Lavender Contra Collective
@ Group Project
140 Bradley St.
New Haven
Sept. 13, 2026
Halfway through my first contra dance, I started to feel a hint of dizziness, knowing full well it was most likely due to my chronic dehydration. But by the time the dance was over, I was dizzy with delight as well.
The occasion was the latest meeting of the Lavender Contra Collective, a New Haven- based gender-free contra dancing group that gathers every other Sunday at Group Project, located on the second floor of 140 Bradley St. upstairs from The Bradley Street Bike Coop.
Created for the queer community and its allies, the group meets for two hours. The session includes a beginner lesson offering a brief introduction to the basics of contra dancing. That’s followed by multiple chances to perform different dances using those newly learned steps, all to the sounds of a live band playing Appalachian fiddle tunes while a caller instructs the group in which steps to perform.
The best part of the whole event? You do not need a partner and you do not need to have any experience as a contra dancer, though the three organizers all do have experience in that area and are enthusiastic and eager to help everyone have a wonderful time. Meggie Czepiel, Corrine Evans, and Jocelyn Kurtze said the collective had been around since June 2025, in this particular location since April 2026. Kurtze, who has danced in Philadelphia and Massachusetts as well, became a caller this year (and was the caller at this event). Czepiel had experience dancing as a child, and at an event last summer along with Evans realized that there were no gender-free contra dances in New Haven (though there are others in the state and across the country).
According to Evans, contra dances historically use the terms “ladies and gents” when calling out the steps. Gender-free contra dance uses the terms “larks and robins.”
“Anyone can dance any role,” added Evans. “It’s very free here.”
Evans and Czepiel said the mission of the collective has a dual purpose: to continue the traditions of contra dance and its music and to bring in new dancers to a community and gathering place for queer people of any age in New Haven.
On this afternoon I was one of many who were going to be contra dancing for the first time. There were also those who had been there before and those who had been contra dancing for many years. We began in a circle learning basic terms and moves from Kurtze. Then before the first dance began. Each person chose whether they wanted to be a lark or robin (I chose lark) and then chose a partner. (Partners can change with each dance.)
Each dance began with the dancers lining up in two long parallel lines. Kurtze would then go through the steps for that particular dance and give us a few practice run-throughs. Once the music began, she proceeded to call the steps throughout the song.
The band — featuring David Heiser on guitar, Sarah Prown on banjo, Harry Bolick on fiddle, and The Independent’s own Brian Slattery also on fiddle – was delightful in their own right. Each song performance was joyous and invigorating. I ended up dancing to every other song so I could rest and hydrate in between and, of course, perform my job. But I cannot stress enough how satisfying it was to be able to learn steps, carry them out, and yes, even fumble them, because every person there at one point or another also fumbled a step. That, to me, made it even more enjoyable: the collective way everyone was accepted at every skill level and the communal way we all helped each other.
The biggest complaint I have heard for most of my life from someone who refuses to dance is that they are afraid of doing it “wrong” or looking “foolish.” With contra, everyone is hearing the call at the same time. Every body is responding in its own way, so it can go quite smoothly and gracefully or perhaps there is a stumble or a misstep. The people you are dancing with will help you along, or get you back on track or laugh along with you as you laugh at yourself. This is the beauty of dance: it is the art of moving your body, feeling free, and doing both of those things in the company of those who also want to move and feel free. Plus, it is super fun.
Everyone was smiling, whether they were twirling like Rogers and Astaire or reaching out with their left hand instead of their right or performing an allemande – when you join hands with a partner and walk in a circle — correctly for the first time. My face actually hurt from how much I was smiling. By my final dance I had smoothed out quite a few of my moves. Most importantly I had a blast and was already trying to figure out when I could come back again. As the event ended and attendees convened in conversation and laughter, I floated out into the late Sunday sunshine happy as a lark.
For more information about the Lavender Contra Collective please visit their Instagram page.
