The Contra Dance

For 30 years I have been documenting the contra dance scene across North America. For 5 years I have self published a wall calendar for the community, from which this work derives. Contra dance is America’s original folk dance, dating from colonial times. It is popular, and growing—thousands turn out for weekly dances in major cities and rural towns, from California to New Hampshire, Florida to Alaska. Most of these dances result from the ongoing revival of contra dance, now 40 years on. But there are southern New England villages where dance series have continued unbroken for 200 years. Almost always to live music, dancers move to a caller’s instructions not unlike square dancing. Couples move up or down the hall in long lines, dancing the phrases in foursome then advancing to the next couple. Although steeped in centuries-old traditions, the dance scene is vigorous and contemporary. Fast, new dances and percussive rhythm bands share the scene with hundred-year old contras danced to a traditional fiddle and piano accompaniment. I am working on a feature length documentary film about dance and music in a rural Oregon town. You can see more about that project here: bit.ly/takehands