penn

Common Ground

Yesterday, I visited the hippy-fest known as the Common Ground Fair. Put on by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the event was an organic food, gardening, and crafts extravaganza. There were also tents dedicated to folks arts (blacksmithing, spinning, and the like) and alternative energy.

I spent the vast majority of my time wandering the crafts and boogying down. See, they had my all-time favorite dancing there: contra dancing! I spent a solid two hours spinning, chaining, starring, and more. I really don't get enough contra in my life. If you've never heard of contra dancing before, think square dancing with a bit more folksiness and a bit less country. It's descended from English country dancing

Contra maddness!

This guy had a skirt made out of ties. How awesome?

Dancing up a Storm

Last time I went contra dancing, I never got around to blogging about it. I think I was either apathetic or busy at the time (or perhaps a combination of both). Anyway, now I'll get around to that and more.

I went contra dancing at Phinney Ridge at one of their Friday night regular dances. For the entire night, I swung, chained, and turned around the dance floor as I switched from partner to partner. I had a wonderful time there; where else is it socially alright to enjoy holding hands with sweaty strangers? For two whole hours, I felt like an extra in a Jane Austen party scene, and I loved it.

My favorite part about contra is the calling. Like in square dancing, a caller says the moves as you do them, so it's hard to get lost. Everyone has a role, and you're guided through your role. Even the leads don't have too much difficulty with it. The lesson ahead of time taught me all the basic moves, and the caller taught other moves during the dance if we needed to know them. Many moves are also similar to square dancing, but contra is better than square dancing because the music is better.