THE WEB PAGE OF THE
URBANA COUNTRY DANCERS
URBANA, ILLINOIS
Welcome to the web site for the Urbana Country Dancers (UCD). The UCD
is a community of people in Champaign-Urbana and east central Illinois
who support and promote the history, artistry and enjoyment of
contra dancing.
The Urbana Country Dancers
host dance events mostly on the first and third Fridays of each month
and occasionally on Saturdays. Our primary dance venue is the
Phillips Recreation Center, (217-367-1544),
located at 505 West Stoughton Street (off Springfield Avenue) in Urbana,
Illinois.
We also hold some special dances during the course of the year.
One that we have been doing each year for a long time is our annual
January Jam.
Another, newer, event is our
Illinois All-Weekend Barn Dance.
In September UCD will be the main sponsor of the first annual
C-U Folk and Roots Festival.
Contra dance
is a traditional American dance. It is similar to square dance, is derived from
English Country dance and has been done in this country since the 1700's.
The phrase can also refer to an evening of traditional dancing which can include
square, circle and couple dances as well as contra dances.
We contra dance
to live fiddle and string band music with featured callers
in an atmosphere friendly to singles, couples, groups, and families. All
dances are taught (walked-through) prior to dancing. We ask dancers to
wear clean, soft soled shoes to protect the lovely sprung-wood dance floor.
Comfortable clothes are also recommended. Dances are generally from 8 to
11 P.M., though we occasionally offer pre-dance workshops. A $5.00 donation
is requested for most dances to fund the fees for the bands, callers and
dance hall. A higher contribution may be requested for special events.
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We generally hold dances on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month.
There are occasional exceptions to this rule with dances on Saturdays
and other days. All dances start at 8 P.M. and go to 11 P.M. unless otherwise
noted. Most dances are held at the Phillips
Recreation Center, 505 W.Stoughton, Urbana. A $5.00 donation is
requested for most dances. A higher contribution may be requested for
special events.
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UCD History
UCD Bylaws (PDF - 50 KB)
Contact the UCD
Please communicate to us your ideas and suggestions
to make our organization and dances better for you.
The Urbana Country Dancers periodically publish a directory of dancers in our
group. It includes, name, address, phone and email. If you would like to be
listed or would like to change your information contact
Jenny Barrett at 217/333-1929 (w), 217/352-2714 (h) or by email at
jennyb@uiuc.edu
The Urbana Country Dancers have dedicated the book entitled Midwest
Folklore and Other Dances to Orace E. Johnson in appreciation of
his many contributions to the contra dance community in Central Illinois.
This book is a collection of 112 contras, squares and other dances
arranged by composer (with cute titles such as Dean's Delight, Merle's
Magic, Shake, Rattle and Stroll etc.) and indexed by difficulty, title
and type. The dances were compiled and edited by our very own prolific
contra dance writer Michael Fuerst. Copies may be purchased by sending
$15 per book plus $3 for shipping to:
Orace E. Johnson Memorial Trust
C/O Laura Sleade
1601 West Park
Champaign, Illinois 61821
United States of America
We have a Yahoo! Groups email list for announcing upcoming events and discussing aspects of
contra dance and our local group.
Visit the group web site
or subscribe below. Contact
ucd-list-owner@urbana-contra.org
if you have any trouble with the list or if you wish to be added to the list
without creating a Yahoo account.
If you wish to get only announcements of upcoming dances and related events set your
Email Delivery mode to Special Notices.
Urbana Country Dancers on Facebook
Join us on our Facebook group
If you want to learn more about contra dancing, visit our list of links
to more contra dance information. We have links to pages where you can
find resources about contra
dance history, information about dances held in communities all over the
United States, dates and details for special dance weekends and camps,
and links to other Web pages devoted to contra dance.
You might also want to check out the Usenet group rec.folk-dancing to follow
discussions about contra and other traditional dance forms.
We also invite you to join the
Central Illinois English Country Dancers for another type of
dance event.
English Country Dancing was the precursor of contra and square dancing
and was popular in England and
America in the 1600's, 1700's and early 1800's. If you've seen any of the
recent Jane Austen movies you've seen this form of dance. It's similar
enough to contra dance to be familiar, but different enough to be interesting.
Send any inquiries or suggestions to
ucd-info@urbana-contra.org
The Urbana Country Dancers is affiliated with the
Urbana Park District and the
Country Dance and Song Society
and is a member of the
Champaign County Cultural
Consortium.
The Urbana Country Dancers are partially sponsored by a grant from the
Illinois Arts Council
The Urbana Country Dancers' web pages are maintained by
webmaster@urbana-contra.org,
last update November 12, 2011