Madison Contra Dance
In addition to our regular Tuesday dances, Saturday Dances for the 2024-25 season!!
Saturday dances are at the Wil-Mar Center, from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm, with a lesson at 7:00 pm. Suggested donation: $10+.
October 19: Noah Natzke with Rare Privilege
November 9 (2nd Saturday): Lisa Leedham (from the Twin Cities, MN) with Cross Trail
December 21: Steve Pike with the Barley Brothers
January 18: Meg Dedolph with The Stop and Listen
February 15: Marilee Standifer with Cross Trail
March 15: Ian Shay with Kukastan
April 19: Steve Pike with the Barley Brothers
May 17: Kim Thompson with the Cosmic Otters
New-ish Relaxed Covid Precautions
As of our January 23, 2024 dance, masking or testing for COVID is no longer required, unless Dane County's CDC hospital admission level is high or red. Check this map to see the CDC level (updated by Friday evening). People on our email list will also receive a notice if the level becomes high or red.
If it is red or high, participants must either wear an effective mask - N95, KN95, KF94 - or have a negative self-administered rapid antigen test after 5 pm on the day of the dance.
Please do not attend if you are having symptoms of respiratory illness. We encourage all to keep up-to-date on vaccinations.
Note on Calendar and Time Zones
The calendar below adjusts based on the time zone you're in. For example, if you're in the eastern time zone, our 7:30 pm dances will look they're happening at 8:30 pm. Almost all of our dances start at 7:30!
Tuesday Dances
Almost every Tuesday, year-round, hall open at 7:15, dancing to begin promptly at 7:30 to about 9:30 pm, at the Wil-Mar Center.
Your donations are the sole source for our hall rentals. Please give what you can — many folks give about $5. For students, $3 is typical. If you're coming regularly, you could consider paying $50 for three months of dancing.
If you are interested in calling or sitting in with the band, please contact us and introduce yourself. The music for the co-op band (MadCoCo) is available here.
News articles about Tuesday dances:
Circle Left. Published in the Isthmus, January 2, 2020.
Madison's Tuesday Night Dances: Fostering Talent for More Than Twenty Years, Published in CDSS News, spring 2014.
Dance Weekends
We hope to see you September 20-22, 2024! Usually held around the 3rd weekend in September at Folklore Village in Dodgeville, WI