I eased into contra. I do count my introduction to square dancing in
grade school and junior high school gym classes, starting 65 years ago,
as my gateway. I thoroughly enjoyed the activity. In college, my
fraternity held a couple of square dances. Fresh out of grad school in
1978, I had been on the job for a few weeks when I saw a poster
announcing an "old-fashioned, New England-Style barn dance.... Line,
circle and square dances will be presented by a caller who will give
instructions." I came home and told my wife that we were going
dancing. (She had been my date at one of the fraternity square dances,
so I knew she would be agreeable.) After a few sporadic events, the
enterprise evolved into a monthly series that continued until March
2020. I remember the first few years being mostly square dances and
circle mixers, with contras being added and then coming to dominate. In
about 1993 another employee and I took over responsibility for
organizing the dances.
For a while the dance was wildly popular with a local singles group (I
have two friends who met their future wives there), but mismanagement by
our predecessor caused that group to stop coming. Same band, same
caller, leading the same dances month after month, became boring. I, on
the other hand, was not comfortable dancing with anyone other than my
wife for probably the first 20 years. I'm not sure what helped me
change my attitude, perhaps when we started going to other dances in the
area where switching partners for each dance was actively encouraged.
Dave,
Dancing in the Chicago area
On 11/10/2023 6:47 PM, Robert Matson via Organizers wrote:
You all, I'm curious to hear YOUR first experiences at a contra,
whether when young or not.
As I think back, it took me three attempts over about 15 years, from
young to less young, to get over the threshold and really start
enjoying myself (not counting those grade school square dance
classes). My first experiences stunk. Once I got into contra, I was
always concerned when I brought friends who were new to contra whether
they'd have fun. The most perilous moments were 1) when they (or I)
needed to find a partner and, then, 2) absorbing the disapproval of
hot shot dancers when one messed up. Now, as an organizer, I'd like
to stay aware of the confusion and concerns of first-, second- and
third-... timers.
Would anyone mind sharing?
Rob
Dancing in Arkansas
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