History of Contra Dancing
Various opinions
Tucson Friends of Traditional Music
A Guide To Contra Dance
Alan Winston
My comments
English Country dancing of the 16th-17th century became
popular in France late in the 17th where it was known as contredans or contre danse.
By the beginning of the 18th century these dances were common in the respective
American colonies of England and France. By the mid-18th in the major cities,
English dances merged with French court dances (minuet, pavanne) to become Colonial American
dances. The rural south and north were not much influenced by this and developed their own
dance forms derived loosely from English Country Dance. In northern
New England contra dancing was common in the late 1700s. French terminology was used very little
in English Country dancing. Colonial American used French terminology derived from court
dances (allemande, rigadoon, cotillion). Contra Dance uses different French terminology.
| Term | French | Translation |
| contra | contre | opposing |
| allemand | à la main | by the hand |
| dosido | dos à dos | back to back |
| balance | balance | swing or rock |
| promenade | promenade | walk |
| box the gnat | baisse le nez ?? | dip the head |
| chain | echange ?? | exchange |
To me, the predominance use of French terminology implies that contra dancing was developed
by English and French colonists living in the same community or in neighboring ones. This
was frequently the case in northern New England from 1700 to the present day. Currently
about 25% of northern New England is identified as having French ancestry. In some cities
60% have French family names.
"Box the gnat" and "Ladies chain" are speculative but appear consistent with French usage. "Baisse le nez" literally means lower the nose but "nez" is frequently in French where face of head would be used in English.
Note that all the commands use the French intimate or friendly (tu) form of the verb not the
formal or polite form (vous).Court or formal dance instructions would use the vous form. The tu form would only be used where the caller and dancers were close friends.
