It’s Tuesday night and a group of adults from many backgrounds head to the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center for a weekly Contra Dance — a form of folk dancing said to have originated in the 17th century. Madison Contra dance pays tribute to this tradition while also fostering an environment where anyone can participate.

The Contra Dance is a social event and participants can attend without a partner. Dancers will couple up and form a line. Throughout the dance, couples progress up and down the lines switching partners.

At Madison Contra Dance, anyone can dance any role and can partner up regardless of gender. While it’s not required, it is customary to change partners after each dance. Participants are encouraged to dance with someone new and upon coupling up, dancers are encouraged to ask what pronouns their new partner identifies with.

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Though bearing some similarity to Square dancing, Contra dancing is said to have originated in either New England or the Appalachian region with influences from English Country Dance, Scottish Country Dance and French dance styles. Traditional Contra dance is accompanied by a live band made up of mandolins, accordion and a banjo. At Madison Contra dance, the co-op band MadCoCo plays the music.

Madison Contra Dance encourages new dancers and assures anyone interested that it’s fun and easy to learn. According to their website, you don’t need gracefulness, poise, dance skill or talent.

Dancers are taught the steps before the dance, so the caller will call out the choreography during the dance. Dancers also don’t need special shoes or need to wear anything specific, t-shirts are common and many people enjoy wearing skirts that flow to the music.

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Dancer safety is an important value of Madison Contra Dance, therefore they require attendees to either be vaccinated and take a rapid antigen test before attending or wear a N95, KN95 or KF94 mask.

Madison Contra Dance hosts dances every Tuesday at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center starting at 7:30 p.m. and going until about 9:30 p.m. Anyone can participate and is encouraged to donate what they can for the dance hall rental, usually $5 or $3 for students. They also have dances on Saturday nights which are at a private home and dancers must RSVP in advance.