Saturday, February 23, 2013

Contra Dancing

One of the things I love about living in the area I do is the arts culture. In less than a hundred miles there are multiple art museums and festivals, a Shakespearean theatre, ballet companies, and music groups and festivals of all kinds. We are really quite blessed to be where we are.

One of the local events that David and I participate in is contra dancing. It has nothing to do with Nicaragua, nor is it a square dance. If you think of English line dances you see on BBC productions of Jane Austin novels, you can get a pretty close idea of what they're like, though it's less formal. If you'd rather, you can watch a video I've embedded of one of the dances last month at the local Roanoke contra dance. The contra dance community is very patient and happy to have newcomers. Every dance I've been to has a free workshop before the dance for beginners and the first few dances of the evening are a bit easier so that the newbies can get the hang of it.

If you live in the Roanoke area, then I'd encourage you to try it out. There are several venues, including Roanoke, Floyd, Blacksburg, and Lynchburg. There are also contra dances all over the U.S., so look them up in your area if you don't live nearby.

It is good fun!

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