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→How Contra is Danced Today, at Williams
Because this is the section most relevant to Williams, it will precede the section on [[Contradance#(A Rough) History of Contradance|history]], but you may wish to read that section before this one to get a fuller picture.
At Williams, [[Dancing Folk]] hosts about one dance a month. All these dances have a live band, usually our 'house band', [[Rude Cider]]. Once or twice a semester, though , the club brings in a professional band, which adds a whole new level of energy to the event.
After choosing a partner and lining up 'across the set' from that partner, a [[#The Band and Caller|caller]] teaches the ~8 moves ("figures") that will be danced by all in the dance, and talks the crowd through these moves while they try them out together ("The Walkthrough"). There are dozens of traditional figures out there, and more being invented, and each dance is a new selection and arrangement of them, but all contradances have one key thing in common: on full time through the dance (64 beats of [[#The Music|music]]) puts you and your partner at the beginning again, only with a different couple to dance with.