Contra is traditional New England folk dancing. Americans have enjoyed contra dances since Revolutionary times. They combined ideas from French and English country dancing with their own way of having fun and came up with contra dancing. It’s a social dance akin to square dancing that has retained its simple, open, community-oriented spirit.

Contra dancing is great exercise and great fun enjoyed by people of all ages and lifestyles. It shares some elements with square dancing such as “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” but the couples form long lines rather than squares. It involves mixing with the other dancers as each couple does a set of other figures, called by a caller, with another couple before progressing to a new couple and repeating the routine. Since the routine always repeats in contra dancing, the role of the caller tends to diminish as the dance progresses.