Welcome! Come dance with us!

The San Antonio Contra Dancers meet 2nd and 4th Saturdays at the International Folk Culture Center at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Contra dancing is a fun style of traditional dance that almost everyone can do. The basics can be learned in about 15 minutes, and if you can walk briskly you already know 80% of the dance! Contra dancing's roots are in Scottish, English and French set dances, but our European immigrants' various dance styles merged into a truly American dance that is energetic, exciting, and really good exercise.

We dance to live music--the bands play Celtic and traditional tunes, some of which are hundreds of years old, some are modern, and everything in-between.

No partner is necessary, and in fact, it is our tradition to change partners after every dance. We sincerely don't care what genders dance together; we're a friendly, welcoming, open group.

Comfortable, cool clothing and flat, smooth-soled shoes that stay on your feet are recommended (no heels or flip-flops). The wooden floor where we dance is one of the best dance floors in Texas--it's a "sprung" floor so it gives underneath you as you move and is very easy on the body. The air-conditioning is good, too, but you'll get warmed up as you dance, as with any exercise.

We have an introductory walk-through at 7:15 p.m., then we dance from 7:30 to 10:30, with a short break around 9 p.m. when we have refreshments and let the band stretch their legs. We don't have alcohol at our dances--we find that alcohol and aerobic dancing don't mix very well.

We have an assortment of ages, from teen-agers to one gentleman in his 80's. Most are past 40, but we're perplexed by that because contra is a really energetic form of dance that teens and college-age people would just love. Come give us a try, and let us know what you think. We're sure you're going to really enjoy it.