Door County Folk Festival
Contra / Square Dance Workshops / Party Activities
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American Contra Dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in the United States. Contra dance is also referred to as traditional New England folk dance. A contra dance evening may include a few dances of other types including: Traditional American Squares, waltz, polka, schottische, swing, rounds, clogging, Hambo and other Scandinavian, and other types of couple dancing.

Traditional American Square Dance is a catch-all term for styles of square dance that are not within the genre of modern Western square dance. This includes the regional styles that existed before the middle 1950s (when modern the Western style began to emerge as a new standard as figures and calls were standardized, regional differences were eliminated and new figures and calls were created); or styles that have survived or have been revived since the middle 1950s. In some communities in the United States and Canada, there are dance events consisting primarily of traditional squares, sometimes alternating with other styles of partner dancing, such as contra dance, round dance, mixers, waltzes, Scandinavian dance, Cajun/Zydeco dance and/or country/western dance. Square dance callers who call for occasional dancers, beginning-level dancers or brand-new dancers primarily use calls and figures from traditional square dance.

Contra / Square Sessions
Day Where Start End Event Session Description Who
Fr BHTH 8:00am 9:45am Squares, Contras, Mixers, etc. for the Morning!
(Open Mike Opportunity)
These morning sessions offer a mélange of squares, contras, big circle dances (Appalachian), progressives and mixers – i.e. dances adaptable to and appropriate for folks who may be a bit groggy in the morning but who prefer dancing early to sleeping late. They present a great learning opportunity for dancers new to the genre and a refreshing option for experienced dancers. Paul C
Fr BHTH TBD TBD Square Dance Set

Contra Dance Set
At some time during the Friday Dance Party there will be brief sets for both Contra Dancing and Square Dancing. Paul C
Sa BHTH 8:00am 9:45am Squares, Contras, Mixers, etc. for the Morning!
(Open Mike Opportunity)
These morning sessions offer a mélange of squares, contras, big circle dances (Appalachian), progressives and mixers – i.e. dances adaptable to and appropriate for folks who may be a bit groggy in the morning but who prefer dancing early to sleeping late. They present a great learning opportunity for dancers new to the genre and a refreshing option for experienced dancers. Paul C
Sa BHTH TBD TBD Square Dance Set

Contra Dance Set
At some time during the Saturday Dance Party there will be brief sets for both Contra Dancing and Square Dancing. Paul C
Su BHTH 9:00am 11:00am Squares, Contras, Mixers, etc. for the Morning!
(Open Mike Opportunity)
These morning sessions offer a mélange of squares, contras, big circle dances (Appalachian), progressives and mixers – i.e. dances adaptable to and appropriate for folks who may be a bit groggy in the morning but who prefer dancing early to sleeping late. They present a great learning opportunity for dancers new to the genre and a refreshing option for experienced dancers. Paul C

Open Mike Opportunities at Workshops - During these sessions, there will be some limited opportunities for participants who would like to gain experience or showcase their talents in calling.

  • A portion of these sessions will have open mic (mike, microphone) opportunities
  • We invite both experienced and aspiring callers to share their talent
  • We request interested callers to email us in advance at:
  • Participating callers may request feedback on their participation

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