As soon as we'd got the hang of the basic steps, the music picked up and so did the dancing. The fact that I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing didn't seem to matter and I soon found myself being whirled from cowboy to cowboy in a complicated tangle of "do-si-dos" and "promenades". It was all wildly exciting, and judging by the sheen of sweat covering my hide, pretty good exercise too. "I'm having so much fun!" I squawked, catching sight of Caroline as I was swung into the air by one of the more enthusiastic participants.

I'd heard from friends about Cut A Shine's Valentine's barn dance back in February, when it was packed to the rafters with cool, fun, up-for-it singletons. They told me that spinning around energetically with strangers was a brilliant way to meet new people and had the dates to prove it.

Veterans who knew the moves were quick to help the inept (Dolly had the patience of a saint with me). Yee-haw! could be heard all across the room. The sense of exuberant camaraderie was mighty refreshing: jumping into a dance few of you know is a fab ice-breaker.

To my joy, a strapping young man in cowboy boots and open shirt, complete with manly chest hair, grabbed me by the hand.
Come on! he winked, I need a partner for this one. It was like a Western romcom. We introduced
ourselves to another group and began a frantic team effort to strip the willow. The final chord signalled a round of high-fives among this group of former strangers, and my new friend Andy and I went to the bar.

to promote dance as an expressive and unifying art form by showcasing all forms of dance, educating the general public about the opportunities to experience dance, and celebrating diversity of dance in New York City by sponsoring a yearly city-wide dance parade and dance festival.

Notice the peaks in the early fifties and the late seventies.

A snippet from the New York Times October 12, 1951:

OTTAWA, Friday, Oct. 12-- Princess Elizabeth escaped last night from the long crinoline skirts and tiaras of state dinners and slipped into something comfortable. She put on a peasant blouse and dirndl skirt and the Duke of Edinburgh climbed into blue jeans and a wild shirt for an evening of square dancing at usually dignified Government House.

Notice that the queen could take off her crinolines and put on a (presumably more comfortable) dirndl skirt.

Here's the timeline view for "contra dance":

And here's an expansion for 2000-2009:

Looks like it might have peaked around 2005-2006, and it might be trending down now, but it's hard to say.

Eddie Plummer Junior had become enamored with square dancing at the age of fifteen. The ever-changing patterns were fascinating to his mathematically-inclined mind, and he loved dancing in a group where he could put his hands on four girls. He joined a teenage square dance club and pestered the caller for a chance to try calling until, one night, he was given the mike for a hash tip. Big Eddie had told Johnny that three minutes of seeing all those people moving the way he directed them made him feel like a god, and he decided, on the spot, to learn to be a caller.

"Pa said controllin' a floor full of people was better than havin' sex," Johnny Plummer said. "But I 'spect he got plenty of that, too, after the dances. He jist wouldn't tell me that in front of Ma."

At the age of twenty-two, Eddie Plummer Junior was still known as Little Eddie, but he had a degree in mechanical engineering from Kentucky University and a certificate of completion from Callerlab.

"What he had was a twenty-four-hour-a-day hard-on. The man wore a jock strap when he called a dance so he could keep it under control. Otherwise, when the girls twirled, Lefty's cock whirled."

FOOD/SNACKS (This is very important!!!!) (P.S. M &M's ARE A MUST)