A Contra Dancing Primer
PE Forum: Conventions and Workshops: Physical Education Activity Kaleidoscope (PEAK) Abstracts: A Contra Dancing Primer
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By PELINKS4U on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 12:19 am: Edit

A CONTRA DANCING PRIMER


M. Fallshore
Ellensburg, WA
April 2001

Abstract

Contra dancing is similar to square dancing in that they both use similar moves. There are two major differences, however. With square dancing, you and your partner dance with three other couples in a square formation, partner next to partner. With contra dancing, you form long-ways sets, usually across from your partner, and you and your partner dance with everyone in the hall, moving up and down the set. The other major difference is that in square dancing, if someone gets behind, the dancers can wait for them to catch up, and it doesn°t really matter. In contra dancing, the dances are written to fit the music, so if you get behind, you need to skip what you missed or somehow "fix" the dance so you stay on the music. I will start this discussion by explaining the moves, then the music, then I will try to put them together. A glossary, bibliography, discography and other resources follow.

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