Click photo to see more from Eleanor Alice Benecki
At the end of June, (Contra Syncretist reader!) Megan Emerson and her committee arranged to have Firecloud come and play a techno contra in Portland, OR. I caught up with her afterward and asked her about organizing, community reaction, and following up on Chelsea Co's dances in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR.
"I went to Chelsea Co's Binary Blackout in 2010. It being my first alt contra, I was delighted to find the dorky folk dancing I knew and loved -- but strewn with glitter and infused with bass and rife with scandalous blues dips. I had been recently head-hunted by the Portland contra committee as a representative of younger dancers, and I decided we needed to get in on this Hot New Thing. Having no idea what I was doing, I asked Chelsea for tips on what worked and didn't, brought in the same caller and DJ, and invited all the Seattle dancers I could find to come down and show us how it was done."
How did the community react? Was there any pushback?
"I went to Chelsea Co's Binary Blackout in 2010. It being my first alt contra, I was delighted to find the dorky folk dancing I knew and loved -- but strewn with glitter and infused with bass and rife with scandalous blues dips. I had been recently head-hunted by the Portland contra committee as a representative of younger dancers, and I decided we needed to get in on this Hot New Thing. Having no idea what I was doing, I asked Chelsea for tips on what worked and didn't, brought in the same caller and DJ, and invited all the Seattle dancers I could find to come down and show us how it was done."
How did the community react? Was there any pushback?
