The contra dance community convenes for the annual Foggy Moon Weekend -- and you can join in.

This, according to Laura Frank, all contra dancers believe: “If everyone tried it they would love it – and the world would be a better place.”

And who among us can’t use a little bit of that optimism right now?

This weekend, Nov. 3-5, the Monterey Country Dance Community hosts the Foggy Moon Weekend – a big annual convention-slash-family-reunion of contra dance fun, back for the first time since 2019. From Friday night through Sunday, 160 dancers will convene at the Monterey YMCA to dance the days (and nights) away. Registration for the weekend is long-since full, but there’s still an opportunity to get a taste of it at the Sunday night community dance, the Foggy Moon Ball. “It’s going to be just bliss,” Frank says.

Contra dance is an American style of dancing with its roots in colonial times – it gets the name “contra” from the fact that dancers stand across from (contra) their partners in long lines, and then move around the room, dancing with different people. “You’re really mixing with the whole room all night long – it’s very social,” Frank says. The dancing is accompanied by live Celtic-style or Old Time music, often featuring banjos, fiddles or accordions.

There’s always a “caller,” and this is perhaps what really sets it apart from other styles of dance – dancers need not know any particular steps, it’s the caller’s job to teach each dance to the group before the real thing begins. The moves are easy and the caller is there to help dancers keep track of what comes next, leaving you to just have fun. “Everyone wants everyone else to have a good time,” Frank explains.

Music for the Foggy Moon Weekend 2023 will be provided by Elixir (one of the most popular bands in this space in the country, Frank says) and The Free Raisins; calling by Nils Fredland and Lindsey Dono. “It’s a treat to be able to hire such great talent,” Frank says.

Frank, who herself started contra dancing at a Foggy Moon Ball, lights up when she describes the dance and the quirky, fun “chosen family” of a community around it. She met her husband contra dancing, and together they attend about seven of these weekend gatherings each year – in addition to the one she helps organize. “It’s basically our favorite thing to do in our spare time,” she says.

FOGGY MOON BALL 6pm Sunday, Nov. 5. YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula, 600 Camino El Estero, Monterey. $15-30. montereycontradance.org