As I mentioned last Friday, I headed down to the Atlanta, Georgia dance community over the long weekend for the first ever Catapult! weekend, which showcased up-and-coming callers and bands. One of the acts featured was DC's own dJ improper, who led a discussion about alternative contras for musicians and organizers. Some of the discussion involved some of the myths about alternative contras, and I figured I'd feature a few here since if one person's asking about these, it's entirely possible there are more than we've seen so far:
Myth: All the dancing is by necessity like the videos of alt-music contras on YouTube.
This one is possibly one of the bigger myths that keeps a lot of communities from giving this alternative contra thing a shot. Seriously, they're not all like that. There are some dancers who pull out moves that go really far afield of the contra dance many are used to. Many of the other alternative dance communities have less embellished dances. Of course the cameras will be looking for something neat to film; this doesn't mean people should be intimidated by the stuff they see on the Internet. In fact, some series specifically market themselves as "community-centered dance" and declare a no-lift, no-dip zone in order to be less intimidating to newcomers.
Myth: All alternative contras use strobe lights and fog machines.
There has actually been a trend lately to ban these in consideration of people who might be negatively affected by strobes and fog machines. This is meant to be fun for everyone involved.
Myth: Only strict techno music works for this sort of event.
All sorts of alternative music for contra dance has been tried and there's certainly room for more: in Maine they have had a Beatles contra and a hip-hop contra, for example, but there's no reason that the type of music can't be tailored for a community. I've heard a few people mention that the idea of a Motown contra appeals to them or one could use doo-wop or another genre entirely. It's easier for the caller and dancers to navigate if the music is mixed to retain contra phrasing, but there have been events that have worked with much looser phrasing as well.
Myth: I can save lots of cash and just grab a random sample of tunes from someone's iPod.
There's a range of options out there, from premixing songs for phrasing and length on an iPod to having a DJ mixing the tracks live to bands that incorporate varying levels of live music and are otherwise like a traditional contra band. From talking to people, it seems that events have tended to go more smoothly when this extra preparation has happened .
Myth: Using a DJ for so much as one event will kill live music in the contra community.
I am not going to argue the aesthetics of traditional, acoustic, live music versus recorded-sample music. There is room for both kinds of events in the contra world. Most of the people who come to your alternative contra are likely the people in your contra community. There may be some others who come and stay, but the vast majority of the time people at alternative contras love live music too and will show up at the acoustic events too. Frequently, the organizers of alternative contras also organize (or play/call for!) traditional contras as well. It's a different sort of energy than the traditional contras, but most events still have the safe atmosphere of a contra community, which is an attractive quality. (And as somebody mentioned in the discussion, there are ways to make the desired atmosphere clear when you market the event.) Alternative contra enthusiasts still go to the traditional contras. The people I've talked to have no interest in having the Tradition go away, by any means; rather they want to explore it more fully through a change in context.
I wish I hadn't been late to the chat -- the comments were really neat -- but I really liked that in addition to featuring some very cool bands and callers who haven't yet burst onto the national stage, there was room to talk about some of these other trends. Many thanks to Jeremiah Seligman (a.k.a. dJ improper), Penelope Weinberger (organizer of DC's Contra Sonic), and Julie Vallimont (who straddles the Tradition and techno sides of things amazingly well while organizing Spark in the Dark up in Boston) for participating in the discussion, and to the fabulous folks who came out and asked really good questions!
