We dance once a month, during the September to June time frame, on the 2nd
Friday of each month ( with a few exceptions )
There are two kinds of dances we're doing, English Country dancing, and [
American ] Contra dance.
There are similarities between these two, but the English is more sedate with
more grace and poise, whereas the Contra is a bit more jaunty.
The English Country dancing hails from the 17th to 18th century, in the days of
the courts. Think of the 'Jane Austen' era, as portrayed in recent films,
Emma, Pride and Prejudice. Although many of the dances are
collected from that era, there are modern compositions too, drawn from an
active community of dancer/choreographers.
The Contra dancing ( from the French contre: opposite ) is more similar to
American square, though set formation is longways ( a line men opposite or
contre a line of women ), not square.
Both styles of dance are socially interactive: you dance with your partner, and
others, as the music and figures flow along.
Although both styles of dance are done with couples, it's best for newcomers to
dance with experienced dancers, to quickly get the hang of things. So, if
you have a partner, bring them along, but a partner isn't required. And,
if you do have a partner... you'll probably not be dancing more than 1
or 2 dances with them in the evening, although you will dance with them along
the progression of the dances, for a moment.
We have been dancing to recorded music, but there is a group of local musicians
who have been practicing some of the English tunes, and working on their jigs
and reels for the contra!
All of the figures are taught; all of the dances are walked-through. The
dance leader ( caller ) prompts the dancers through the figures, too, as
required.
This season, we're dancing in the Miners Hall on Friday nights [ see schedule
below, and exceptions ]. Notwithstanding the aforementioned films, and
the costumes portrayed therein, we're dancing in ordinary clothing. If
you have dance shoes, or other leather-soled street shoes, that's excellent,
but just about anything will do, except: avoid sticky rubber soles. The
dance runs from 7:00 to 9:30, and we take a break somewhere in the middle for a
bit of pot-luck dessert. If you haven't got a dessert, come and dance
anyway!
Schedule (2009-2010 ) :
( All dances are on the second Friday of the month, unless noted )
Sep
11
Oct
9
Oct
30 [ 5th Friday ]
Dec
11, 2009
Jan
8, 2010
Jan
29 [ 5th Friday ]
Mar
12
Apr
9
May
14
Jun
4 [ 1st Friday ]
Time : 7:00PM to 9:30
Venue :
Rossland Miners Union Hall, 1768
Columbia Avenue.,
Cost :
$5 for drop-in, but you can get a break on the price by buying the
season in advance: $40/10 sessions.
References:
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/~winston/ecd/history.htmlx
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lghNoyVe-2o
Look Both Ways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance
http://youtube.com/watch?v=18Cq86IAq6U
Globe
and Mail article on Contra
Organized
by: Dave Cornelius ( dc@2cats.net
) 250-362-3319