haiku, photograph, and text by Kristen Lindquist
photograph by Brian Willson

I’ve never observed a contradance before, so when a friend decided to throw a big contradance party for her birthday as a benefit for a local nonprofit, I volunteered to take tickets so I could check it out. I didn’t dance, but had a lot of fun watching. The music was rollicking (Perpetual e-Motion), the caller (Will Mentor) was great helping everyone figure out what to do, and a semblance of order was made out of the chaos of a big room full of people. It was a beautiful thing to see.

Whirling dancers
hold hands, swing partners–
patterns making sense from above.