Program Information

Contra College will feature a coordinated teaching program:

• The Friday night dance will be full of easy but fun dances, multiple walk-throughs and strong calling.
• Friday night will include an introduction to hearing and dancing to contra dance music.
• Saturday morning’s workshops will focus on basic figures.
• Saturday afternoon’s first workshop will focus on contra dance technique and the second will be an introduction to waltz.
• The Saturday evening dance will include more practice and plenty of varied, flowing dances.
• On Sunday morning there will be a hambo introduction or waltz tutorial, depending on the interest of the participants.
• Late Sunday morning will be a final dance celebration and “graduation.”
• The integrated curriculum will allow dancers to reinforce and practice skills learned during the classes.
• Careful pacing will allow dancers to build skills slowly over the course of the weekend and to internalize what they’ve learned as we go along.
• There will be more explaining than at regular dances, along with plenty of question-and-answer time.
• The group’s small size will allow for lots of individualized attention.
• The dances will also be really, really fun, selected to help everyone gain confidence and feel at ease. The carefully-crafted curriculum will emphasize dances that are simple while still being varied and well-choreographed. The energetic live music will be exhilarating!
• A community dance will be held in Felton (just down the road) from 2:00 to 5:00 on Sunday, featuring the Syncopaths, a fabulous “rising star” band with Joyce Miller calling. This will be a great opportunity to put your new skills to the test.