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David Millstone presents:
“Country Dance in Modern Times: Squares, ECD and Contras in Post-WWII America”

Thursday January 14 at 8:00pm (EST).

We know that English country dancing has changed from the time of John Playford 1651 English Dancing Master. Similarly, today's contra dancer enjoys a different experience from that of the early 1800s. But we don't have to look so far in the past to see significant differences in contras, squares, and ECD. In this presentation, David Millstone will explore the dramatic changes that have taken place in different forms of country dancing in the years since World War II, with a special focus on contras. He'll augment his talk with photos, audio files, and video clips (bandwidth permitting) to highlight key developments and to help us all appreciate how today's dances evolved.

David Millstone (Lebanon, NH) discovered contra dances in the early 1970s; he has been a caller for more than 40 years.  He is past President of the Country Dance and Song Society, and co-ordinates the Square Dance History Project. David is co-author of Cracking Chestnuts, a book about classic American contra dances; he wrote the contra dance history chapter of Dance a While; and he created video documentaries about Bob McQuillen, Dudley Laufman, and Ralph Sweet. David has presented numerous talks on dance history at weekends and dance camps.

An .mp4 recording of David's talk is available for download here (486 Mb)

A copy of David's talk is also available on Facebook Live.

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