Contra-Dancing

         When I have my cowboy boots on, you know I am ready to dance the night away. I was extremely thrilled to attend contra-dancing last night for many reasons. I have attended multiple country concerts, and at every one I am the girl obnoxiously dancing with her date in the aisle to the music. I have attended clubs back home where everyone is dancing, but there was always that sense of competition to be the better one. At the clubs we would circle up around two people and even have a "dance off" comparing the two. In contra-dancing, there was no dance off, no pressure to be the better of the group, and no awkward stares. Contra-dancing brought our whole class in one space with about 20 strangers, with everyone contributing. There was a sense of social inclusiveness as soon as we stepped into the gym, the veterans reached out and offered all of us the opportunity to understand the dance before it even got started, everyone was expected to participate. Even once everyone partnered up, the caller went through each move of the dance multiple times before the music makers actually performed the piece. Once the music started playing and after about the third pass down the line, I began to get the hang of it and I truly started to get that sense of temporary transcendence and communitas. It was a moment in time when everyone there could strip of our differences and share the experience together, everyone was contributing at an equal level. Not one person got frustrated or grew inpatient with me when I did a move wrong, in fact, once I got a move down I would receive immediate feedback from my partner making me feel confident about what I had just done. Then, to keep things exciting, my partner would even begin to turn me between transitions of a new move or step.

       I would without question come back to this event another night. Honestly, it would be one of the most fun dates a guy could ask me to attend with him. Although when dancing, one does not dance only with her partner, but in each dance you eventually come back to your original partner which would make the night fun in its own way. Just attending with a group of friends would as well be just as fun. I enjoyed every minute on the floor, no matter how bad my feet hurt. This morning, I can promise you, my aching feet were well worth it. I would love to share this experience with more people, the value of everyone coming together is so strong, bringing new comers would extend this value other places within the community.

     There are many benefits to participatory music making like contra-dancing. In participatory music, there exists no distinction between artist and audience, just a strong emphasis on social bonding and contribution. During contra-dancing, I never felt a different degree of participation, everyone's participation was valued equally. In fact, the events quality was judged only on the level of participation. Participatory social action brings a community of people together that value each other, it promotes local action as well as learning and thinking. Through direct participation, people develop a deeper appreciation and sense of engagement for new habits of thought. After attending something like this, this new appreciation gets passed down to others who will acknowledge this sense of social action as well. People start to feel a connection and imagining the possible, that is when action begins.