All the Way Around

Dave and I spent our first night in Rochester at the Ant Hill Cooperative. Located about a mile from downtown, the co-op was surrounded by abandoned and dilapidated structures. The members, mostly college students from the University of Rochester, hoped to revitalize the neighborhood by planting gardens, buying and rebuilding homes, and holding bike repair workshops and other community activities. We stayed in a guest room left open for weary travelers, joined them for a tour of the neighborhood, and shared in an evening feast.

Our second night was spent with the president of Rochester’s contra dancing organization. She invited us to attend a pre-dance board meeting and told us about her dancing community as we drove to the diner where it was held. “Lots of college students come to our dance. In fact, the University of Rochester recently organized an evening of contra, which brought some new people to our weekly dance. But because the school year is over, we may have less of a crowd tonight,” she said. She also told us that many students from the U of R and Rochester Institute of Technology juggling clubs come to the dance. During the break, she explained, there is usually a blur of colored balls, beanbags, and clubs.

At the board meeting, we learned about Rochester’s most popular contra event: Thanksgiving Dance Weekend. For the two days after Thanksgiving, dancers get together with regional bands and callers for dancing and workshops. The meeting focused on a number of subjects, among them one we had seen dances struggle with nation-wide: attracting young dancers in order to keep the tradition alive.

The dance space was painted pink and white, with a low stage adorned with a black curtain. An open section on one side of the floor was filled with chairs for watching the dancers, and water and pretzels were available near the kitchen in the back.

The night started with Lady Walpole’s Reel, one of the oldest improper contra dances. The Covenant United Methodist Church’s dance floor was slick, and I spun easily with Dave’s leads as we walked down the center and back. Dancing up and down the set, I noticed few beginners—each dance that night was learned quickly.

The caller, Bob Nicholson, called the dances while wandering around the hall, helping dancers when they looked confused. His contras were well chosen, matching perfectly with the number of dancers present, and their skill level. During the next dance, “Dip and Dive,” I noticed his shirt and pointed it out to Dave. On the front was written, “Bring Back Money Musk” with a beautiful illustration of lines of three performing the dance. On the back was a musical staff with the notes to the corresponding tune written out.

He didn’t call Money Musk, but we did do a triple minor dance. The 1s swung and then looked down to swing the 2s. A series of allemandes, balances, and contra corners followed. My partner wore bed slippers and as we performed contra corners with our triplet, we pushed off of each other and spun, flying into the arms of our neighbors.

Later in the evening, I took a break and sat next to a man I had danced with earlier. I learned that he was a retired plant biology professor from The University of Rochester, and I was excited to have a conversation with another botany geek. We chatted through the next dance about photosynthesis and fern reproduction.

The night ended with a waltz, which the caller decided to turn into a mixer. Couples joined hands in a large circle and waltzed into the center and out, switching partners each time. Everyone then waltzed around the room with these new partners, mixing around with one another. When the circle reformed, the dancers were out of order, making a return to original partners impossible. He threw up his hands at the end saying, “go find your partner.” There was a great scrambling and collision of bodies as couples ran to each other to finish the waltz.

After the dance, we joined up with many of the dancers for pie and ice cream. We learned that we would see some of them again soon at the Dawn Dance in Brattleboro.

-Rochester, NY

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 4:03 pm and is filed under 29 New York II. 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.