Comments | theiage: Contra, fondue, etc.

theiage

Contra, fondue, etc.

Feb 21, 2009 16:01

I went to the contra dance at Glen Echo last night (with extra special Mardi Gras theme), and I met up with a couple of familiar faces- literally two people. And of course, there were lots of random, friendly people to meet, and some good leads. I kind of like the way contra mixes everyone together, regardless of who your partner is for a given ( Read more... )

Comments 2

elkor February 22 2009, 05:30:59 UTC

I tried a few of the waltzes as well, and the first person who asked me to dance had a really weak/loose arms.

Keep in mind that the Contra waltzers are not always good. Take for example the gentleman in the blue vest. He shows up to pretty much all of the dances, but he is, by all accounts, a terrible dancer. Any way, try showing up to one of the waltzes and you will encounter a consistently better range of waltzers than you will at the Contra.

so once we had the steps right in open position (still strong carriage, but air between dancers), we quickly and permanently switched to closed position

I think we learned different definitions of open vs closed. I thought closed meant "both arms in contact, and bodies parallel." And open meant "bodies at an angle to each other."

That and not getting walked back to the edge of the floor after the song ends unless I request it.Yeah, that is not usual behavior for Glen Echo. For the live music, since there is a much shorter period between songs, and the floor is so large, it is far more ( ... )

theiage February 22 2009, 19:51:03 UTC

:-) I think we really did learn different definitions of open and closed position.

There are always good and bad dance partners whatever the venue, and some people specialize in particular dances. I was mainly worried that I had somehow slipped from one category to the other from lack of recent practice.

The whole not walking someone back if you're planning to stay out for the next dance thing makes sense in this context, especially when explained the way you just did. :-) It will just take some getting used to on my part. I was originally taught that not doing so was rude, but that was in a ballroom context, not contra.

I had fun, I'm going back, and you (unlike the first person I waltzed with) have leading skills and I thoroughly enjoyed dancing with you. :-)