Contra Characters

The first time I ever contra danced was here in New England while I was in New Hampshire almost five years ago. So I was excited to be back in the area with the possibility of dancing twice a weekend without having to drive too far (even though my dancing probably won’t be quite that frequent). This weekend, I went to the Hartford Community Dance in an American Legion Cabin. Classic. It resembled the first time I danced, old wood floors in a big, white building with high ceilings and flourescent lighting. I noticed last night that there are particular charactersitics that seem to transfer to contra dancers, irregardless of location. For example, I knew I was in the right place when I saw several Subarus parked out front. Or there are certain molds of people: like the guy with Tevas, glasses, and a rat tail; or the middle-aged man with a white beard and pants pulled up past his belly button. Apparently, I’m also one of the classic contra characters because a few people were almost certain they had encountered me before in the area despite the fact that I just arrived here.