connection

Connection

forewordAs communication technology moves forward, human to human interactions are being left behind.

We’ve traded conversations for text messages and in person meetings for Skype sessions. Not

because we had to but because we could. Contra Dancers, however, still manage to have meaningful

social interactions even in this technological wasteland.

Contra dance is a type of social folk dance that has been popular for hundreds of years, with deep roots

in English and Appalachian tradition. Dances are held regularly in community centers and auditoriums

all over the country, as they have been for decades. Within the framework of the dance, participants

are touching, making eye contact, and connecting. As a social interaction it is still pure and unchanged

by technology and modernization. There is no faking it, or phoning it in, on the dance floor. The images

in this book depict the connections that contra dancers experience in a typical evening. The majority

of these images were collected during one night of dancing in Pinellas Park, Florida.

1

Left: Long Wavy Lines Right: Palm to Palm

2

3

4

Left: Out at the Top Right: Gypsy

5

Left: Left Hand Low Right: Up the Hall

6

7

Left: Pull By Right: Forward, Back

8

9

Left: End of the Line Right: By the Hand

10

11

12

Left: Adults at Play Right: Reaching Out, Stepping Out

13

14

15

16

Previous Pages Left: Hands AcrossRight: Solid Swing

Left: Partner Swing Right: Twirl

17

18

1919

20

Previous Pages Left: Neighbor SwingsRight: Take Hands

Left: Circle Skirt Right: Wrist Star

21

22

Left: Courtesy Turn Right: Down the Hall

23

24

25

Left: Pass Through Right: Face Back In

26

27

Left: Wavy Lines Right: Thank Your Partner

This book was produced by Scarlett Schiraldi as a piece of a Graphic Design capstone project at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Photography also by Scarlett Schiraldi. Images collected at a Pinellas Park Contra Dance, April 5th, 2013.

A special thanks to members of the dance community photographed.