good dance

At our dance last night, we had a cast of seeming thousands -- well over 50 people, at least. There were a lot of newbies, so our Queen Mum started very slowly and gently, first with a "circle mixer" and then with a dance involving two couples each, where you switched either couples or partners at the end of each chorus. Then he eased us into contra dances. The new folks stuck with it and were amazingly successful, even with some tricky moves thrown in. QM gets a lot of credit for creating an evening that was successful and fun. I hope we see at least some of the new folks again.

We also had some cross-over from other area dances and one set of parents there to support their daughter. I danced with both the mom and the dad and reassured them that they were doing fine and could come back.

The music was great fun with a lot of traditional tunes woven through bits and pieces of Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years' tunes. The musicians looked like they were having a swell time too.

I danced most of the first part with new folks, then towards the middle of the second part I broke down and danced with a couple of friends. I kept thinking we were going to go home but then I would be asked to dance, so we actually stayed through the last contra dance and left during the last waltz.

There's another dance in two weeks, then a very fun all-day 20th anniversary event in four weeks. Should be a good month for dancing.