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The sounds of fiddle music and feet stepping in time filled the Estabrooke Hall ballroom on Thursday night as approximately 70 students and community members gathered to raise money for local causes and meet new people through a popular pastime called contra dance.
Contra dance is a combination of line dancing and square dancing, set to fiddle music and facilitated by a caller, a contra dance expert who teaches and calls the steps of each dance for participants. Each contra dancer has a partner they return to throughout the dance.
The contra dance event in Estabrooke Hall was organized and sponsored by R.E.A.C.H. and the University of Maine Green Team. The two groups held a similar event in the north pod of the Memorial Union during the 2010 spring semester on Earth Day that drew more than 60 dancers. They moved to the spacious ballroom to better accommodate the dancers and the band.
R.E.A.C.H. is a group dedicated to raising awareness and funds for global issues, according to its president, third-year international affairs student Keegan Burdette.
“Our purpose is to offer aid and relief to other countries,” Burdette said.
The Green Team is a group dedicated to sustainable practices on campus and in the surrounding area, although Green Team president and fourth-year accounting student Greg Edwards said it also aims to build community.
Burdette and Edwards are friends who wanted to collaborate on a project and felt that their organizations shared a common goal.
“We’re both working for better, stronger communities,” Edwards said.
Burdette was the one to propose a contra dance.
“A friend and I went to one and loved it and I came back to R.E.A.C.H. with the idea,” she said. “It’s about getting people involved, making people aware of their surroundings and about what’s outside of their surroundings.”
The atmosphere in Estabrooke was lively and carefree. Some dancers dressed up for the occasion while others kicked off their shoes for what third-year sustainable agriculture student Mary Plaisted called “down-home fun.”
“I’ve been doing it for a year and a half,” she said. “I like the feeling of community. You can come as you are and relax and dance.”
Her partner, former UMaine student Pat Lane said it is easy to learn the steps, even if it is your first time, and that there is no pressure in contra dance.
“It’s a relaxed dance environment, which you don’t find very often anymore,” he said.
The caller broke every dance down in to individual steps for the participants, leading them through the moves slowly before adding music. Although people stumbled during the lessons, most moved seamlessly when the band began to play.
The occasional mistake might cause group members to dissolve into laughter, but they always found their places and continued the dance.
The music and glow of the Estabrooke ballroom seemed to draw people from the cold night outside. It seemed that for every dancer that left, two more came inside to shed their coats and join the fun.
Many of them were first-time contra dancers. Nora Eldean, a third-year psychology student, came to meet new people. She had done line dancing before and was looking for a similar experience.
“This is my first time and I brought my friends along,” she said. “I convinced half of the people here to come.”
The event also drew a number of devoted contra dancers who came for the social aspect and wholesome atmosphere.
“I did it a lot my freshman year [in Bangor] and it helped me get to know people in the community,” Hope Hopkins, a second-year environmental science and ecology student said. “Green Team does it because it’s such a positive environment and something great to do.”
The contra dance raised only $60 as opposed to the $210 R.E.A.C.H. and Green Team raised on Earth Day. Half of the proceeds went to Green Team, which will use the money to purchase eco-friendly sporks to promote sustainability on campus. The other half will go to R.E.A.C.H. and benefit a trip to Haiti planned for later this year.
“It seems to me that when it’s a fundraiser or an event like that, other than a contra dance, there’s a bigger turnout,” said Molly Flanagan, a second-year marine science student.
Flanagan is a member of the Rusty Strings, a three-student folk band that has been playing contra dance events on campus and other local gigs since they formed last year.
“This [contra dance] was really fun and low-key,” Flanagan said. “There were a lot of students. That was the most students I’ve seen at a contra dance.”
