Saturday, June 21, 2008

Contra Dancing

As I mention in my profile, I have a new obsession -- contra dancing with occasional forays into English Country Dancing. Obsessions come; obsessions go; sometimes they stick around. I'm hoping this one will stick. It s great fun, great exercise, and I've met some really wonderful people at dances.

Any good obsession should fit in with my previous obsessions. The connection to folk music and upright bass is obvious. Computers are a bit more of a stretch, but in my (ahem) spare time, I have started working on a program to help design dances and/or catalog existing dances. Then there's the weaving.

A contra dance is all about patterns fitting in a fairly constrained framework. Weaver's will feel right at home. The question is can there be cross-over. Could one weave a contra dance, or dance a weave structure. Hmmmm.....

If you're in the St. Louis area check the Childgrove site linked above, and come to a dance (usually Sunday night.) You'll be glad you did.

Oh, and the link to parrots? Well, Willow went to a flash dance recently. She was a big hit.