All the Way Around

Blizzards and rain storms harassed Lisa and I nearly the duration of the time we spent driving through the state of Wyoming. One theory I had for this was that though we wound up spending 3 days traveling through the state, we did not dance within its borders. In our defense, Wyoming had no contra dancing we could find. An internet search for “Wyoming contra dance” returned only a dance in “the Wyoming Fine Arts Center” in Ohio. However, 4 weeks later, a change in our route as we approached the area brought us to that very dance, and we attended in the hopes of appeasing the angry contra gods of Wyoming.

The Wyoming Fine Arts Center was an impressive building. Large and orange-pink, it was once a Masonic hall. The dance space inside was large, and reminded me of a pre-school I had attended in Keene, NH, which had also once been a Masonic hall. The stage was high, and large windows let in lots of light as the dance began. The floor was in good shape, smooth and shiny, and one of the organizers put a powder over half of it before the dance began.

To the left of the entrance were baskets of used name tags. Thinking I would easily find a “Dave” tag, I rummaged through the basket marked “A - F”. Though I found no less than 3 marked “Barry”, the closest I could find to my own name was “David.” Lisa fared even worse, and had to make a new tag for herself.

Lisa and I danced the first dance together. Two lines had formed, and we found ourselves on the powdery side of the floor. The music began and we swung our neighbors. I realized that the powder was there to make the floor more slick. My neighbor easily twirled under my arm without much friction from the floor. During the hey later in the dance, I half-stepped, half-glided between the rest of our group of 4.

The floor powder made the footwork smooth, but the swings themselves had an easiness to them, too. There were not many outright beginners in the hall, but several dancers claimed that they had been to only two or three dances before. Regardless of how much experience each person said they had, almost everyone I came into contact with had a very smooth swing.

I danced the next dance with a woman in a beautiful white dress. As we got going, I was very impressed by her presence and ability to give weight, so I tried a few twirls and other embellishments. An excellent follower, she picked up on each right away. We had a great time together, and when the dance was over, she pointed out her middle-school aged daughter. “Please dance with my daughter,” she said. “She’s so much fun!”

The next dance, I was dancing with the daughter, and saw instantly that she was a much better dancer than most her age. “How long have you been dancing?” I asked her, but she told me that she had been doing it for as long as she could remember. Our dance together had a petronella twirl followed by a partner balance and swing. We both smiled each time we spun into one another for our balance.

It was easy to see that this dance had an excellent sense of community. Several dancers I questioned told me they had been coming to this dance for years. The teaching in the lines was gentle and never pushy, and most people made very good eye contact–some of the best of the trip, Lisa and I agreed.

In addition to being a good community, the dancers were very friendly. As we entered the hall, a woman came up to us instantly and asked if we knew how to contra and offered to show us how. Several others asked where we were from. Even before the dance, the people Lisa and I passed on the street greeted us with friendly hellos.

The caller, Bernadene Zennie, did mostly improper and becket dances with one dance that was 4 facing 4. I liked her clean calling and well-paced walk throughs. She kept a good rhythm going throughout the night. There were almost always two good-sized sets, and she managed to keep them even, making plenty of room for everyone.

The music was great all night, and ended on a high note. During the final contra of the evening, which included contra corners, the band, Erin Ways, played one of my favorite tunes called “The Fisher’s Hornpipe.” Before leaving for this trip, my piano teacher was working with me to accompany this tune. It was a real blast to hear it all the way in Ohio.

The waltz they played was even better, a bouncy tune that Lisa and I had come across before. We bolted around the room together, inserting a “stomp-stomp” at the end of a musical phrase. The music guided us into familiar pivots and turns until at last the band reach its final note.

We followed our host home and talked with her and about our travels. We learned that she did quite a bit of traveling herself, having once worked for an airline. “When I felt like it and I had the free miles, I would take my daughter out to dinner in Baltimore or California,” she told us. “I’ve been to dances all over, too,” she continued, and we compared notes over strawberry shortcake until we were too exhausted to continue.

-Cincinnati, OH

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 10:34 am and is filed under 26 Ohio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.