Contra dancing

Date: May 4, 2009 10:12:09 AM
To: inyc@timeoutny.com
Subject: Why no contra dance listings?

Contra dancing is one of the coolest, most fun subcultures on New York’s dance scene. Lots of energy, live music, very positive feeling. But I get zilch when I search for contra dancing on the Time Out New York site!

Paul Ross, Washington Heights

Cool is a relative term, Paul. Born in 18th-century New England, contra is kind of like square dancing, but with a slightly different pedigree and performed in lines rather than rectangles—and with lots less gingham. To try it, head to Country Dance New York, which puts on both contra and English-style dances. Its season-ending contra shindig takes place at the Church of the Village at 8pm on Saturday 13 (210 W 13th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves; 212-459-4080, cdny.org; $14), where band Grand Picnic will perform, Beverly Francis will call, and the ice cream is free. Two-left-footers needn’t worry; the calling system, where the steps are announced aloud as you go, puts newbies on the same playing field as experts. Still, a beginner’s workshop at 7:30pm lets you get your embarrassing mistakes out of the way early (no, step to your other left. Your other other left!).

Country Dance New York shuts down for the summer soon, but they’ll hold a summer picnic just across the Hudson in Alpine, New Jersey, on July 18, and they teach a six-week course in English Country Dancing—Jane Austen’s brand of boogie, similar to contra—at the 92nd Street Y starting July 9 (1395 Lexington Ave at 92nd St; 212-415-5500, 92y.org; $75). Start practicing now and you’ll be ready when next year’s Playford Ball rolls around; it’s the city’s biggest English dance event of the year.

Dancing may have forced awkward boy-girl partnerships back in gym class, but being an adult means never having to put up with the wrong partner. The monthly Center Contra Series is gender-role free, meaning partners can be of any gender and anyone can lead. Wear comfy shoes and maybe a skirt that twirls well; the next dance is Friday 12 at 7:30pm, with local band Brooklyn Swing Ensemble providing the beats and Lynn Ackerson calling (LGBT Community Center, 208 W 13th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves, room 301; 347-275-7983, lcfd.org/nyc; $12).

New York City has fewer barns than it has airports or Peldon sisters, but that doesn’t stop the New York City Barn Dance from raising the figurative roof. Its Thursday 11 dance takes place at the Hungarian House (213 E 82nd St between Second and Third Aves; 603-496-9567, nycbarndance.com; $15), but the local flavor will be more Canadian than Eastern European. Cape Breton musicians will play for some traditional dances, with regular contra thrown in as well. Instruction begins at 7:45pm, with the dance proper starting at 8pm.

Put on your walkin’ shoes (or whatever you don when confronting New Jersey Transit) for the North Jersey English Country Dancers, who put on shindigs every second and fourth Sunday afternoons at 2pm (Unitarian Society, 113 Cottage Pl between Franklin Ave and Robinson Lane, Ridgewood, NJ; maxellute.net/njecd.html; $10). Their Playful Ball on June 20 will have a South of the Border theme, with dances more in the hat-dance than square-dance family.

On June 28, history buffs will get a chance to see dances done in authentic mid-1800s costume (if they’d solved disputes with dance-offs back then, maybe the whole Civil War thing could have been avoided). Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island features performances of American contra dances all day from 10am to 5pm; willing audience members may get to turn up their heels as well (1303 Round Swamp Road, between Locust Rd and Morrison Dr, Old Bethpage, Long Island; 516-572-8400, nassaucountyny.gov; $10).

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