One of the more interesting themes that I have seen running through the various discussions on the "modern urban contra" scene -- alternative/techno contras included -- is an ongoing pursuit of novelty. Part of the reason that events with electronic dance music seem to appeal is ironically the thing that also created demand for live bands on the contra dance scene many years ago. For contra dancers now, live music is the (sub)cultural norm, which differentiates it from most other social dance scenes. This also means that nowadays, having recorded music for a dance is going to get attention, for good or ill, simply because it's unusual.

Perhaps the more interesting conversation to be had, however, is to talk about the subcultural norms that dancers are, by and large, NOT willing to mess with. The dancing may become slightly more improvisational, the music may shift from acoustic to electronic, but several other subcultural norms remain intact. Aimless, consequenceless flirting is generally acceptable to some degree (i.e., what happens on the dance floor, stays on the dance floor, and taking it too far usually reduces the number of willing dance partners one has); harmless eye contact; intergenerationality, whether we're dancing to the Free Raisins or "Free Bird;" a regular, largely chemical-free party where nobody gives a thought to  men in skirts and women who mostly don't wear high heels; being able to leave your water bottle and your bag (possibly containing your wallet) at the edge of the room and knowing it is unlikely to be messed with.* For the general population, all of these things are novelties. (I will refrain from comment on this fact and just leave it as is -- that is a totally separate rant/conversation.)

Before one pigeonholes alternative contra into the compartment of pure novelty-seeking, take a look at what parts nobody is trying to change at all. I would even go so far as to say that the things that alternative contra dance organizers are NOT changing would actually embody many of the reasons a lot of us go to the traditional(ish) contra events in the first place -- the rest of the debate is largely a matter of aesthetics.

* Common sense is still warranted, but by and large this has been true at the events I've been to.

_This week's flourish is what is affectionately known as a lazy chain -- you get to the end of the night and your partner still has energy left, but you're kind of hitting the wall of happy exhaustion that comes from a particularly energetic night of dancing. Or you're in a minor set with some new dancers that you might want to keep an eye on to help out if need be. Or you're in low lighting (like is probably going to be present down in Asheville, NC at the CSI-themed Technophoria event or at the Sewanee techno contra this weekend down south) and you're trying to keep track of the other dancers. The dance calls for a ladies' (or a gents'!) chain and for whatever reason you'd rather not turn your back on the set to guide your partner around. So now what?

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line! Also, as a reminder, I've still got my user survey up for another week or so -- I look forward to hearing from more of you to help make this site even better!

Happy Friday,

CS

Vermont-based caller Will Mentor ventured down to the mid-Atlantic to call for the Contra Sonic techno contra series, and did so another time to call at Contrastock I at Glen Echo (he will also call for Contrastock II this September). I ran into him again at Contra Evolution in Greenfield, MA in October and the Midwinter Ball earlier this month in Baltimore and he kindly obliged my request for an interview.

This week's Friday Flourish is a move that got pulled out on me at Chattaboogie a couple of weeks ago and was really fun (although unfortunately I'm completely blanking on the dancer's name -- if you were the gentleman who pulled it out, let me know who you are and I'll be happy to credit you!). It's a neat variant on a cuddle-up swing:

You, too, could have your flourishes featured! Send them to me!

Also, we've still got the user survey up -- take a look and let us know your opinions!

Happy Friday!

CS

When Andy Reiner came through Glen Echo as part of Firecloud earlier this month, we picked up his 2008 collaboration CD with beatboxer Steve Foxx, Invasion.

"Make sure you crank that one," Andy directed Ryan. So on our way down to Chattaboogie, Ryan was a good contra dancer and did as she was told.

As we went Googling to do some research on Invasion, we found that Fiddlefoxx classifies themselves as "psych-folk" and we suppose that's as good a label as any -- as we were listening to it, despite there only being half a dozen tracks, we actually lost count of how many different things this album reminded us of, but we will try to recall some of them as we go. 

The album opens with "Jambadalay," which mixes a 1960's sort of vibe (think Harry Belafonte) with folk fiddling and hip-hop rhythms. The eclectic mix of influences also reminds us of Blues Traveler, for those who are fans, with some really neat harmonies.

"Ewon" is the first song on this album that has a distinct beginning, middle, and end, with beatboxing framing the vocals and some stretching, wailing fiddle. It recalls the Yellow-Submarine-era Beatles (including some speculation as to precisely what sort of mushrooms are on this "lonely mushroom island" described the lyrics...'nuff said).

The next track, "Vocal Break," is aptly named; there are some really tight harmonies here and this track grows on you as I=you listen to the album a few times through. 

The penultimate track, "Bom Biddly Ee," picks some interesting spoken-word, sung harmony, and instrumental samples to loop; the end result is a quirky and very representative track of the album.

The last track, "The Remembered Visit," goes more toward the hip-hop end of the spectrum, with the folkie fiddle framing a cool, smooth rap groove that actually recalls "Epic Rap Battles of History" in a really oblique way and serves as a fare-thee-well conclusion for the audience.

The variety of influences on this particular project is rather fascinating and it's particularly interesting in light of hearing Andy (the fiddle in Fiddlefoxx) play as part of Firecloud with Julie Vallimont for a live mixed fiddletechno-influenced contra dance; we may have to go delve deeper to go find their previous album, UFO.

Listening to this album as contra dancers (and especially in the context of being introduced to Andy at an actual contra dance), we found ourselves at times expecting the music in this album to come out square. (That is, to find all of the phrasing to be in the normal 64-beat pattern of all traditional contra music.) Fiddlefoxx refuses to let itself become so compartmentalized, however. "Tripleslip" includes the occasional measure of 6/8 time that completely throws off any attempt to count out its rhythm. "Vocal Break" technically is square, however the constant stress on the backbeat throughout the piece would make it challenging for contra dancers to follow. 

At first, the idiosyncratic phrasing made it hard to categorize the music of this album -- it's way too quirky to listen to it as pop music, but it doesn't fit the forms of folk music either. However, that very lack of category fits Fiddlefoxx perfectly. They're not out there to follow in anyone else's footsteps. They are creating their own brand new sound, borrowing whatever they need to from other influences along the way.

Fiddlefoxx's Invasion is available for CD purchase and digital download on CDBaby and several of the tracks are available on Fiddlefoxx's Myspace page.

One of the resolutions I made for 2012 was to stretch, and I put up five such stretches last week from my friend Renee Griffin, who works as a Physical Therapist Assistant up in Pennsylvania. Today I conclude the stretches she suggested for contra dancers to do. Truthfully, I should have been better about doing more of these before I went and danced to Perpetual e-Motion three weekends in a row before dancing to Frog Hammer's contra dance debut last night....

_I've got a few plans for the Contra Syncretist site going forward (like a better search function for back blog entries...), but I'm interested in what you all want to see going forward as I plan out future blog entries and the like. I know there have got to be more of you out there than my mom checking on Fridays to see what I wore in the  Flourish videos, so please drop me a line!

I've designed a survey for this purpose, or if you find you'd like to be more verbose, please drop me a (polite) line over at the site's Contact form. I'm not making promises at this point, but I'll make an honest effort to take user input into consideration as we move forward.

Carry on Dancing,

Ryan

This week's Friday Flourish was actually inspired by a waltz workshop we took at Footfall the other year from Gaye Fifer and Wayne Albright. They taught us about a "reverse cape" position which Steve has adapted to a neat lead in a contra swing. Just be careful of elbows on this one, okay guys?

Special thanks to Betty and Keith Holman for letting us use their foyer for a set while our usual spot is unavailable!

You, too, can have your flourishes featured! Drop us a line!

This weekend will find us at the Baltimore Folk Music Society's MidWinter Ball on Saturday night, with Will Mentor calling and Perpetual e-Motion playing the steampunk-themed event. Hope to see some of you there!

Blog posts should be more or less back on schedule come Monday. Thank you for your patience this week!

Carry on Dancing,

CS

_This blog post was inspired by an impromptu talk my friend Renee gave in the ladies' room at ContraCopia in Philadelphia, PA a few weeks ago for another dancer who asked her about stretches she could do. After a bit more thought on the matter, Renee was kind enough to supply me with some stretches that she felt contra dancers should consider to help stretch the muscles we use when we dance (and when we add flourishes). As with any physical activity: if it hurts, don't do it; we want to prevent injuries!

Tonight's entry has been posted a little bit early since we'll be packing up the car and heading southwest in the morning to make it to Chattaboogie in Chattanooga, TN. I've managed to get north and west to dance in New England and my alma mater in Ohio, but haven't been very far south to dance yet (although I've met people from those communities who have ventured north). I look forward to seeing some new and some familiar faces (and learning new flourishes to bring home!) while we're down there!

Blog posts will resume Wednesday, January 11 with Resolution #4 for 2012.

In the meantime, if you're just now joining us, take a look at my other 2012 resolutions.