of other partner dances, perhaps one or more waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es, schottische
Schottische
The schottische is a partnered country dance, that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina , Finland , France, Italy, Norway , Portugal and Brazil , Spain ...
s, polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
s, or Swedish hambo
Hambo
The hambo is a traditional dance that originated in Sweden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a couple dance in ¾ time, danced to music played with a strong accent on the first beat and a tempo that varies from moderate to fast...
s. In some places, square dance
Square dance
Square dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...
s are thrown into the mix. Music for the evening is typically performed by a live band, playing jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s and reels
Reel (dance)
The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, or the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The tunes are traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
and more than a century old, or modern compositions which follow the same form as the traditional pieces. (See "Music", below.)
Generally, a leader, known as a caller, will teach each individual dance just before the music for that dance begins. During this introductory "walk-through" period, participants learn the dance by walking through the steps and formations, following the caller's instructions. The caller gives the instructions orally, and sometimes augments them with demonstrations of steps by experienced dancers in the group. The walk-through usually proceeds in the order of the moves as they will be done with the music; in some dances, the caller may vary the order of moves during the dance, a fact that is usually explained as part of the caller's instructions.
After the walk-through, the music begins and the dancers repeat that sequence some number of times before that dance ends, often 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the length of the contra lines. Calls are normally given at least the first few times through, and often for the last. At the end of each dance, the dancers thank their partners. 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, women and men invite each other to dance. Booking ahead (lining up a partner or partners ahead of time for each individual dance), while common at some venues, is often discouraged.
At most dances, no special outfits are worn, but "peasant skirts" or other full, lightweight skirts are popular, as these have a very pretty effect when swinging or twirling and some dancers find them more comfortable to dance in than pants. Low, broken-in, soft-soled, non-marking shoes, such as dance shoes, sneakers, or sandals, are recommended and, in some places, required. However, dancing barefoot is also common.
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 necessarily be the case when beginners are welcomed in by more practiced dancers, mistakes are made; most dancers are very willing to help beginners, and will often go out of their way to give extra instructions to help them learn the steps.
Formations
Couples consist of two people, traditionally but not necessarily one male and one female, referred to as the gent, gentleman or man, and lady or woman.
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 or hands four. Couples in the same minor set are neighbors. Minor sets originate at the head of the set, starting with the topmost dancers as the 1's (the active couple or actives); the other couple are 2's (or inactives). The 1's are said to be above their neighboring 2's; 2's are below. If there is an uneven number of couples dancing, the bottom-most couple will wait out the first time through the dance.
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
Contra dance form
This article supplements the main contra dance article.Contra dance form describes the arrangement of dancers into contra dance sets and minor sets. There are various forms, and each dance's choreography specifies its formation...
main article.)
Progression
A fundamental aspect of contra dancing is that the same dance, one time through which lasts roughly 30 secondSecond
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
s, 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 progressing the 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 15-20 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.
Choreography
Contra dance choreographyChoreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
specifies the dance formation, the figures, and the sequence of those figures in a dance. 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.
Most contra dances consist of a sequence of about six to 12 individual figures, prompted by the caller in time to the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
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.
A figure is a pattern of movement that typically takes eight counts, although figures with four or 16 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
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
, such as one quarter note in 2/4 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".
Sample contra dances:
- Traditional - the actives do most of the movement
- Chorus Jig (Proper duple minor)
- A1 (16) Actives down the outside and back. [The inactives stand still or substitute a swing]
- A2 (16) Actives down the center, turn individually, come back, and cast off. [The inactives stand still for the first 3/4, take a step up the hall, and then participate in the cast]
- B1 (16) Actives turn contra corners. [The inactives participate in half the turns]
- B2 (16) Actives meet in the middle for a balance and swing, end swing facing up. [The inactives stand still]
- Note: inactives will often clog in place or otherwise participate in the dance, even though the figures do not call for them to move.
- Modern - the dance is symmetrical for actives and inactives
- Hay in the Barn by Chart Guthrie (Improper duple minor)
- A1 (16) Neighbors balance and swing.
- A2 (8) Ladies chain across, (8) Half hey, ladies pass right shoulders to start.
- B1 (16) Partners balance and swing.
- B2 (8) Ladies chain across, (8) Half hey, ladies pass right shoulders to start.
Music
The most common contra dance repertoire is rooted in the Anglo-Celtic tradition as it developed in North America. IrishFolk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
, Scottish, French Canadian
French-Canadian music
French settlers brought music with them when inhabiting what is now Quebec and other areas throughout Canada. Since the arrival of French music in Canada, there has been much intermixing with the Celtic music of Anglo-Canada....
, and Old-time
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
tunes are common, and Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
tunes have also been used. The old-time repertoire includes very few of the jigs common in the others.
Tunes used for a contra dance are nearly always "square" 64-beat tunes, in which one time through the tune is each of two 16-beat parts played twice (this is notated AABB). However, any 64-beat tune will do; for instance, three 8-beat parts could be played AABB AACC, or two 8-beat parts and one 16-beat part could be played AABB CC. Tunes not 64 beats long are called "crooked" and are almost never used for contra dancing, although a few crooked dances have been written as novelties.
Until the 1970s it was traditional to play a single tune for the duration of a contra dance (about 5 to 10 minutes). Since then, contra dance musicians have typically played tunes in sets of two or three related (and sometimes contrasting) tunes, though single-tune dances are again becoming popular with some northeastern bands. In the Celtic repertoires it is common to change keys with each tune. A set might start with a tune in G, switch to a tune in D, and end with a tune in Bm. Here, D is related to G as its dominant (5th), while D and Bm (dorian) share a key signature of two sharps. In the old-time tradition the musicians will either play the same tune for the whole dance, or switch to tunes in the same key. This is because the tunings of the banjo are key-specific. An old-time band might play a set of tunes in D, then use the time between dances to retune for a set of tunes in A. (Fiddlers also may take this opportunity to retune; tune- or key-specific fiddle tunings are uncommon in American Anglo-Celtic traditions other than old-time.)
In the Celtic repertoires it is most common for bands to play sets of reels and sets of jigs. However, since the underlying beat structure of jigs and reels is the same (two "counts" per bar) bands will occasionally mix jigs and reels in a set.
In recent years, younger contra dancers have begun establishing "crossover contra" or "techno contra" - contra dancing to techno, hip-hop, and other modern forms of music. While challenging for DJs and callers, the fusion of contra patterns with moves from hip-hop, tango, and other forms of dance has made this form of contra dance a rising trend since 2008; it has become especially prevalent in Asheville, NC, but regular techno contra dance series are spreading up the East Coast to locales such as Charlottesville, VA, Washington, DC, Amherst, MA, and Greenfield, MA.
Further reading
- See chapter VI, "Frolics for Fun: Dances, Weddings and Dinner Parties, pages 109 - 124.
- (Reprint: first published in 1956 by American Squares as a part of the American Squares Dance Series)
- See chapter entitled "Country Dancing," Pages 57 – 120. (The first edition was published in 1939.)
External links
Contra dance associations- Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) preserves a variety of Anglo-American folk traditions in North America, including folk music, folk song, English country dance, contra dance and morris dance.
- Anglo-American Dance Service Based in Belgium, promoting contra dance and English dance in Western Europe.
Descriptions & definitions- Gary Shapiro's What Is Contra Dance?
- Hamilton Country Dancers' A Contra Dance Primer
- Sharon Barrett Kennedy's "Now, What in the World is Contra Dancing?"
Different traditions and cultures in contra dance- Colin Hume's Advice to Americans in England
- Mary Dart's book Contra Dance Choreography, A Reflection of Social Change
Research resources- University of New Hampshire Special Collections: New Hampshire Library of Traditional Music and Dance
Finding contra dances- Contra Dance Links - calendars and further links for the world
- The Dance Gypsy - locations of contra dances, and many other folk dances, around the world
- NEFFA LinkFest - indices of contra dances around the world, as well as callers and musicians
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- In North America
- Contra Corners - map of US dances
- Ted Crane's Dance Database
- In North America
Photography and Video- A video from the Concord Scout House in Massachusetts.
- Doug Plummer's Northwest contra dance photos and New England contra dance photos
- Contra dance videos - instructional contrausa.com
- A video of the Brattleboro Dawn Dance in VermontVermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, Susan Kevra calling - note the differences in dance and music styles between this northeastern dance and the southeastern one linked below - A video of the Montpelier Vermont Contradance, Will Mentor calling for Beeswax Sheepskin
- A video of the Lake Eden Arts Festival 2006 (LEAF) in North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
- Two American country dance films on DVD: "Country Corners" (1976), and "Full of Life A-Dancin'" (1978).
- A 2009 video of Crowfoot playing a contra dance, Tacoma, WA