Emma Paterson-Dennis and her father, David Paterson, find ways to bond in the simplest moments. From bike riding to reading aloud books such as “The Hobbit,” these activities have created some of the 13-year-old’s favorite memories. But some of her favorite memories also involve something a little bit different: contradancing.
Recent efforts among contradance groups in Maine have sought to get more of the community involved, including families and young people, such as Emma and her father.
Contradance includes a dancer and his or her partner dancing with each other and another couple for a short amount of time. A pattern of dance steps is learned, then repeated with each couple on the floor and continues until everyone has danced together. A caller working with a group of live musicians guides dancers through the steps to each dance.
“If you can walk in time to music, you can dance. And even if you can’t walk in time to music, you can do this,” John McIntire, communications committee chair of Downeast Friends of the Folk Arts, said.
A contradance includes a range of people, from clumsy 5-year-olds jittering with excitement to light-footed 50-year-olds with years of experience and the moves to prove it. Skirts twirl, feet step in time and smiles on the faces of participants usually stretch from ear to ear.
“[Newcomers’] primary complaint is the smile muscles in their face hurt for a day or two,” McIntire said.
Emma, an eighth-grader at William S. Cohen School in Bangor, fell in love with contradance when she was about 7 years old. Though her experience is a unique part of her relationship with her father, contradancing is a family affair for many, with generations of dancers learning from parents or other relatives.
Contradancing has been around in Maine since the 1750s and came out of English and French dancing traditions. The activity experienced a resurgence in popularity in the late 1960s spurred by renewed interest in traditional arts.
A few rural New England towns held onto contradancing in years before. Ralph Page kept many of the dances going. He was followed by Dudley Laufman, a younger contradancer with new ideas.
“Ralph Page did a lot for it in the ’50s and early ’60s, and a young upstart named Dudley Laufman was paying attention. Dudley began to draw young people in — early 20s, that crowd. He became quite the fixture,” McIntire said.
“For a number of years, contradance in Maine was looking pretty great, mostly because the group that got excited about it was getting out of college in the early to mid-70s and looking for ways to enjoy life that wasn’t the bar scene,” McIntire said. “As that group began having kids, young people were brought along and it was not uncommon to have two or three or four [kids] under 7 or 8 years old that weren’t necessarily dancing but were behind the stage or handy. They would pile up and sleep, and the adults would dance. Some of those young people now have children of their own, and they are coming back to this.”
That remains the case for Paterson, who started contradancing in his college days and then brought along Emma, hoping she would enjoy the activity as well.
Many contradances in Maine also are trying to get people involved at a young age.
Chrissy Fowler, co-founder and secretary of the Belfast Flying Shoes, recently presented “Engaging Families In Your (not-necessarily-‘Family’) Dance” at the Puttin’ On the Dance: A Conference for Northeast Dance Organizers in Ottawa, Ontario. Her presentation summary claimed that “engaging families could be the single best strategy for a successful dance series.”
“There’s been a push to involve more young people,” McIntire said. “We’ve been doing this quietly but not consistently in the schools over the years. DEFFA has helped to sponsor that in recent years. One of the things we’re finding out from some of the dancers with younger children is that they want to bring their kids to dance, but showing up at a dance that starts at 8 [p.m.] or 8:30 [p.m.] just isn’t in the picture. So several dances have begun holding family dances. They’re very basic contradance events, and we’ll do that for an hour before the evening dance. Belfast is probably the best example of that.”
The Belfast Flying Shoes holds a community dance before their late-night contradance and encourage all ages and levels of experience to join. The earlier hour also encourages families with young children to join in on the fun. The Bangor Contradance has a special rate for families attending their dances, and Bar Harbor contradances in the summer attract various people, including tourists and their children.
Contradances can be found all over the state of Maine, from Bangor and Orono to Rockland, Blue Hill and Bath.
Rick Eason, organizer of the Bangor contradance and professor of computer engineering at the University of Maine, Orono, often announces upcoming dances to his students.
“It reminds me of those old movies, where people get dressed up on a Saturday night and the whole community comes together,” Eason said. “It’s something you’ve gotta try before you say you don’t like it.”
Emma believes the activity is about more than just dancing.
“It has a special community to it, but it’s not a select group of people,” Emma said. “It’s nice to be in a community of people who don’t care if you mess up. They don’t judge you. They just try to help you.”
Her father recognizes the activity isn’t for everyone.
“Some people don’t enjoy it,” Paterson said.
But Emma doesn’t understand why they wouldn’t.
“They’re strange people,” she responded with a smile.
For more information about upcoming contra dances in Maine, visit deffa.org/listings.php.
