MIDTOWN — It's a new spin on date night.
Singles looking to kick up their heels can mosey on down to the YMCA this Saturday night, which is hosting a free-wheeling country dance party.
The toe-tapping free event at 273 Bowery will feature a 7:30 p.m. class in contra dance, the high energy New England folk style where lines of couples twirl as they swap partners. It's gained popularity with young people in recent years.
That will be followed up with a performance by the dance band Nor'easter at 8 p.m.
“It is a lot of fun. The music is fabulous,” said Anne Scher, the 58-year-old member and publicity chair for Country Dance New York, the organization that is hosting the shindig. “You get to meet a lot of different people and you get to flirt.”
The dance has its roots in English and French country dance that was reinterpreted in early America. Dance nights, normally to the tune of a live folk band, involve a “caller” who informs participants of the moves moments before the dance begins.
“You have to keep your wits about you,” said Scher, who estimates over 100 people will attend the event, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s. “The caller walks you through a whole dance before hand then the band starts playing.”
While the dances contain combinations of the moves as the caller decides, the spontaneity requires concentration. This is one of the reasons contra events are traditionally a no alcohol affair, according to David Chandler, the president of Country Dance New York.
“Young people come and say ‘I don’t have to get drunk to come here,’” said Chandler. “‘I can meet new people and it's fun.’”
He described it as a “low-pressure environment” that does not have the tension attached to a night out dancing in a club.
Country Dance New York holds dances every Saturday night from September through June at the Chinatown YMCA. Normally the event is $15, but this Saturday night it is free to encourage new members.
For the lead musician of Nor’easter, Max Newman, a 27-year-old who has been playing contra music for 15 years, it is the perfect fusion of past and future.
“It is very satisfying to be connected with something that feels old, but also to know that you are a part of changing it for the future," he said.
Newman, a Harvard graduate who lives in the Boston area, plays the mandolin and the guitar in the band. The music is a blend of Scottish, Irish and French Canadian music, as well as tunes native to the New England area.
“It is a living tradition,” he said, adding that musicians have combined rock and roll music and techno with the contra sound. “You have a lot of freedom to play around with the music.”
Nor'easter will also be performing at the NYC LGBT’s monthly gender free contra dance on Friday Dec. 9 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Greenwich Village.
Country Dance New York will hold the free contra dance event on Dec. 10 from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the Chinatown YMCA at 273 Bowery. Dancers are requested to bring wiped down shoes to protect the floor of the gymnasium.
