Contra Dance The Day And Night Away

Sun., April 6, 1997

Stuart Wasserman Special To Travel

Spokane resident Mary Naber was supposed to be on vacation, but she couldn’t quite relax. The problem: too many choices.

“This is tough,” she jokingly lamented to her 40ish friend as they lay on the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, soaking up the summer sun’s warmth. “What do we do here all day? We eat, we dance and we swim, then we dance and swim and eat again.”

Clearly, though, Naber’s top priority was dancing. That’s what brought her to the 10th annual Lady of the Lake Contra Dance Camp.

On the dance floor, Naber and her friend were participating in a unique American art form, which has nothing to do with that sometimes-secret, sometimes-public war conducted by the Reagan Administration in Nicaragua during the 1980s.

Contra dance - an older cousin to the square dance - blends roots of Irish and English country dance with a bit of Appalachian influence. “Contra” is short for “country.” It’s a people’s dance, popular in New England barns and community centers since the early 1800s. Part of its popularity probably has to do with its built-in flirtatiousness.

Dancers begin with one partner - perhaps their significant other, or someone they just met on the dance floor. But in the course of the dance, they may partner up with 17 others. After each dance ends, the caller reminds dancers to find new partners for the next dance. Men ask women to dance, and women ask men. You meet your original partner sometime during the course of the next song.

“I love it,” says Naber, a first-timer at Lady of the Lake. “This is a real treat for me. I dance all day and most of the night, and someone else cooks and cleans. There is very little drinking, no smoking and its relatively inexpensive.”

Campers stay in cedar cabins built in the 1970s, and at night they dance on the wood floors of a Depression-era lodge. Food is prepared family style, and there are usually plenty for second helpings.

Cost of the week-long experience is range from $125 for children to $350 for adults, including food and dance workshops in contra, tango, meringue, and hip-hop.

Steve Lanigan, a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, enjoys the sensuality of the dance.

“I think of the waltzes (which begin and end most sets) and of locking eyes during the pirouette,” Lanigan said. “I think it’s one of the most sensual moves in all of dance.”

Other campers say their hearts melt during the gypsy, a step in which partners slowly walk around each other without moving their eyes from one another.

The whimsical music can suggest a variety of folk traditions, from Cajun to Irish. Musicians play violins, mandolins, accordions and even the piano.

On the dance floor hearts beat faster, couples spin around each other and everywhere people are smiling. The music is fast and often takes dancers’ feet where they never thought they could go.

Lanigan, 40, a single, outdoorsy type, said he first heard of Lady of the Lake dance camp while working in Alaska. When he transferred down to the Lower 48, the first thing he did in the personnel office was schedule his annual leave to coincide with the next Lady of the Lake. Lanigan has been back four times.

“I’m attracted to contra dancing because of the human contact,” he said. “You get to hold people. It’s a place where you give and get hugs from people, something we all need more of in this society.”

The evening dance runs until about 10:30 or 11. About retire to their cabins, but the rest stay up for more. This is when campers are free to pull out their instruments and form pickup bands. The dancing continues for about another two hours.

Lanigan stays until the very end. Afterward, he walks down to the shore of the lake, peels off his steamy clothes and jump in for a swim before retiring.

Campers have options. If they bring their own tent, they can sleep in the meadows or on the lake shore. During the course of this particular week, about 20 tents popped up.

One was home to Ken and Margaret Emerson. He is a retired chemistry teacher at Montana State University; she is a weaver and basket-maker of some renown in Bozeman.

Although the couple has attended an annual weekend contra dance camp held in Kalispell called The Bearhug, they prefer Lady of the Lake.

“This camp draws a wider crowd,” said Ken, who met people from as far away as Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Austin. And at the daily workshops, “the quality of the teaching was superb.”

Emerson said he started contra dancing with Ralph Page, a legendary New Hampshire caller who came to Boston for a weekly dance held at the YWCA.

Ken met his wife, however, on a dance floor in Eugene, Ore., in 1955. They married the next year, and have never stopped dancing.

“The music, the fun of doing something physical - you get hooked on all of it. It gives us a rush,” Ken explained.

Naber met her husband on a contra dance floor in Spokane. “He doesn’t believe me that I didn’t come to contra dance to find a man,” she said. “I came to have a good time and get some hugs. I just love contra dancing.” Lady of the Lake Summer Music & Dance Camp takes place 90 minutes from Spokane at Lake Coeur d’Alene’s 400-acre Camp N-Sid-Sen. Adult camp runs June 22-28th; family camp is Aug. 17-23; fall weekend camp is Oct. 3-5. For more information, write to P.O. Box 9013, Spokane, WA 99209-9013, or call (509) 838-2160. half the dancers retire to their cabins, but the rest stay up for more. This is when campers are free to pull out their instruments and form pickup bands. The dancing continues for about another two hours.

Lanigan stays until the very end. Afterward, he walks down to the shore of the lake, peels off his steamy clothes and jumps in for a swim before retiring.