Jerome Grisanti - Contra Dance Links

So, what is this "Contra Dancing?"

Contra dance is a beginner-friendly form of social dance that is non-competitive, moderately aerobic and highly addictive. As a group, our main goal is to have fun rather than to be perfect dancers. We consciously welcome dancers of every skill level. I hesitate to go beyond that description except to invite you to try it.

Gary Shapiro has a variety of descriptions to choose from:

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/

And our friends in Canada have posted an FAQ:

http://www.hamiltoncontra.ca/primer.html

Here's one more verbal description of the allure of contra culture:

http://www.thecommonspace.org/2002/06/games.php

Or perhaps a picture is worth some words:

Atlanta Dance Weekend

At first glance, chaos. But then one begins to notice patterns.

What about Videos?

All the best videos are copyrighted, but here are some publicly available videos. The sound and video barely capture the fun of actually dancing, however.

Here are some links to videos to give you a better picture, beginning with those young whippersnappers at Whipperstompers 2008:
http://whipperstompers.org/

George Marshall calling, Swallowtail playing, and some fun fun dancers on the floor in Glenside Pennsylvania:
http://www.youtube.com/v/4G2DmPRIALc&hl=en&fs=1

Here's a cool balcony view in Lexington Kentucky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN-gAQi6pkE

Here's a big crowd at Dance Trance 2007 in Lexington Kentucky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leE3tZBTkFs

And a scene from Spring Breakdown 2008 in Columbia Missouri:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHvQozKfCDE&feature=related

Where do nearby dances happen?

In Maryville

In Kansas City

In Lawrence

Throughout Missouri

Throughout Kansas

Throughout Iowa

Throughout the U.S.: http://www.contradancelinks.com/

A clickable map: http://www.contracorners.net/contra/links/dancemap.html