#contradancing

Room D bustling as always with contra fever! #flurry2017 #flurryfestival #contradancing #music

Great bear is a hit as always at the contra after party! #flurry2017 #flurryfestival #30years #contradancing

All the cool hip dancers are at the after party! #flurry2017 #flurryfestival #30years #contradancing #coolhipdancers

Star struck contras are so popular we got lines going off the floor! Don't miss out on this great dance! #flurry2017 #flurryfestival #contradancing

Which features Wei Ying and Lan Zhan as ballroom dancers, but runs from tango through to contradancing and let me get as much of a vicarious dancing fix as I could, due to excellent descriptions and obvious love of movement.  That plus a great revenge plot, what more could you need?

This amused me! This is Strava recording me contra dancing! Cuz ya know, if you didn’t record it, did it happen? #contradance #contradancing #dancing #strava #portland #portlandmaine #maine (at Portland, Maine) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7aBh94l7ch/?igshid=24vse1jvznxl

Contra (2/2) (Continued from previous post) The next day I drove down to Ithaca, bought some groceries and arrived at a remote farm around 10PM. Karen met me with a flashlight. She had silver hair, bright eyes, and a welcoming, caring smile. Karen told me the next night she and her partner planned to visit Cornell University for a community dance. She said she always encourages her guests to go, but few ever do. I felt attached to nothing that weekend. I had given up the idea that more introspection would solve my problems, or that this weekend would clarify anything. I said, sure, let’s go. We arrived at Cornell that night, and entered a long room where an assortment of old-timers were putting on their dancing shoes. Karen showed me a few simple steps. At first my gestures felt perfunctory and lifeless, but Karen looked at me in the eyes and corrected my posture. She instructed me to hold the partner firmly and with a sure hand so we could really twirl. I won’t go into what that night was like, because if you have gone contra dancing then you already know, and if you haven’t then I won’t ruin the surprise. Suffice it to say that in ten minutes I felt more loose, and after the first song I was actually smiling. Three hours later, my cheeks felt sore. I hadn’t worn a face like that in a long time. My first night of contra started something new when everything else in my life was coming to an end. I drew this picture last night at CDNY at The Church of the Village, because in the middle of my second night doing this I just had to capture the spirit of this ritual. This is life at its best. * * * #contra #contradancing #drawing #drawingfromlife #reportagedrawing #art #instaart #sketch #sketchbook #everydayadrawing #penandink #writingfromlife #stories #lightmotiondetector (at The Church of the Village - a radically inclusive, anti-racist community) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHqUVuAzF8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ogxu8cmktkr6