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We dance on the 4th Saturday of every month, except for December. In December, we always dance on the 26th, whatever day of the week it is. We start with a newcomer's orientation at 7:00 pm, and dance from 7:30 to 10:30 or so.
Unless otherwise noted, we dance in the Hallowell City Hall Ballroom. The address is 1 Winthrop Street, Hallowell ME, just a few minutes from I-95 exit 109. The entrance to the building is around to the side on Second Street.
Street parking can be hard to find on a Saturday night, but there should be plenty of space just up the hill in the lots off Franklin Street (see parking map).
Suggested donation: $15 to $25. Pay more if you can; our musicians are worth it. If you can't pay $15, pay what you can. Even if you have no money, you should dance. Children free. Teenagers $5. Children are our future.
COVID Policy: Masks and vaccinations encouraged but not required at this time (see full description below).
Masks and vaccinations encouraged but not required at this time.
We are presently assuming that the COVID pandemic is winding down. At this time we do not require masks or proof of vaccination, but do recommend them for your personal safety and security. Should there be another COVID surge, or should there be a mandate from the state or from our venue, we will change our policy accordingly.
We ask all attendees for contact tracing information, in case we need to notify you about possible exposure. Please do not attend if you are feeling unwell or if you have been recently exposed to someone with COVID (or any other infectious disease).
We want our dance to be a safe space where everyone feels welcome and unthreatened. If you feel uncomfortable for any reason, please speak to one of the organizers. We will do our best to ameliorate the situation.
We encourage a culture of consent and respect. Anyone can invite anyone to be a dance partner, and anyone can refuse an invitation by simply saying "no," without further explanation.
Please don't be concerned about making "mistakes." Everyone does it. It's part of the dance. Experienced dancers are just better at recovering from mistakes they make. Recovering from mistakes is part of the fun and challenge of the dance. If you make a mistake or find yourself lost, smile. Look for where you need to be next time, and go there. You get another chance to it right every 40 seconds or so.
Our dances are gender-role neutral. Any person can dance either role, and if they are sufficently experienced, can swap roles with their partner in the middle of a dance. Never assume that someone is dancing the "wrong" role. Dance with whoever comes at you.
We normally ask our callers to use gender-neutral terminology when calling the dance. The preferred role names are "Larks" and "Robins." You can remember them because the Lark stands on the Left and the Robin stands on the Right when a couple lines up facing another couple at the start of the dance.
You will sometimes hear "Ravens" instead of "Robins." That's leftover from an earlier gender-neutral calling convention.
You will also sometimes hear the caller using the old traditional "Gents" and "Ladies." That may be an unintended reversion to habit, or it may be because the caller is not yet comfortable with the new terminology and prefers to call with the traditional terms. Even when the caller uses those terms, the dance is still gender-role neutral. Anyone can dance any role. In the context of the dance. "Gent" should be equivalent to "Lark" and "Lady" should be equivalent to "Robin": simply interpreted as labels for roles without overtones of gender.
For those who wonder why we have adopted gender-neutral calling, the short answer is, it's traditional. Contra dancing has a long tradition, going back centuries, and every generation has changed the tradition to suit their tastes at the time. The current generation of young dancers prefers to use gender-neutral terminology, and young dancers are the ones who will carry the tradition on into the future. And in the future, of course, the next generation will have its own ideas. "Larks" and "Robins" may take some getting used to, but once you do, you may very well find that it improves your dance experience.
