Navigation
About Contra Dance
Contra dancing is a type of American social dancing with roots in English, Scottish, and Irish traditions. It is done in long lines of couples in a "set" with partners facing each other across the set. A caller teaches the figures of each dance before it begins, then cues the dancers the first several times through the dance.
Couples dance the figures with one other couple. They then leave that couple and "progress" to another couple, repeating the same figures with the new couple. Through the natural progression of the dance each couple and each person dances with everyone else in the set—and the sets can be the length of the hall.
No lessons are required, as each individual dance is taught before it begins. Plus, there are only about 20 moves to learn. For those who would like a little more instruction we offer a newcomers' session at 7:30 on the evenings of our regular dances.
We always dance to live music. There is simply no substitute for the energy of a live band and for the interplay between the musicians and the dancers.
The environment is smoke-free, alcohol-free, fragrance free, safe, and family-friendly. This is a community dance, similar to the barn dances of bygone days.
There's more on our FAQ page.
Listen
Click the play button to hear House Red playing two traditional contra dance tunes, Fisher's Hornpipe and Julia Delaney.
Click to listen: a reporter for a California public radio station attends his first contra dance—and loves it! Original page (new window/tab).
Click here to listen (or read) a piece that aired on NPR about young people in New England and their enthusiasm for contra dancing (new window/tab).
Read
Take a moment to read two wonderful personal stories that will give you a better sense of contra dancing and how fun it can be. Each will open in a new window or tab:
- Sharon Kennedy's description and story with photos
- Greg Rohde's wonderful personal story and description
Watch
Here's a 91 second video clip from Bayou Bedlam 2003. Lisa Greenleaf is calling to Hotpoint.
There should be a video player here, if you have the Flash player and Javascript is enabled.
More questions? See our Contra FAQ and Why Fragrance Free? pages.
I've never seen so many smiles in one place!
~ a new Houston dancer