Dances for All Ages

By Mike Costanza

 

Kage Jacob is looking forward to her next contra dance.

“I can’t wait to hear that music start,” the 73-year-old said. “For somebody like me who loves music and dance, it’s just, you know, it’s great.”

Jacob plans to act on her love of contra dance when the Country Dancers of Rochester celebrates its 1976 founding.

CDR’s 50th Anniversary Golden Celebration Weekend will be held Nov. 27-29 at the Rose Room and The Historic German House, which sit next door to each other on Rochester’s Gregory Street.

Everyone is welcome to join the fun, from dance lovers to those who haven’t even tapped their feet to music. Most of the dancing will be in the contra or English country dance styles, but there will be a few other types thrown in.

CDR also holds regular contra and English country dances each week. People of all ages come to twirl around the floor to live music, spend time with friends, meet strangers and get some great exercise.

“We’re this awesome nonprofit folk and dance and music community,” said CDR president Emily Bernal.

In contra dancing, couples line up with other couples and a caller, who has been brought in to direct them, walks them through the dance’s steps in sequence. Then the music starts, the caller leads the dancers through the steps that they do with their partners and neighbors.

“You move on to the next couple and the couple you were dancing with move the other way to the next couple,” said 73-year-old Bonnie Hallman-Dye, who joined CDR with her husband, Chuck, in 2012.

The couples progress down or up the line, depending upon where they are in the line when the music starts. Once they reach the end they turn around and start over. By the time the music stops, the dancers will have taken a turn with every possible neighbor in the line. You don’t need to bring a partner to a dance and anybody can step onto the floor, from people in their 90s to pre-teens.

“The saying is ‘Dance with who’s coming at you,’” Hallman-Dye said.

Beginners need not worry about not knowing how to contra dance. CDR holds brief instructional sessions at the beginning of each meeting and those more experienced are generally ready to help beginners learn how to move. Jacob was glad of their help when she began contra dancing back in December.

“Anybody who was there for a while, they were very helpful,” she said. “They would point to a certain place or tap me on the shoulder, kind of budge me, you know, going to a different direction.”

English country dancing shares many features with contra dancing, but some of the steps are different and the movements are in general more elegant. Except for special events like the upcoming Masquerade Ball, English country and contra dancers can wear what they want as long as their shoes don’t have high heels and won’t scar up the dance floor. Soft-soled shoes are encouraged. They also should dress in clothing that won’t make them too hot on the dance floor. Chuck Dye wears one of his six kilts.

“It’s more comfortable … and I like the way I look in a kilt,” the 72-year-old Rochester resident said.

They also remind him of the dances he attended when he visited Scotland with his wife. Bonnie heads to the floor in whatever she wants, including overalls and skirts.

“I have a rainbow bandana skirt that I have made,” she said.

Both the Dyes plan to attend the upcoming CDR gala.

In addition to being a lot of fun, contra dance has helped the couple stay in shape not only physically, but mentally.

“There’s a lot of different moves and they combine in all sorts of different ways involving your partner, the other couple etc.,” Chuck said. “You’re going to be using your brain a surprising amount in order to do this, and I think that’s really at least half, if not more, of the exercise that this provides.”

Contra dancing has helped Jacob stay in shape and deal with the effects of a leg injury. She used to dance in another style, Argentine tango.

“Argentine tango is a very sophisticated, beautiful, lovely dance,” she said. “It takes a long time to really kind of master and I love that dance.”

Unfortunately, she suffered a knee injury in January 2025 that made tango dancing too painful and cut into her other activities as well.

“I was just suffering through the days,” she said. “I couldn’t do gardening; I could barely go upstairs.”

Jacob had heard of contra dancing and decided to give it a try last December. She had no idea what to expect when walked into her first CDR contra dance.

“I go there and it’s a big room, there’s activity and right away a very nice person…came over and sat next to me and helped me with the whole process and you know what to do,” she said.

She was only able to stay for about an hour before her knee began to trouble her but returned to dance again and again. Over time the exercise, especially the twirling, strengthened her injured leg so much that she can dance for as much as two hours, work on her garden and get around more easily.

“I couldn’t even walk four or five houses down my street, that’s how much pain I was in,” Jacob said. “Now I’m walking over two miles, probably five times a week.”

CDR finances its operations through member subscriptions and dance admission fees.

To peruse its regular dance schedule, learn more its upcoming anniversary celebration or buy tickets to the gala, go to: https://cdrochester.org.