ContraStock 3

Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom

This is the Spanish Ballroom in Glen Echo park, Washington DC. This is our favorite place to dance and a good enough reason not to move away from the area!
 Read About the Park Here  My husband and I met over 20 years ago at a contra dance in Fl and to this day, I believe men who dance are among the most fun and steadfast men in America! I know! If you want to meet a good man, head for a contra dance where you'll be hugged many times over the course of an evening.
Back to the current dance. This...is...ContraStock, a once a year 10-hour event that draws dancers from around the country.

This is about a third of the people on dinner break. They had a massive pot luck and visited with other dance enthusiasts and friends while fueling themselves for the next round of fun.

The carousel is peeking out in the background, and was running through dinner with that tinny caliope music we all remember from childhood. 

The lovely art deco buildings create an atmosphere, and would you look at that sky! It stormed the day before but the dance goddess was with us and it cleared out leaving behind mild cool weather so we didn't perish while swirling around like excited tops on the dance floor.

The picture is blurry because I have a barbie camera but also because the people never stand still, so they look blurry. This is the inside of the ballroom, which is gorgeous and has a sprung wood floor. The dance was so crowded, not at all like this end of the night pic where they have room, that many of us got run over. Just the way it is.

It's all fun and games til someone gets hurt, then it's a sport.



This is the open air bumper car pavilion where we usually dance on Sunday nights with a cooler breeze and fairy lights twinkling.





Even at a dance I managed to find another art quilter to talk to about creativity. It's hard not to be creatively stimulated by the beautiful surroundings and there are artists in residence here with yurts to hold classes and workshops. There was a drawing class going on in one yurt, and I longed to peek in and see what people were learning. The pottery yurt was cooking late too.
 
This morning we are walking around carefully, as contra dance is lots of fun as well as a good workout. Our feet are sore from 6 hours on them, our arms sore from holding so many others, our necks sore from twirling but our spirits are soaring from the companionship. If you have never done Contra go see what you are missing.  Come and go with us! LeeAnna