Valley Contra Dance (VCD): What to Expect

VCD welcomes all comers to our second and fourth Saturday evening dance in Bethlehem (and occasional fifth Saturday).  According to the season and weather, the crowd varies from 40 to 100 dancers.  We draw from a wide range of ages, with many of our regular dancers being between 35 and 60.  We're a mixture of marrieds, singles, and divorced.  About 15 students from Moravian and Lafayette make up our college age cohort.  Our draw extends well beyond the Lehigh Valley to include regular dancers from Philadelphia, Wilkes Barre, Elverson, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Glenside, Delaware, and Western New Jersey. 

Contra dancing is an American folk art and recreation that descended from the country dancing of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland in colonial times.  You dance with a partner in a basic formation:  two long lines that are facing/opposite/contra.  As in square dancing, contra dances are led by a caller.  Many of the moves, or figures, occur in square dancing, too (like allemandes, stars, and partner swings).  Unlike square dances, we make it easy for newcomers to take part, change partners from dance to dance (so you don't have to bring a partner), always have live music, and dance relatively long individual dance numbers - usually 7 to 9 minutes each at about 120 steps a minute.  Except that we ask you to wear shoes that won't punish a good wood floor, we don't have a dress code. 

Contra music is lively, consisting mainly of march tempos, polkas, and the Celtic sounds of jigs and reels.  We finish the first and second half with a waltz and usually start the second half with a swing dance number, an international folk dance or a Hambo (Scandanvian turning dance).  As forms of dance go, contra dancing is easy for a beginner to get into.  There are no special steps; you just walk in time to the music.  That may sound too simple, but there's a wonderful physical flow in the figures and from figure to figure within a dance number. We employ professional musicians and callers who come from as far as Ohio, North Carolina, and New England. The admission ($9 for non-members; $5 for students) covers the expenses of the hall, callers, and bands.

Taking part provides different rewards for different dancers; some like the music the best, some the forms of movement, some the exercise, some the sociability, some the Sufi-like "getting into the zone," and some the pot luck food at intermission.  As the arts go, contra dancing is not cool; it's down to earth.  The scene is free of career networking, marketing, social climbing, intense singles cruising, and religious or political evangelizing.  Folks are there just to be sociable and enjoy dancing.  The setting is smoke- and alcohol-free, but not for reasons of ideology.  Afterward, some of us go out for a snack and a drink at a local restaurant. 

We welcome beginning dancers, remembering that we were all beginners at one time, too.  Come a little early on your first night, as our caller teaches the basic dance steps and some veteran dancers will guide you through your first dance.  It's that easy to learn.

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