With skirts twirling as the beats pick up steam, contra dancing can be pure bliss.

Lively, upbeat folk music can be heard from a distance. The door to the YMCA building in Monterey is open. Inside, a group of experienced dancers, many wearing brightly colored skirts, wait for the newbies who come early to learn new steps. Then, gradually, the room gets full and before you know it, the whole line of couples join hands, form circles and swing. Each face expresses joy.

It’s hard to say how old Contra Dance Monterey is. Erika Rosenberg of Monterey has been dancing with the nonprofit group for 15 years, but she knows a contra dance friend who said the organization has been around for at least 30 years, meeting at YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula.

“My sister plays fiddle and she would play at contra dance events and I would come along,” she says.

These days Rosenberg dances not only in Monterey, but also in Santa Cruz, the Bay Area and San Luis Obispo. She is also responsible for Contra Dance Monterey’s programming.

But what is contra dancing? Think of English and Scottish folk country dances. Think also of square dancing with a modern twist. Americans embraced the tradition, adding Appalachian folk dance and music.

There’s always a live band playing, such as Dave Holodiloff and his group, and the band has to be able to play at the right speed. Before the actual dance, there’s a short beginner lesson. Then the caller, a person who introduced or designed the dance, teaches it.

The current group’s president, Sam Winter, is a caller. The path is open to all the dancers with design skills and an ability to count.

“Really, it’s for the community,” Winter says. “I love the spirit.”

He started contra dancing in San Diego as a high school student, and he never stopped. He danced in New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Every place has a slightly different style, he says. Winter did regular couple’s dancing before, but found contra dancing more fun, less competitive and open to everyone.

“It’s a big part of my life,” he adds.

And that’s how it looks in practice: Each dancer has a partner but one really dances in a foursome so there’s plenty of space to interact: people progress up the line and down the line and when at the end of the line, they turn around and come back. Then music and moves get faster, your body gets warm, your cheeks get red and a big smile appears on your face. What a lovely exercise. You can always take a break, drink water and eat a snack, if you need one.

The gender doesn’t really matter; instead there are “larks and robins,” says Laura Ford, who has been dancing with the group for more than 20 years and met her husband while contra dancing. The larks are on the left and the robins are on the right.

“I want people to know that it’s really easy to learn,” Ford says. “Basically, you’re always moving from one person to the next, and it’s a joy.” 


“It’s a lot of dancing,” Rosenberg says. “My friend measured it with a fitness tracker and at the end of the weekend, he did either 60,000 or 80,000 steps. It was like 30 miles.”

Rosenberg is also sponsoring the next dance, on June 1, for the occasion of her birthday.

“Free dances are a little bit better attended because they’re free,” she says. Otherwise, anyone can walk in, pay and join. The members enjoy lower fees.

“The more the merrier,” Rosenberg says.

Don’t be surprised if you see men dancing in skirts. According to Ford, men dancers had been looking at beautiful, twirling skirts for a while and decided to bring their own skirts to experience them twirling around. (It’s more common in urban settings, such as the Bay Area, than in rural places.)

“You just get into a state of bliss for several hours,” Ford says. “None of us can believe that the rest of the world doesn’t already know about this.”

meets twice a month. The next event is 3:30-7pm Sunday, June 1. YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula, 6000 Camino El Estero, Monterey. Free. 324-3663, montereycontradance.org.