the.com/contra dance
Square dancing's hippie cousin: folk music, no partner required, everyone ends up touching hands with a stranger.
means A folk dance performed in long facing lines where couples work their way up and down the set, trading partners with everyone else in the line as the dance progresses.
from The name comes from French 'contredanse,' which itself likely reshaped the English 'country dance' (dances of rural England) into something that sounded French — a classic case of folk etymology dressing up a homegrown term in borrowed clothes. 'Contra' also nods to the 'contrary' lines dancers form, facing their partners across the set rather than standing beside them.
- origin
- French-English hybrid of 17th century country dances
- caller
- shouts moves live so nobody needs to memorize
- partner rule
- you swap partners constantly, built for strangers
- scene today
- thriving in college towns and aging hippies alike