4 Sep
2025
4 Sep
'25
8:59 a.m.
On Wed, 3 Sep 2025 16:00:27 -0400, Joe Harrington via Contra Callers wrote:
Some of our dance moves come from lead-follow dances,
where the dancers act asymmetrically. One opens the opportunity
to do a move, the other decides whether, how, and when to respond. Ask any good swing,
salsa, or ballroom dancer
whether follows have equal agency!
But traditionally Contra has never been a lead-follow dance - and nor has English, from
which Contra is derived.
Who is the leader in a ladies' chain? Or when the ladies start a hey for four.
It's true for couple dancing, and if
you import moves from that you import lead-follow at the same time, but it's not an
intrinsic part of Contra.
In a roll away, both partners are active - I would say the woman is more active because
she does most of the work.
The man isn't initiating a flourish - it's part of the figure of the dance.
Colin