The Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers have been around since the seventies, working to teach and perserve the legacy of traditional English folk dances.
On Friday nights, the Ballroom Academy of Columbia is not a place for innocent bystanders. The regulars are eager to bring everyone out to the dance floor to teach the steps and swings of traditional English folk dances.
Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers is a non-profit organization that holds dances every Friday night. Board member Betsy Collins said the group of dancers works to keep these old-style dances alive in Columbia and the surrounding communities.
“Our purpose is to encourage people to learn more about traditional dancing,” Collins said. “We hope to sustain it. We always try to get younger people to come to our dances. We don’t want this to disappear.”
These classical types of dance have been around for hundreds of years. Contra dance, the style of dance that MMTD focuses on most, is a variation of English and French folk dances from the 17th century and earlier that became popularized in New England in the early 1800’s.
The main goal of the group is to spread the word about this kind of dancing, especially to younger generations. One of the programs the organization works with is the University of Missouri’s Adventure Club. They host dances for the elementary school students to expose them early on to this type of dance.
“I think we’re all enthusiastic about it and so we just try to get more and more people involved,” Collins said.
Due to the non-profit nature of the group, MMTD uses the admission they charge at the dances to fund the organization. The group hosts a live band to play at every dance, as well as hiring a caller, whose job is to walk dancers through each dance.
Despite the costs, MMTD keeps its focus on attracting new dancers and keep them coming back for more. MMTD Treasurer Odell Newkirke says young dancers get in free or at a discount, and all new dancers receive a free pass for their next visit.
“It gives them the incentive to come back and dance with us again,” Newkirke said. “Young people can join in, too. We have people who are ten and eight years old, and they can even dance with us. It makes for a nice family atmosphere to come and dance for the evening.”
While they are more structured than modern dances, the ease of the moves paired with active instruction makes the dances accessible to everyone, regardless of how many left feet you have.
“The dances are easy to learn,” Newkirke said. “The caller does an excellent job with teaching the dances and doing the calling throughout the dance. We all have something in common: we enjoy dancing.”
The dances are social, and the callers and dancers make sure that everyone gets a chance to dance with many different people.
“The other nice thing about contra dancing is that traditionally we change partners after every dance, so you can come without a partner,” Collins said. “So it’s a place where if you’re single and you’re new or just several people want to dance but they’re not partners, they can come and dance and have a great time.”
MMTD has its roots in informal folk dances held in Columbia around the 1970s and has grown since.
“I think there’s a core group of people here that have been dancing for a long time,” Collins said. “We’ve been a not for profit for probably 15 years, but the folks here have been dancing for about 30 years.”
The regular dances on Fridays pull in about 45 to 55 dancers, Newkirke said. They have one big dance weekend in the spring, called the Spring Breakdown, which is a weekend of dancing usually held at the Stephens College ballroom. This dance is funded with a grant from the Office of Cultural Affairs.
Being non-profit means MMTD can’t rely on formal advertising to draw in a crowd, so they rely on less formal tactics like posting fliers around town and just by word of mouth. Conversations with most dancers end in the same way: “Tell your friends!”
While MMTD might not be a typical Friday night out, the organization gives members of the Columbia community a chance to experience something new out of a dance centuries old.
By Emerald O'Brien
MMTD revives contra in Columbia
MMTD Board member Claire Baffaut swings with her partner on Nov. 15, 2013.
Two dancers line up and prepare to move as the caller explains the coming moves in the dance on Nov. 1, 2013 in Columbia, Mo.
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