#contra dancing

[stuffboblikes]

Dana got a great video of me contra dancing this Sunday at Contrashock!

[bread--quest]

i've been having fun video editing but i need to crowdsource more clips... does anyone know of scenes in movies/tv shows where there's contra dancing/country dancing/square dancing/line dancing/what have you? that kind of dancing where everyone is in a line and doing the same movements together and sometimes there is some clapping involved. you know her. can be anything from jane austen movie dancing to the cha cha slide. although i already have two jane austen movies in there so

[dandelionsandderivatives]

Going dancing tonight, and yes I do have the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers song looping in my head.

[orpheus-looks-forward]

Went out Contra dancing with a friend on nye. I still don't pass as anything close to a dude so it brought out a lot of social dysphoria. I was getting asked to dance by mostly men who expected me to dance the woman's part. I'm not a man either, but I typically prefer masculine roles. To be fair, I suppose I didn't ask a lot of people to dance with me so it might be my fault.

The trans-feminine friend I was with had a much better time on that front. I think I've mused about this before but its much easier to use fashion to code yourself as a woman since mens clothing restrictions are more severe (women can wear masculine clothing but men won't wear feminine clothing).

When dancing with my friend, it mattered much less to me what role I took. We switched back and forth a few times, although we both tend to be better at leading. However I knew she saw me the way I wanted to be seen so it didn't bother me, and I'm guessing it was the same for her. I don't think she led anyone else.

when i had been dancing there before the experience was much less gendered (as in they weren't saying ladies and gents, they were saying left and right) so I was kind of surprised. So much really depends on the caller I guess.

[incendavery]

the 'lark and robin' sticker turned out SO CUTE

join the sticker of the month club on my patreon by the end of march to get one of your own!

[hidefdoritos]

I just went to a swing dance for the first time! I really, really recommend it.

-The crowd was mostly homeschooling families and middle aged couples, so exactly what you'd expect in the American midwest.

-Everyone was SO nice and polite!

-What we did is called "called" dancing, so there's a person (caller) at the microphone the whole time.

-Before the music starts, everyone lines up. The caller announces the moves that are about to happen, and everyone walks through them as a practice run.

-Once the band strikes up (did I mention the live music??!), the caller still announces every motion before it happens.

-What we did was technically contra dancing. You start off dancing with a partner, and you're neighbors with another pair. You go through 4-6 motions that all take about 8 beats of music, and then you move up/down the line to another set of neighbors.

-My swing-dancing brother and SIL, who invited me, said it's a wonderful easy introduction. Less footwork than proper swing.

-Asking someone to dance isn't a romantic thing. Can be, but not necessarily. I found a confident-looking guy there by himself, told him I was new, and asked him how it worked. Danced like three dances with him, and it was fun! He taught me a lot.

-Bring a BIG water bottle. It gets sweaty and hot SO fast.

-Everyone else is also very sweaty. I was self-conscious about a guy putting his hand onto my sweaty back, but putting my hand onto his soaking wet shoulder was reassuring. And gross, but still fun.

-Also bring your inhaler. I didn't. I was fortunate to be spared an attack, but I had to sit out the last dance.

-Due to the general shortage of men, there was a little table with pre-tied neckties. Girls who were dancing the guys' part just slipped one on for distinction. Sure, your partner knows which role you're taking, but by the time you two have moved down the entire line, your inattentive neighbors could be confused.

-This one was in a church. I imagine they're also in gyms and community centers.

-I can't guarantee they'll all be this good, but in my experience it was easy and fun and welcoming. There was a mathematical precision to how all the couples moved, and also an artistic fun to swinging around and twirling a lot!

-It was all by donation, and it went to the caller and the band. Support your local arts!

-Highly recommend wearing a big swooshy skirt. :D

[respectissexy]

Digby and Wilma Thistlespring are Unitarian Universalist coded because they love folk music, their child is adopted (for most UUs this is due to being gay but you know) and most importantly, they teach comprehensive sex education out of a large binder. In this essay I will...

(Pictured: the actual binder that I taught sex ed out of earlier this year.)

[francesderwent]

sometimes you abandon a sinking ship long term relationship and fall into a dramatic short term love affair which absolutely devastates you, and for a long time ever afterward you can’t process the one except through the other. and the real closeness of the long relationship can’t compete with the closeness that was purposely manufactured to manipulate you, because it was literally designed to outshine reality. and so the loss of that eclipses everything else because when it’s gone you’ve lost the illusion and the reality, what you thought it was and everything you gave up to have it. the girls who were messy in college get it.

[theodoradove]

Making plans with a dear friend who is a straight cis male twenty-five years my senior...hurrah for unexpected connections outside of my elder millennial queer lady wheelhouse.

[awesomeifidosaysomyself]

do you like live music? do you want a reason to leave your house? do you like dancing in a chill environment with pretty accessible dance moves? do you want to feel kinda like a jane austen character? if so you might like contra dancing!

[stuffboblikes]

I cleaned up the google doc I used when writing contra dances a little bit if anyone wants to look at any of the dances i've written recently or ever.

[her-penetrating-soul]

"Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can’t help falling in love with you"

~Elvis Presley

[unloneliest]

im always saying this but i think i need to regularly dance to feel human and alive

[dandelionsandderivatives]

I went contra dancing last night, where I danced a strange and wonderful Becket dance, did my best to explain to a first-timer partner that I needed to end every swing on his right, and had a fascinating conversation about medieval religious communities in Belgium. I also have a scrape on my elbow and no idea at all how it got there. 10/10, glad I went to this one.

[incendavery]

"no": you can say it!

[buttonloops]

sometimes I go contra dancing on Monday nights

but it's awkwardly located, where I either have to go straight there from work and then kill an hour until it starts, or go home and turn around and go right back out

so even when I make it work

like tonight

I end up sitting in my car just as it's starting and thinking I just want to go home, can I go home now?

It's so frustrating to squint at the tea leaves of my soul and try to divine whether I will regret going out or regret staying in

the fatigue's been hitting again, so maybe I'd feel better resting and going to bed early?

but also sometimes dancing and socializing feels wonderful

anyway here I am, dragged myself all the way here and now I just wanna go home