Blue Ridge Country Dancers
Floyd Contra Dance
Welcome to Blue Ridge Country Dancers contra dance page. Here you'll find information about contra dancing in Floyd, VA, as well as the Blacksburg Contra Dance. Check out the link for all the latest Blacksburg info. It's not necessary to bring a partner, but we do insist on clean, soft-soled shoes. All dances are taught; beginners are welcome.
Dance information/snow emergency: (540) 745-4063. We've created a BRCD Contra Dance group at Yahoo.com for those interested in sharing ideas about dancing, getting in on the planning for our dances and generally keeping in touch with other dancers. There is a place for posting related web links, uploading pictures, a calendar of events, etc. You don't have to have Yahoo mail to join; just go to the link below to get more info. Help us keep contra dancing in this area alive and thriving!Our Schedule and Directions:
Join the fun on Saturday, May 10 at the Sun Music Hall when Floorplay, the electric, acoustic Charlottesville musical trio of Mary Prendergast on piano, Paul Rosen on mandolin, fiddle, and accordion, and Aaron Lamb on drums, pairs with Joy Greenwolfe, a Chapel Hill, NC caller, for Blue Ridge Country Dancers? monthly, second Saturday, Floyd contra dance. Contra dances are traditional American folk dances, related to English Country Dances, Square Dances, and "whole set longways" dances such as the Virginia Reel. The "living tradition" of contra dances includes tunes and dance sequences newly composed, and some more than 200 years old.
Floorplay presents an up-tempo mix of contra dance root music, French Canadian reels, good-time rags, Klezmer, old-time, and swing. Their repertoire is great listening as well as for dancing. It's fun too, as Floorplay often infuses their solid dance beat with playful medleys. Being long-time dancers themselves, the band has an keen understanding of what contributes to contra dance delight: "It's all about the dancers and it's all about the groove," they say.
Floyd contra dances are held at the Sun Theater, Winter Sun, 302 S. Locust St., Floyd. Directions: Take Rt. 221 or Rt. 8 to Floyd; take Rt. 8 south of the stoplight one block and watch for the Sun Theater building on the right. See us on the map. The dance starts at 8 p.m. but arrive early for a beginner lesson at 7.30. Come as you are, wear soft flexible shoes for dancing, and the caller will teach each dance. Come to dance or come to listen - no partner needed. Blue Ridge Country Dancers contra dances are held in Floyd on the second Saturday of each month, September through June. Admission is $7.00. Snow emergency 745 -4063. See us on the Crooked Road.
Links to other contra & square dance info, old time music
Thanks for visiting our website. To contact us via E-mail with comments or questions or to add your name to our E-mail list for regular monthly dance announcements, fill out this little form.
Photographer Charlotte McPherson attended and photographed the November contra dance. She has created a beautiful slideshow of the photos that can be viewed on her website. Click the link below to see the slideshow. Relive and enjoy the beauty of the music and the dance.
Contra Dance Slideshow