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Yesterday I ventured out of my comfort zone and ended up at the English country dance. English country dancing is similar to contra dancing in that there is a live band and a caller who teaches all the dances and then calls throughout the dance. I actually think contra dancing was born from English country, but that might not be true. There are also a lot of differences between the two though. The English dance seemed much more varied to me, although this could be just because it was all new to me. In contra there are usually two main formations. At the English dance there were all sorts of formations. There were also all sorts of time signatures. There were a few dances in waltz time, which is not something I've found at contra. And there was a slip jig, which I've only encountered once at a contra dance, and it could have just been an English country dance that the caller just stuck in there without us knowing the difference. The main difference I noticed at the English dance was just the feel. I know that is very vague, but it really was the main difference. I think there was more emphasis on elegance and style.

And above all, going to the English country dance gave me the experience of a dance form originating from the 1600s (I think, again, might not be true). Basically it would have been exactly like Pride & Prejudice, except that Mr. Darcy wasn't there.