to contra danse
- verb
- /ˈkɒntrə dɑːns/
- US
:
bailar contradanza
- She learned how to contra danse during her summer in Vermont.
Examples
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At the festival, dozens of couples contra dansed joyfully until midnight.
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Every Saturday night, locals gather in the barn to contra danse together.
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We will contra danse at the festival this weekend.
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Have you ever contra danced before?
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At the neighborhood festival, everyone decided to contra dance to the lively music.
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She loves to contra dance at the local community center every Saturday evening.
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I learned to contra dance during a summer workshop, and now I can't stop practicing.
Synonyms
To take part in a lively folk dance with couples in lines
To dance in sets or lines to traditional folk music
To dance in a traditional style from a region
Surface Forms
Morphology
contra + danse
Although the constituents are non‑standard English borrowings, a learner who knows 'contra' (against/opposite) and 'danse' (dance) can infer this refers to a kind of dance involving opposing lines or partners; cross‑linguistic cognates (e.g. Spanish/French forms) support that inference. However, the precise cultural/folk‑dance conventions (sequence of figures, formation) are specialized and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so full understanding requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Contra danse (as a verb) comes from the same French idea: it meant 'opposite dance', or simply to dance while facing another line of people. So to contra danse today means 'to perform this kind of folk dance'.
