The most Austrian question ever. No. Show up when/if you want to. Sign up for our mailing list if you want reminders of our upcoming dances.
Dress comfortably! Contra dancing can be a good work-out so don’t overdress. Even in winter you don’t want to wear a sweater, sweatshirt, or long sleeves. People often enjoy dancing in a skirt, as skirts flow to the music. T-shirts are common. Don’t worry about what to wear – there is no special costume, just be comfortable. Expect to sweat, and if you are generally a sweaty person, be kind to others and bring a towel and/or shirt(s) to change etc.
Try spinning in a circle while wearing it. Does it feel good? Then it’s right.
There are risks associated with germs everywhere – not just at contra! Please wash your hands often!
Not a problem – you can ask anyone to dance! You don’t need to come with a partner. And if you do come with a partner, it is a good idea to split up and each dance with more experienced dancers. Two brand new dancers can't help each other. Generally, the practiced etiquette at contra dances is that for every dance people generally change partners and dance with someone else, even if you do come with a partner. It is part of the fun to dance with many different partners.
All through the evening every dance is taught – a caller does a walk-though before each dance and then calls the steps for the first several times through. Contra dances are repetitive; you do the same set of steps over and over – if you don’t get it at first, you have lots of opportunities to practice. Dancers are very welcoming, and they will help you and not expect you to know what you are doing. Everyone attended their first dance at some point. It is about having fun, not about making no mistakes.
The music is always provided by live musicians – a fiddle and a rhythm guitar in our case. It is lively, fun music that is intended to inspire movement.
The caller will walk everyone through each dance before the music kicks in. After the walk-through, each dance lasts about 10 minutes with music.
The dances fit the rhythm of the music, and everything is set in phrases of eight – you can hear this in the beat, and can tell when it is time to do the next move. If you need to take a break, you certainly can sit out, and talk to people.
Because we believe that contra dancing should be accessible to everyone no matter what! (Plus, we don’t want to deal with the complicated paperwork and Austrian Bureaucracy.)
We (Irma and Brian) pay for everything out of our own pocket. The hall, the musicians, the Veranstaltungmeldungen, a lot of the snacks, the signs, the advertising, the website, sheet music, calling books, and much, much more. Yes, we mean everything. We have yet to make a dollar. I mean euro. J
You want to come early to help set up? Want to man the table to welcome newcomers? Do you want to help clean up? Do you want to make social media posts? ……… Well…. We love you! Do it! But we love you even if you don’t volunteer!
Dancers are of all ages – we’ve had 18 months to over 80 years participating at our dances… so far… records are meant to be broken. Any age means any age. Bring them along. This is a family friendly – really family encouraged event.
This can put a damper on the dancing, but it doesn’t have to. Take charge of your body, tell people how / when you can be touched, what works for you, and modify any steps so that you don’t increase your pain. Speak out if something doesn’t work. It can help to wear a visual identifier so people know something is off limits. A “slow swings please” sign on your nametag for example, or a visually appealing bandage.
Yes, you can! You can join for as much or as little as you like. Each dance is called and taught right before dancing, and there are always many people around to help if you happen to get lost or don’t know some vocabulary.
No, you don’t! We can explain things in German, plus people will help you move to the right place and you’ll figure it out quickly. The dance terms are English though, but there are not many terms, and you will come to recognize them quickly. Even English speakers need to learn those! We’ve had people enjoy themselves at our dances with whom we share no common spoken language.
Anyone can contra, and nobody will stop you from watching, but actually contra is not a sport nor a spectator dance, but rather a participatory choreographic weaving. The dance steps are irrelevant. Important is connecting with the person across from you. Get on your feet – it is much more fun to move than to watch.
People might ask you before you get a chance to worry. And if you aren’t ready to dance yet, you can always say no! We are a patient community.
… yes, you can!
Complete beginners can already contra dance! Many people in those videos ARE first time beginners! If you can walk, you can dance. In fact, we’re not actually sure that a walking ability is even strictly necessary…. probably if you just want to, you can dance.
You don’t need to bring anything. You can bring snacks to share with everyone if you want to. It’s smart to bring a water bottle – you will get thirsty.
You definitely do not! As Thoreau says, “beware of all enterprises that require new clothes . . .” Some people prefer specific shoes, and they should wear them. Your shoes *should be* clean. Dancing in shoes with rubber soles can be hard on your joints – ankles, knees and hips. But people have danced in socks, barefoot, in tennis shoes or whatever. Important is only that they are comfortable for you to walk 10,000 steps in J
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: they both come from the USA and are danced in lines with repeated figures until the music ends. Although there are similarities, line dancers dance alone. Also our music is always live and not choreographed to specific tunes, rather the band feels the energy of the crowd and decides what to play based on what kind of feeling is desired.
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: both dance forms are USA traditional dances with shared heritage, similar figures, and have callers that teach / lead the dances. Although there are strong similarities, square dancing has strong restrictions, mainly the use of “squares” – specifically 4 couples. Contra can be danced with as few as 6 people and as many as hundreds. Contra dancing is also easily accessible to beginners, uses fewer figures that are taught each dance, has live music and is danced in long lines.
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: both are social folk dances with European heritage, live music that are welcoming of beginners. Balfolk incorporates more dance types with different steps and rhythms, contra has the same structure and rhythm for all its dances (excluding the waltz before our break / dance end). Some balfolk events include a contra dance or two, but there are many other dances at a balfolk dance, often dances for couples.
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: there is shared heritage and overlapping dance figures, but the music and styles are different. Many moves with the same names are done differently in contra. Essentially ceilidhs are more bouncy and contras are more horizontal and smooth.
DEFINITELY not. We welcome people of all cultures.
Theodore and Irma designed it with the idea of people partying around the Uhrturm on the Schlossberg in Graz.
Dance either role. “Lady” and “Gent” are only terms for dance roles. They are antiquated terms, but still useful for being able to communicate certain moves. Some dances use “gender-free” role names like lark/robin to further emphasize that the role is not gender-based. Along the line you will dance with all sorts of people, and that’s kind of the point.