Many Smiles, New Friends

Recently, I’ve been heading to the Laurel Theater on Monday nights for a little contra dancing. One Monday evening I was walking around in my neighborhood and saw a diverse group of folks dancing through the windows to the music of a live band. I went in and watched and it looked like a lot of fun. Every single person on the dance floor was smiling. Genuinely smiling. And the smiles never went away. Hey, I thought to myself, I want a little of what they have.
So what’s contra dancing, you say? Well, here’s some tidbits taken from the internet:
A caller, usually working with a group of live musicians, guides new and experienced dancers alike through a variety of dances. A dancer and his or her partner dance a series of figures, or moves, with each other and with another couple for a short time. They then repeat the same figures with another couple, and so on. The figures are similar to those of old-time square dancing. The figures are combined in different ways for each different dance. The caller teaches each dance before it is actually done to the music. An evening that includes contra dancing might be called a Contra Dance, an Old-Time Contra Dance, an Old-Time Country Dance, a Barn Dance, or similar. Most contra dance events will include a few dances of other kinds: traditional squares, waltz, polka, swing and other types of couple dance. What contra dance is NOT: Contra dance has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with country line dancing. Nada. Zilch. And no funding is received from Oliver North! :)
Oh, heck....just go here: http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/
I enjoy contra dancing very much. Although I’m by no means a pro at it.....I suppose I can no longer call myself a novice. I’m also learning some pretty cool waltz moves! :) And I get to touch a whole lot of different men....all in one night. And they're all smiling!