The English Dance Group Is Mentioned In The Houston Chronicle
/The Houston Area Traditional Dance Society gets together at 8:00 PM, the second and fourth Saturdays of every month in the Parish Hall.
Here are few key quotes from the article:
“The Houston Area Traditional Dance Society provides members a safe atmosphere where they can forget the pressures of daily life and dance to melodies brought to the United States by settlers from England, Ireland and Scotland. Sessions of contra dance, which is an American type of social dancing with roots in European traditions.”
“‘I love the sense of community that comes from dancing as a group. I have an idyllic image of all the members of a picturesque English or French village 200 years ago coming together as an extended family for the pure joy of dance,’ said Jose Figueroa, 35, a special-education high school teacher from the Sixth Ward area who has attended the dances for two months. ‘It's reflected in the big smiles on everyone's faces. It's a wonderful tradition.’”
“‘I had some friends in college who were really into contra; so I decided to check it out. I got hooked instantly,’ said the group's secretary, Ben Hornstein, 24, who is the second youngest person on the board of directors.
Hornstein said he is drawn to contra dancing because even the uncoordinated can enjoy and excel in it.
‘If you can walk and tell your left from your right, you can contra-dance, and you can fake knowing left and right,’ Hornstein said.”