Country Dance*New York Presents Contra Dance 1/21

Country Dance*New York will present a contra dance on Saturday, January 21, 2011 from 8 pm to 11 pm at the Chinatown YMCA's Houston Street Center (273 Bowery, near Houston Street, Manhattan).

No previous experience is required. From 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm there is a beginner's workshop, and the caller walks everyone through the patterns of each dance. Contra dancing is having a renaissance around the country, thanks to a thriving youth scene; high energy, acoustic music; and fast-paced, aerobic dancing. There is plenty of swinging your partner and lots of fun, flirting and eye contact. Some men wear kilts or skirts. Women dance with men, men dance with men, and women dance with women.

Dynamic live music will be provided by the innovative contra dance band from Western New York and Pennsylvania, Tunescape, making its New York City debut while fearlessly exploring the border between traditional music and modern groove. Tunescape's infectious energy, driving rhythm, and sense of humor have delighted dance and concert audiences throughout the Northeast since 2005. Their debut CD, Your Face, was produced by Andrew Van Norstrand and released in 2010. The band's exciting music is wildly varied, borrowing material from nearly every dance tradition imaginable and fusing it spontaneously into a colorful, unique sound - drawing inspiration from Quebecois, Irish, Swedish, French, New England traditional contra dance music as well as world beat percussion, jazz, and English country dance music. The band is comprised of Jodi Austin (keyboard),Tim Ball (fiddle), Rachel Bell (accordion), Peter Blue (percussion, button accordion, nyckelharpa), and Nadine Dyskant-Miller (flute). The highly regarded caller Luke Donev will lead the proceedings.

Contra dancing started in New England in the 1700s, but the modern version is a far cry from the Virginia Reel-type dancing done in schools years ago. The current dancing is done in long lines of dancers facing their partners and moving briskly in patterns to live music, sometimes changing partners.

General Information: Admission is $15 general public, and $12 for full-time students with ID. First timers get a free pass to use to come another time. For more information visit the Country Dance*New York website, www.cdny.org or call The Dancephone at 212.459.4080. Attendees are asked to bring a separate pair of clean, soft-soled shoes for dancing.

Traveling to 273 Bowery (and Houston Street) via subway: Take the 6 train to Bleecker Street stop, the F train to Second Avenue stop, or the B or D train to Broadway and Lafayette Street.

For more bios and videos of the band, Tunescape, click on this link: http://tunescape.org/about

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Bary