| SOCIAL DANCING IN GENERAL | It’s fun, offers a great variety of music and styles of dancing, can be learnt by doing it rather than by attending formal lessons, involves dancing with others as well as your partner and is good for the body, the brain and your general well-being to boot. What more could you ask for? Here are a variety of individual responses. |
| COLONIAL DANCING | Discover the real fountain of youth. Come Colonial Dancing!
Melbourne Colonial Dancers have been meeting weekly since 1974 to enjoy traditional Australian dance which includes the following styles: Australian Colonial, Old Time, Contemporary Bush, Anglo-Celtic (Scottish, English, Welsh, Irish) and American (New England) Contra. We not only have fun and stay fit but also help to preserve the cultural heritage of Australian traditional dance and its music. Our dances are a mixture of set dances and couples dances, which makes them unique among the social dances. Set dances are excellent “mixers” where dancing couples are arranged in lines, squares or circles. And there is nothing quite like couples dances for making friends! There is a “caller” who announces what to do throughout each dance. There is usually a walk-through, a demonstration, or just a quick explanation beforehand. You don’t need to bring a partner. Dancers are encouraged to change partners throughout the night. … |
| CONTRA DANCING | Is a small dose of the driving rhythms of Crowfoot, a band from the home of Contra (the USA), enough to have you up and dancing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1cPyJWm-g4 (3 mins), or is a larger dose of Fleeting Moments required? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq9J2jjUEGk (7 mins – look out for foot percussion).
On the other hand, how could you resist a dance called Salmonella Evening? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7rkBNuZxLU (3mins) [Note: a feature of Contra is that you can use walking steps for everything, including swinging.] |
| ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCING | In the modern age of intense electronic social networking, these dances shine as genuine, warm, social pleasures. Words are unnecessary while dancing; other skills are required – a smile, a glance, a touch. Could it be more different to social media on your smart phone? In an evening of country dance one may have a dozen partners and dance with every person in the room; a group of individuals synchronised in the pattern of the dance.
Dance rates as one of the most beneficial forms of recreation: it involves so many different aspects in such an enjoyable way. The exercise of moving through the dance, remembering the figures, listening and responding to the music, and above all, the myriad of friendly interactions. – from Australian Colonial Dance (since renamed Australian Historical Dance) home page http://www.colonialdance.com.au/ (accessed 7.2.20) |
| IRISH SET DANCING
(Not step dancing as in Riverdance) |
Irish set dancing is about having fun, by dancing in sets of four couples to the infectious rhythms of lively Irish music! You don’t need to be Irish, have a partner or be an experienced dancer to join in – you just need to like Irish music, and want to dance! All welcome!! – from http://www.melbournecladdaghdancers.com.au/ (accessed 7.2.20) |
| From my more than twenty years of set dancing experience, I’d have to say that it’s the most pleasurable activity I’ve ever engaged in. The inspirational music, the energetic moves and most of all the generous and friendly people make it something unique and special.
You don’t have to be young, talented and athletic. Experts, beginners, children and seniors can all dance together in the same set and get the same amount of fun from it. A good night’s dancing can give you a high that lasts for days. You won’t have experienced joy like this since your childhood. Try it—you’ll like it! – An extract from Bill Lynch’s article ‘The Joy of Sets’ accessed 7.2.20 via a link on its title immediately under the top photo on https://sets.ie/ |
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| SOME HEALTH BENEFITS OF DANCING | In recent decades research has underscored the many health benefits of dancing. This article provides a sample of some of the findings. https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm (accessed 20.2.20)
If you have a taste for a more heavyweight document BUPA UK’s 2011 eleven page report Keep Dancing: The health and well-being benefits of dance for older people can be downloaded from https://www.communitydance.org.uk/DB/resources-3/keep-dancing-the-importance-of-physical-activity-i (accessed 20.2.20) |
