The contra dance and the barn dance

What it is

Each dance is made of plain figures: swing your partner, circle left, pass through, form a star by joining hands in the middle. A full sequence takes 64 beats of music and ends with each couple one place further up or down the line, facing new neighbours. This is called progression. After fifteen rounds or so the caller stops. The basic step is a smooth walk, so the skill lies in timing, in giving weight through the arms, and in looking at the person you are dancing with.

Where it comes from

The form descends from the English country dances and French contredanses that were fashionable in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and crossed the Atlantic with settlers. While they faded in the cities, they stayed alive in rural New England, with Irish, Scottish and French Canadian fiddle tunes. A revival that began in the middle of the twentieth century and grew through the folk boom of the 1970s carried contra dancing across North America, where regular series now run in many towns.

How it works

Most evenings open with a short lesson for newcomers. For each dance, the caller asks people to line up, runs a walk-through without music, and then prompts the moves for the first few rounds before falling silent. By custom you change partners after every dance, and anyone may ask anyone. Many communities now use role names such as larks and robins in place of gents and ladies. The night often pauses for a waltz at the break and ends with another.

If you go

1. Come to the beginner session at the start of the evening.
2. Ask an experienced dancer for the first few dances. They will steer you kindly.
3. Walk, do not skip, and aim to arrive on time for the next move.
4. If you get dizzy in a swing, look at your partner's face, not the room.
5. Wear soft, clean shoes and light clothes.

Good manners

• Dance with a new partner each time, and sit out without guilt when you need to.
• Tell a partner if a swing is too fast or a grip too tight.
• If a move goes wrong, let it go and be ready for the next one.
• Thank the caller and the band at the end.

What is danced

Contra danceA social line dance for pairs, led by a caller and set to live folk tunesCountry danceA group social dance with set figures, danced in lines, squares or circlesBarn danceA social dance event with simple steps, often guided by a callerWaltzA turning couple dance in triple time, first popular in 18th-century Europe

Also part of it, and being written: Virginia Reel.

Sources and further reading

• Contra dance on Wikipedia
• Country Dance and Song Society