Contra and square dancing

I'm involved in contra and square dancing in a variety of ways:

I dance regularly — you can often find me dancing at the Tapestry Folk Dance Center on Saturday evenings (contra dance) and Sunday afternoons (community dance).

For those unfamiliar with contras, my friend Greg Rohde wrote an article for the St. Louis webzine The Common Space that provides a great introduction. Square dancing comes in many shapes and sizes — those who have encountered them primarily through junior high physical education classes usually have no idea of how fun they can be when enthusiastically danced by those who love them. I mostly dance what are sometimes called "traditional" squares, keeping a respectful distance from those who do "modern western square dancing" (you may have encountered dancers from this scene in petticoats, bolo ties, matching outfits, etc. -- though not all modern western dancers dress up this way).

I've been calling contra and square dances since about 1992. I have also written several dances.

I play guitar with Stringdancer, a band which plays for dances, weddings, and other celebratory occasions. Now that our three core members are in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and St. Paul, we don't get together quite so often — but we have a lot of fun when we do. You can check out our upcoming schedule, see what tunes we play, or order one of our CDs.

Dance related links

   Dancing around the country

• Dance Indices is the page to check if you want to find out about contra dancing in locations across the country.
• Bob Stein probably has the best page on contra dancing currently out there.
• The Country Dance and Song Society is a national organization of people involved in traditional dance.
• The NEFFA home page has lots of info -- especially check out their Linkfest.

   Pictures

• Doug Plummer's dance pictures include some great shots -- though a fast connection is advised.

   Special events

• The Augusta Heritage Center runs remarkable week-long workshops in music, dance, and traditional crafts every summer in Elkins, West Virginia. I've been four times, and I expect to keep returning as long as they'll have me.
• GypsyJordan's Contradance Website has a very nice listing of dance weekends throughout the Southeast.

   Calling resources

• Ed Gilmore's Dance Calling Notes is forty-odd pages of notes from a class on square dance calling taught in 1949 by this legendary caller.
• Dance books available in St. Louis is a resource I put together in a remarkable effort of procrastination from schoolwork.
• An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals ca.1490-1920, from the Library of Congress, is an astonishing online collection of dance materials from other eras.
• A Look at Southern Squares is a very nice compilation of traditional southern dances put together by Bill Martin.
• A Collection of Traditional Contra Dances is maintained by Robert Bley-Vorman in Hawaii.
• American Country Dances Online has all sorts of dances and promises to be a great resource -- though at the moment it's rather idiosyncratic in its choices.
• Animation de soirées de danses folkloriques québécoises is a collection of ten traditional québécois dances. I haven't puzzled through all of the French, but it looks cool.
• Robert Cromartie's page on calling was under construction the last time I checked. When it's done, it will be available here.

   Sound resources

• All Mixed Up, the very fine booklet by Bob Mills about how to run sound for dances, has been reformatted for the web by Bill Tomczak.
• The Contra Dance Sound Forum is a listserv dedicated to issues related to running sound for contra dances.

   Modern Western square dancing

• Western Square Dancing is an excellent resource maintained by Robert French.
• A Guide to Learning Western Square Dancing for Traditional Dancers, an article by Bill Ackerman, also appears on Robert's pages.
• The Community Dance Program is a movement within the club tradition in which complex figures are avoided so that the dances are more accessible. This page is maintained by Calvin and Judy Campbell.
• The International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs provides yet another look at the western square dance scene.
• Noriko Takahashi's animated gifs allow you to see all of the basic, mainstream and plus moves used in modern western square dance actually danced while you watch. Quite remarkable.

   Miscellaneous

• Australian Social Dance is a fascinating article on attempts to revive traditional social dance in another part of the world.
• The Random Contra Dance Generator is a very entertaining, if not especially useful, project by Bob Frederking.
• The NEFFA Essay Collection includes thoughts on dancing and calling, past and present.
• Contra Dance Articles and History contains various essays collected by Bill Tomczak. There's even a piece by me (taken from an old usenet posting) and one by Caroline (my wife and Adrian's mom).