Contra dances in Portland, Oregon
These are the regularly occuring contra dances in Portland, Oregon.
See below for special dances that are not monthly or weekly.
See the calendar or appropriate dance website for details.
All contra dances in Portland are called with non-gendered role terms.
Contra Remix — web | facebook | video
Music by DJ Contra Kitty
Masks required
(Usually) First Sundays Sep-Jun - confirm dates here
Upstairs at Norse Hall (inner NE)
Lesson at 6:30, dance 7:00-10:00
$6-$20 cash, sliding scale - pay what you can
Gender-free calling; beginner-friendly; community-focused
Saturdays at Fulton — calendar
Contra dance to live music (almost) every Saturday of the year.
Newcomer lesson at 7:00, dance 7:30 - 10:30
$6-$20 cash, sliding scale - pay what you can
Kids through 15 always free with paid adult
$5 second Saturdays for students and under 25s with ID
Joyride — web
Music by Joyride — a much-loved local contra dance band
First Wednesdays (Sep-Jun)
No beginner lesson
Dance 7:30 - 10:00
$5-$20 cash, sliding scale - pay what you can
Octogenarians and older are free
For details, see the schedule
I'll try to keep this updated, but the PCDC calendar is always up-to-date.
The facebook group is also a good place to keep up on special dances.
See above for regularly occuring monthly and weekly dances.
The information on this page covers contra dances within the city of Portland only. The PCDC calendar lists all Contra, Family, and English Country dances in the vicinity.
The best way to hear about upcoming dances is to join our mailing list.
Facebook users can get updates from the Portland Country Dance Community group.
For more info on the Portland Country Dance Community, see the PCDC website.
For an intro to contra dancing in general, read Wikipedia or this very long answer or this much shorter primer. Or watch this video or this one or this Contra Remix one.
This website is not affiliated with any contra dance organization. I've just thrown it together to have a simple place to point folks for an overall summary of the Portland, Oregon contra dance scene.