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Dancers at the Wild Asparagus Contra Dance at the Guiding Star Grange. In contra dance, couples move in different ways depending on the caller’s instructions. -
Dancers enjoying the Wild Asparagus Contra Dance at the Guiding Star Grange. In contra dance, each couple dances in sets of four, working their way up the line of dancers so that they always stay with their partner. -
People dancing at the Wild Asparagus Contra Dance at the Guiding Star Grange. -
Members of Wild Asparagus playing at the contra dance. The band has been playing music to accompany contra dancing in the area for over 30 years and has mentored other bands doing similar things.
The Guiding Star Grange fills up with lines of people do-si-doing, dancing an allemande, ladies chaining and swinging their partners at the weekly contra dance.
“Greenfield is the absolute locus of contra dancing in the country,” Devorah Rosenberg, a contra organizer and dance enthusiast, said. “It’s the best-kept secret in Greenfield.”
The large room, located at 401 Chapman St., fills up with musicians and dancers alike, building on each other’s energy all night long. But in a post-pandemic world, they are facing a new problem: Their numbers are dwindling.
Rosenberg explained before the pandemic the room would have sometimes five sets (lines of dancers) all with about 40 people dancing together; now they have about two sets.
Contra dancing originated in the late 17th century and is largely influenced by Irish and Scottish dancing styles.
Each contra dance is made up of long lines of couples that move in different ways, depending on the caller’s instructions — spinning, stomping, marching hand in hand, and sometimes bowing to each other at the end of a dance. Each couple dances in sets of four, working their way up the line of dancers so that they always stay with their partner.
Music for the dance often includes guitar, fiddle and keyboards/piano, but can also have interesting additions including the saxophone or flute.
Most of the dances include about 16 moves that the partners perform before repeating them over and over again with a new couple until the song ends. It is different than a square dance because instead of staying with the same set of four couples for the entire song, dancers move between each other throughout their time on the dance floor.
The dance, which involves touching and close proximity with many people, is decidedly not a COVID-friendly activity. So when the pandemic began, local contra dances all shut down, along with much of the world.
Unlike many of the in-person activities that came back in full force post-pandemic, contra never had the resurgence they were hoping for.
Rosenberg said many of the people who used to come to contra dancing learned how to entertain themselves in their homes, and now prefer staying in instead of heading to the Guiding Star Grange on Friday and Saturday nights.
Contra is not alone, with many once-popular businesses struggling in a post-pandemic world.
This is not only hurting the dance scene but also hurting the musicians. The band Wild Asparagus has been playing music to accompany contra dancing in the area for over 30 years and has mentored other bands doing similar things. They used to be able to tour and earn a living off their work. Now with fewer people attending, and subsequently fewer paying the $15 to $20 cover charge, they are not getting paid as well for their work.
“I feel awful that my friends who are musicians had been killed for three years during the pandemic and are still not making a living,” Rosenberg said.
During the pandemic, many people felt isolated in their homes, and still do as many are unable to rebuild a community that was lost as the world shifted online. Contra may be the perfect antidote to the isolation people face today.
Contra allows for people of all walks of life — all ages, sexualities, ethnicities, genders — to come together and socialize. It gives space for a physical connection as the dance involves physical touch, including hand-holding and swinging your partner. The dance also involves the basic action of human connection: eye contact, something that was lost as social distancing became the norm.
Contra dancing in Greenfield has been a community builder for decades. Rosenberg explained that she moved to Greenfield for dance, and said that she knows at least 20 people who have done the same.
Western Massachusetts as a whole is a special place for dancing, with many central hubs for specific types of dancing located within a short drive from Greenfield.
Information about contra dances at the Grange can be found on their website guidingstargrange.org. Some of the dances are mask-required and some are mask-optional.
Rosenberg explained when she first came to a contra dance she was terrified to ask a stranger to dance, but after going a couple of times she built her confidence and quickly became what she described as a “contraholic.”
“Contra is one of my greatest joys. Come to a dance and I will dance with you,” Rosenberg said.
Bella Carmela Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com