Steve Zakon-Anderson was teaching third grade when he told a friend he wanted to meet people older than 8.
The friend suggested going to a contra dance, so he went to one in Francestown.
That was in 1980. Three years later, he started calling dances, and he has been calling dances at Peterborough Town Hall since 1985. He has also called dances and taught workshops in calling, contra dancing and couples dancing around the United States and internationally, and has written more than 30 contemporary contra dance compositions.
“That suggestion changed my life in many ways,” Zakon-Anderson said during his Amos Fortune Forum presentation, “Contra Dancing: Past and Present and its Vital Role in the Monadnock Region,” Friday at the Meetinghouse in Jaffrey.
First and foremost, Zakon-Anderson said contra dances are social events.
“Everyone is welcome, with or without a partner, as it is common for everyone to change partners for each dance,” he said. “No special outfits are needed, although comfortable shoes are recommended, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting to both experienced and new dancers alike.”
Dances are set up in pairs of long lines, with partners across from each other. Pairs dance with each other and in foursomes with adjacent couples, called “neighbors.” The caller explains the dances and leads couples as the pattern repeats with the music and couples change neighbors multiple times.
“In this way, each couple interacts with all the other couples in their contra line,” he said.
Contra dancing has English, Scottish, French, French-Canadian and African-American influences. In remote areas of New England, dancing caught on in the 1800s, as Zakon-Anderson said every town had someone who could play fiddle, and neighbors would get together to dance.
Interest in folk dancing fell off during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but contra dancing was largely kept alive in Nelson, particularly through the efforts of Ralph Page, a caller some credit with saving it single-handedly, according to Zakon-Anderson.
“Many folks consider it to be a ‘mecca’ of contra dancing,” Zakon-Anderson said of Nelson, adding that he loves it when people speak reverently of it when they find out he danced and called there.
Contra dancing enjoyed a revival in the 1960s, thanks largely to young people – “‘hippies, if you will” – moving to New Hampshire to live a back-to-the-country lifestyle. Over time, musicians have brought influences from other genres, and new dances have largely replaced “active” and “inactive” couples with more-equal movement for all dancers.
Before gathering a group of dancers in front of the stage to call demonstrations of both traditional and modern contra dances at the end of his presentation, Zakon-Anderson, said that “Similar to the expression, ‘It takes a village,’ the contra dance community is a village.”
“If you haven’t tried it yet, I truly hope you will do so,” he said.
Zakon-Anderson’s talk was the finale of the forum’s 75th season, which started with Carl Bernstein talking about America 50 years after Watergate, journalism and the dangers of former President Donald Trump. Brad Smith, chair of the Amos Fortune Forum committee, said while Bernstein’s presentation laid out a dark picture of society, and Robert Putnam confirmed that picture with facts and data during his lecture with Shaylyn Romney-Garrett, Putnam also noted the Monadnock region’s strong sense of community.
That sense of community, Smith said, was exemplified by Zakon-Anderson’s presentation.
“I walk away from this season starting a little depressed, but ending with great hope, and I hope all of you feel the same way,” he said.