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While Boston is the mecca of contra dance, an Americanized form of Old English and Scotch-Irish line dancing, Newman has been playing in contra bands since the age of 13, and counts himself as part of the “great diaspora of contra dancing” he says has spread all the way to Alaska. He not only plays the tenor banjo, mandolin, guitar and contra piano, but also wrote his Harvard admissions essay on contra and community building. “My admissions officer wrote me and said, ‘We need you here to liven...
...Newman is a celebrity at Cambridge’s Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on Huron Avenue, where the sounds of stomping feet and fiddle music fill the air every Thursday night from 8 to 11 p.m. This evening he has brought along a group of students ready to catch the contra fever...
After hugging the ticket-taker and saying his general hellos to the extended contra family, Newman shows his novice crew the ropes. Layers fly off as the group ties on their leather dancing shoes and heads out to the expansive sixties-era social hall...
...Newman isn’t kidding when he says that contra types are “super-friendly.” The timid Harvardians are immediately whisked onto the dance floor by various Chucks, Bobs and Steves. “Never contra’d before? Not a problem, just follow me!” Lines of eager partners spin to the beat, following the caller’s directions with varying levels of accuracy and energy. “Do-si-do! Left A-la-mains! Spin ’er round! Come to!” The spirit...
Friendliness is the only common trait among dancers. People of all ages, sizes and backgrounds mingle as they switch partners during each dance. “In contra you really dance with everybody else in the room,” says Newman. Participants range from MIT grad students to retired schoolteachers. This eclectic bunch are self-described “nurses and nerds,” with a healthy dose of Harvard alums mixed...