Welcome to Knoxville Contra Dance, click for tips on technique
and etiquette. Join our Facebook Group: Knoxville
Contra Dancers.
We dance to live music every
Monday night, 8-11 pm, at the Laurel Theater (16th St. and Laurel Ave.
[directions]) -
$7 ($3 for students). If this is your first time, come a few minutes early and
join our new dancer workshop, where we teach the basics.
Beginners are welcome, no partner or
experience required. It's easy and fun!
New
dancers, click here for videos and tips! Watch the videos at ContraUSA.com.
| Date |
|
Band |
Caller |
Sound/Opener |
| April |
30 |
Clearbranch |
Susan Moffett * |
Allen/Donna |
| May |
7 |
Cinco de Mayo with Confluence |
Donna Calhoun * |
Allen/Diane |
| |
14 |
Lost Marbles |
Tim Klein* |
Allen/Liz |
| |
21 |
Wild Goose Ceili Band |
Vicki Herndon* |
Allen/Liz |
| |
28 |
Memorial Day Dance: Boogertown Gap |
Donna Calhoun* |
Allen/Liz |
* The caller will teach a
Beginner's Workshop at ~ 7:30 pm.
March-May schedule: printable PDF
Booking:
For Monday night scheduling and
booking inquiries, contact
Bill McGowan bbmcgowan @
fastmail.fm.
All other questions:
KnoxContraWebmaster @ yahoo.com.
With very rare exceptions
we dance every Monday night from 8-11 pm
at the Laurel Theater
at 16th Street and Laurel Avenue [directions].
Beginners are welcome,
(it helps to show up
early), and no partner is required.
All dances will be
taught. "If you can walk, you can contra
dance."
Admission for all dances is $7 ($3 for
students).
You
can burn a lot of energy on the dance floor, so we recommend
you
wear loose fitting comfortable clothing with layers
that you can remove.
To save your self some time in the water line, bring a couple of bottles of water with you.
We dance in the
historic Laurel Theater, to preserve our dance floor, we request
that
you wear or bring clean, non-marking, soft-soled or leather shoes for
dancing.
What is Contra Dancing? Contra dancing is a uniquely American community event that
has its roots in traditional European and American country dancing.
Each dance consists of a series of figures that are done using a smooth,
easy walking step to the rhythm of the music. The caller teaches
each dance by walking the dancers through the moves before the music
begins. He/she continues to remind the dancers what figure is coming
next until everyone has picked up the flow of the dance. The dance
music is provided by a live band made up of acoustic
musicians, many of whom are also dancers.
According to noted caller Diane
Silver
"You take the long lines from English country dances,
as seen in Pride and Prejudice,
put in the moves
you learned in junior high school about square dancing,
set it to
the driving beat of River Dance, and drop all this right in the
middle of Woodstock!"
Listen to the NPR story: Youth Flock to Contra Dancing
Check out our pamphlet: "
Welcome to Knoxville Contra Dance"
for tips on technique
and etiquette.
Here is a great reference
for new dancers,
complete with videos (individually listed below):
"What is
Contra Dancing?"
by Chattahoochee Country Dancers (CCD)
in Atlanta
Or get a crash-course
with a 10-minute clip of
"Dancing
Contras"
"Whirling
Dervishes at the Contra Dance"
August 15, 2010, sermon by
Unitarian minister
and contra dancer Chris Buice
"Laurel
dance night partners newbies, pros"
an article in the News Sentinel
July 2009
by Greg "Not Into Dancing" Wood
MetroPulse article
by
Val Pendergrast, “Dance ,
Dance, Dance”,
Metro Pulse (vol. 6, no. 33), August 15–22, 1996
See our own Miss Vicki
featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel's: Picture
This!
Also see
Bob Bennett's Photo
Pages
Newsletters:
Promenade,
April 2009
Promenade,
November 2008
Promenade,
July 2008
Promenade,
April 2008
Promenade,
January 2008
Promenade,
November 2007
Contra Dances in our Sister
Cities of Tennessee
Chattanooga:
2nd & 4th Saturdays
http://www.contranooga.org/
Jonesborough:
1st & 3rd Saturdays
http://www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.com/
Memphis:
2nd,
4th & 5th Fridays
http://memphiscontra.webs.com/
Nashville:
every Friday
http://www.nashvillecountrydancers.org/
Sewanee:
once
a month, check schedule
http://www.mistycontra.zoomshare.com/0.html
~*~
More Dancing Around Knoxville
English Country Dancing at
the Laurel Theater
Scandinavian Couple Dancing at the Laurel Theater
Oak
Ridge International Folk Dancers
Knoxville Swing Dance Association
and the Swing Facebook
Group
Greater East Tennessee Dance
KCD Mailing Address - our
new mailing address is:
Knoxville Country
Dancers
P.O. Box 32817
Knoxville, TN
37930-2817
We're proud to be an affiliate
of
and
Updated
April 15, 2012
... Send comments or corrections to kcdwebmaster @ yahoo.com.
