A 35-year-old Bellingham nonprofit is stepping up this month to put the ‘rad’ in traditional contra dancing.
“Dance and music take life from mere survival to flourishing and twirling,” said Sky Leuba, president of the Bellingham Country Dance Society.
The Bellingham dances are on the second and fourth — and fifth, when there is one — Saturdays from September through mid-June in the upstairs room at the Fairhaven Library, 1117 12th St.
Contra dancing is like square dancing in that a caller teaches each dance before each set of music starts and calls the dance floor throughout the dance. But unlike square dancing, which stays within the square, in contra dancing, dancers move to live music with another person as a couple through the whole dance line.
When the dance ends, dancers applaud the band and then turn around on the dance floor and ask someone for the next dance.
Virginia Prowell, who’s been involved in the contra dance scene since the mid-1990s, said that anyone curious but hesitant can just come and sit and watch, listen to the music, although it’s likely someone might ask you for the next dance.
“The triangles of energy that flow between the band, the caller and the dancers fills the room, knowing that you are indeed part of the whole,” she said.
There’s no need to be a perfect dancer or have the “right” outfit, no partner is required to come and attend, no experience is necessary and all dances are taught. It is much the feel of an old community grange dance.
However, because some first timers may feel unsure of themselves, Leuba is offering a new dance class series for beginners and veteran dancers, starting with the first dance of the season, on Sept. 13.
While there have always been 30-minute beginner sessions before each dance session, “Flourishes Twirls” is a program to foster a more welcoming atmosphere for beginner dancers by providing more structure and guided instruction and a richer experience for veteran dancers through teaching advanced dance skills. This is all part of an ongoing vision to have a “Saturday night dance” culture with folk dance and live music, said Leuba.
The Bellingham dances are always attended by dancers from members of the Vancouver Country Dance and from Skagit County, whose first autumn dance is Sept. 6 at the Littlefield Celtic Center in Mount Vernon.
Abigail Hobart, 32, has called dances in 22 states, and in Canada, Spain, France and in Scotland and England.
Raised in Bellingham, she grew up contra dancing and fiddling, and her family were faithful participants at Lady of the Lake’s Family Camp in Idaho.
She began calling dances about five years ago, after she taught contras at an open mic at a punk squat in London. Since then, she has called across the country in multiple situations including festivals, contra dance series, family dances and private events. As a caller, her goal is “to be kind to all and bring people into this art form and all its potential for joy and connection.” She aims for “her calling to be easy to understand, playful, encouraging and inclusive to all dancers.”
Hobart’s mother, Sally Sheedy, has attended dance camps with Orcas Island Contra Dance, as well as aboard the Elwa ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor — the popular ferry dances ceased in 2020.
Sheedy said she’s made wonderful friends, and on the dance floor, she enjoys the many brief interactions with all the other dancers. She said she’s never sorry she decided to go to a dance.
“It’s multigenerational and great for singles. You can arrive solo and dance all night long — the culture of contra is to switch partners after each set,” she said.
Kim Martin, who’s been on the Bellingham Country Dance Society board member for more than 18 years, has traveled to Canada, Oregon, Montana and British Columbia to dance camps and has attended every dance possible in Bellingham and Mount Vernon.
She noted some recent changes in contra dancing, as Hobart also mentioned.
“Being an accepting crowd and encouraging diversity,” she said, “we’re changing the verbiage to identify the position of the dancers. Larks on the left and robins on the right rather than ladies and gents, to encourage everyone to just be dancers and not have expectations of leaders or followers or whether or not a person identifies as lady or gentleman.”
Leuba encourages anyone curious to “enjoy the tradition of folk dance and music in a warm and welcoming low-stress environment and to bring your family, friends and sweetie and help us in taking part in a rich legacy of music and dance with dancers young and old, and with musicians young and old.”
— By Margaret Bikman
Also read in Salish Current:
• “Mentoring musicians in Whatcom County,” Aug. 6, 2025
• “Bellingham Exit returns: music, art and immersive experiences await,” Oct. 3, 2024
• “Recognizing folk in the Salish Sea: Lopez Uncovered Music Festival,” July 29, 2024
• “Old is new again with early music festival,” May 13, 2022