Dancing Circles

When I was in high school I fell in with a small group of kids who liked square dancing. They attended a monthly dance that did what is often called "New England" or "Traditional" Square Dancing. Some of the very basic moves used to be taught in grammar school gym classes. I picked it up quickly and enjoyed dancing. I danced regularly through high school but only occasionally in college and after that.

In my late twenties I was re-introduced to square dancing, but this time it was Western Squares. The Times Squares had come to New Haven to help start a new gay/lesbian Western Square group in Connecticut. I remembered most of the moves easily, and for the first time in my life was doing a kind of dancing I enjoyed with the "right" partners. I was dancing with men! And sometimes I even followed (the "woman's" role). While I rather quickly found out that I prefer New England Squares to Western Squares, that dance in New Haven introduced me to a group of people who did what they called "gender free" Contra Dancing. That meant that anyone could dance any role they wished for any dance. In order to tell who was leading and who was following, the leaders wore armbands. Thus the calls for gender free Contras are "bares and bands" rather than "ladies and gents."

I've been dancing with one chapter or another of the Lavender Country and Folk Dancers (LCFD) ever since. I will occasionally attend a "straight dance" and have to continually remind myself "I am the armband, I am the armband..." throughout the evening.

Over the past few years, there has been some concern about the "next generation" of dancers. Most of the dancers in the LCFD when I joined were about my age, give or take a few years. As time went on we would attract new dancers, most of whom were also about our age. Occasionally, a young person would become involved. We heard that the same thing was happening at many "straight" dances. Would Contra Dances cease as we aged and were eventually no longer able to dance?

Lately, however, there seems to be a lot of interest in Contra Dancing among the college age generation. Some evenings at my local dance, the younger crowd far outnumbers us "old timers." It's wonderful to see.

So imagine my surprise when the Globe and Mail delivered to my hotel room in Vancouver Friday morning had the following article on the front page of the "Life" section. It seems there is a new interest in Contra Dancing amongst the younger generation of our neighbors to the North as well.

The circle turns, and the dance goes on. It is not the same, but then it shouldn't be. So we just join hands and join in.



Peace,
Jeffri