Jill Nowak, voice, piano, acting, music teacher, theater teacher, artist, soap making, weaving greeting cards

What Is Contra Dance?
Bring a big smile, your soft soled clean shoes, a water bottle and $8.00 per person to help us pay for the hall, music and caller. Wear comfortable clothes. Women generally wear long flowing skirts or loose pants and men tend to wear casual pants or even shorts. This is an all age friendly event including children through seniors that is completely chemical free. You do not need to bring a partner and don't need to worry if it is a new experience because each dance is taught before the music begins.
        Contra Dancing is a form of American folk dance done with live traditional music and a caller who teaches and guides the dance moves. The music is usually in the form of jigs, reels and hornpipes from the Scots-Irish tradition on both sides of the Atlantic. Sometimes these tunes are jazzed up a bit with some swing or a more southern jambalaya style. The fiddle is often the lead instrument. Dancers form a set of two parallel lines which run the length of the hall. Each dance consists of a sequence of moves similar to those in square dance that ends with couples having progressed one position up or down the set. Having a partner arrive with you at the dance is not necessary. Many people come to a contra dance alone. Dancers are encouraged to dance with many different partners throughout the evening. If there is an excess of one gender, it is customary for women to dance men's roles and vice versa to form couples and extend the set.
        A relaxed, family-like atmosphere is found at a contra dance where the emphasis is on dancing and community. This is very different from a smokey dance hall scene. Dancers form a community of active friendly people who are open and welcoming to all new-comers, be they youngsters or seniors. Many people come to contra dances to experience dancing with live traditional music. Our live music changes monthly.
         Along with a reeling band, there is a live caller to lead us through the dances. The caller is always an inspiration to dancers adding his or her own character to each dance. Callers have the responsibility of holding the dance moves together by first teaching them and then reminding the dancers throughout the dance of which step comes next.
        You do not need to be a part of some special club or take lessons to participate in contra dance. And if you are worried about being in shape or coordinated, the fastest absolutely necessary rate of movement is a brisk walking pace. Contra is an in-exclusive, real people, real time, real music event that joins community together. It is impossible to record the incredible synergy and spirit that occurs when you combine enthusiastic, connected, happy dancers, hot musicians and swell choreography. So..........head over to the Lancaster dance.

Dance information from: A Contra Dance Primer by Les Francey & Farrell Boyce of Hamilton Country Dancers.

Press from the Lancaster, MA Contra Dance
Jigs and reels, a bit of swing form contra
June 14, 2007 Page: 7
By Lynne Klaft
LANCASTER - Jill Nowak, Lancaster resident and music teacher, first tried contra dancing 10 years ago. She's been a devotee ever since.
"I was on my way to a family wedding and got lost on the back roads of Maine," said Ms. Nowak. "I heard music coming out of this church and thought they'd be friendly, and asked for directions. They told me they would give me directions if I danced just one dance. Well, I danced two dances, got my directions, and have been completely hooked since then," she said.
Ms. Nowak organized Lancaster's first contra dance this past weekend and dancers from Worcester, New Hampshire, Greenfield and Shirley came to hear and dance to caller David Kaynor and accompanying musicians Notorious (Eden MacAdam-Somer and Larry Ungar).
Contra dancing is a form of American folk dance done with live traditional music and a caller, who teaches and guides the dance moves. Mr. Kaynor described all the dance moves, with dancers moving through them a few times before the music to each dance set began.
The music, jigs and reels from the Scots-Irish tradition, are sometimes jazzed up a bit with swing or a more southern jambalaya style. Ms. MacAdam-Somer played the fiddle, Mr. Kaynor called the steps and also played fiddle, on the guitar and banjo.
The dancers formed a set of two parallel lines running the length of the hall. Mr. Kaynor called out the sequence of moves, which are similar to square dance, but much more informal.
"One of the great things about contra dancing is that you learn while you go," he said. "So ask your neighbor, `how did you do that?' And he will show you."
Richard Tung of Shirley, who has been dancing for 17 years, said that he didn't feel he was coordinated enough for ballroom dancing, but learned how to contra dance in no time at all.
"It only took me three or four times. It was the easiest thing to learn. I had no time to take lessons, but you learn as you go, right on the dance floor. And you see the most interesting things at these dances. I once saw a blind woman contra dancing and she was good." Mr. Tung goes dancing once or twice a week, depending on the schedules of dances.
There are dances all over New England; Whitney Russell of New Haven, Conn., has a condo in Greenfield, so that he can be there for the weekend dances at the Grange.
"I'll travel anywhere to hear David Kaynor," said Mr. Russell, who said the dances in Peterboro, N.H., are very popular with contra dancers.
"They have a Fall Ball in October and a Snow Ball in January, that run from noon to midnight with four different bands playing," said Mr. Russell.
"Nelson, N.H., has the oldest continuing dance going - over 200 years," said Mr. Tung, describing the first time he danced at the hall.
"The floor was slanted and the dancers all started on one end and ended up on the other. They rebuilt the floor, but left the slant in - tradition, you know!" said Mr. Tung.
Mr. Tung described festivals at Falcon Ridge, N.Y., where more than 10,000 people camp out and participate, and the Dance Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs in February.
"There are all kinds of folk dancing at these festivals, but the majority of the people that come are contra dancers," he said. "You see high school and college kids and people in their 80s dancing; it's so much fun."
Ms. Nowak, originally from Maine, says there are contra dances all over Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but still a good drive from Lancaster.
"I was on the town advisory buildings on the green committee and one of the things that they talked about was more community activities, so I thought a dance might be a good idea," said Ms. Nowak.
"The music is in the Celtic tradition and the fiddle is the lead instrument. The women wear flouncy skirts or just comfortable clothes and the men wear shorts or long pants. It's all very informal. You can come in a tuxedo or jeans; it really doesn't matter to the folks at the dance.
"It's a community activity that everyone can take part in. There's a hope for, a possibility of another dance. Have people look on http://www.theDanceGypsy.com The Dance Gypsy to see if we schedule another one," said Miss Nowak.

http://www.theDanceGypsy.com The Dance Gypsy to see if we schedule another one," said Miss Nowak.

The dance did continue once a month for two years until Miss Nowak became Mrs. Wheat
and moved to North Adams!!