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Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is a form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance , Scottish country dance , and French dance styles in the 17th century.
A count may also be called a step, as contra dance is a walking form, and each count of a dance typically matches a single physical step in a figure. Typical contra dance choreography comprises four parts, each 16 counts (8 measures) long. The parts are called A1, A2, B1 and B2.
Contra dance form describes the arrangement of dancers into contra dance sets and minor sets. There are various forms, and each dance's choreography specifies its formation. A caller's first instructions for each dance are usually to move the dancers into their starting positions according to the choreography for that dance.
Contradanza (also called contradanza criolla, danza, danza criolla, or habanera) is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th century, derived from the English country dance and adopted at the court of France.
In the 24-beat reel version of the tune used for the modern dance, the A and B parts are not repeated and a new C part is added. [6]: 44 It is regarded as difficult to play. [6]: 44 Unusually for contra dances, the tune and dance have become closely associated, and it is almost always danced to the traditional tune.
Kontradans or the French-Haitian Contredanse, [1] is creolized dance music formed in the 18th century in the French colony of Saint-Domingue [2] that evolved from the English contra dance, or (country dance), which eventually spread throughout the Caribbean, Louisiana, Europe and the rest of the New World from the Creoles of Saint-Domingue.
The terms carry no value judgment, but only indicate whether one is on one's "home" side. A dance in duple-minor longways form is termed "improper" if the active couples are improper by default; this is the exception in English country dance, but the rule in contra dance. right and left . See changes of right and left. set
Bob "Mr. Mac" McQuillen (June 27, 1923 – February 4, 2014) was a teacher, musician, and prolific composer of contra dance tunes. [1] He was a recipient of a 2002 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.