A story about getting into dancing from our booker, caller, board member, and friend, Bob Fabinski:
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I was taking ballroom dance lessons with a couple friends, to prepare for my sister’s wedding. At the end of each lesson, there was a circle couples dance where the partners progressed – step together, step apart, turn the lady under, do the next few steps (waltz, chacha, rhumba, foxtrot, whatever) with the next person. I mentioned to my friends that I liked that part best, way better than the straight up ballroom stuff. They said “Come with us this weekend.” So I was introduced to Contra at Round Hill, Connecticut, the Saturday Evening after Thanksgiving, 32 years ago.
They gave me a demo of a right and left thru, ladies chain, and how to swing, in 3 minutes in the lobby where we paid, then set me loose in the hall.
It was awesome. I felt confused, happy, accomplished when I remembered what came next, exhilarated by the music matching the tempo of the dance – slow – fast, smooth, bouncy. I don’t know who the band or caller were, but they were tremendous.
During the quarantine, I meet with other dancers to decide how to know when we will begin dancing again. We are also using club funds to purchase CD’s from musicians who are having a tough time with the loss of income from gigs. We will use these for door prizes and raffles, to bring people back to Thursday Night Contra and Sunday Night English.
I listen to contra music all the time, and attend watch parties on Facebook. There’s something deeply satisfying about staying connected to the community I cherish. #contradancing #contradance #rochesterdance
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