Tango, contra and other dancing still stalled as other activities have returned to the Upper Valley – Concord Monitor

After their kids were grown, Tom Wetmore and Heidi Marcotte started dancing.

For more than a decade, the Hartland couple would attend dances or lessons at least once a week and often more. Theyd waltz, fox trot, West Coast swing and nightclub two-step alongside other dancers throughout the Upper Valley.

But the couple havent attended a dance in the Upper Valley since the early days of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered activities for them and others like them.

The Upper Valley had a really big dance community, Wetmore said. Its good stimulation for our brains, physically and mentally. Its good exercise. We miss it.

Every social activity has been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have started to make a comeback. Choir groups and community bands are once again rehearsing and performing. People can sit in theaters to watch live shows or gather in a concert hall to watch a band play. But its been almost two years since Upper Valley social and contra dancers have cut a rug together.

There is truly a dynamic that is very special that happens in the ballroom or at the Black Center when we have our dances, said Kristina Cole, of Grantham, one of the founding members of the Fourth Saturday Dances, which take place at the Richard W. Black Community Center in Hanover. Theres the lights, the music, the camaraderie, and even being an observer of the dancing motivates you to dance. Theres a wonderful dynamic that occurs that we certainly are missing. Theres a magical dynamic that were missing.

Social dancing is loosely defined as any dance that involves a partner. It doesnt allow for social distancing like a line dance, where people can spread out. While there have been some smaller, private dance events in the Upper Valley since the pandemic began, none have been like the dances that used to draw dozens of people.

Last winter, Wetmore and Marcotte had hoped that, come spring and summer with vaccination, things would be different and that they would be able to return to dancing. Then Marcotte got a breakthrough COVID-19 infection after attending an outdoor event, and they became more cautious.

That kind of knocked the wind out of our sails, Wetmore said.

The couple attended two weddings and danced together, but the whole time we were wondering, Maybe we shouldnt be doing this. Sometimes they dance together at home, but it isnt the same.

Thats the case for Miriam and Gary Durkee, of Thetford, who used to go dancing at least twice a week before the pandemic. The Thetford couple would dance at the Black Center or at an area venue if one of their favorite bands was playing. Theyve developed a particular love for West Coast swing and tango in the more than 30 years theyve spent dancing together.

Theres something about dancing in a group with people dancing, you get energy from other people. Its just not the same to dance in your home together, Miriam Durkee said. Its definitely had an effect on our social life.

In the meantime, Miriam Durkee has continued taking line dance classes with Jamie Orr. She and Gary snowshoe in the winter and golf in the summer to stay active.

Dancing is somewhat athletic; Im not athletic at all. I have no interest in sports, she said. Dancing is just so it just lights up my life.

Its the same for the instructors. Orr, of Enfield, has taught dance in the Upper Valley for decades, and the pandemic halted his group social dance classes. He has worked with individual couples who are preparing to dance at their weddings.

If I didnt teach line dancing, I would have very little business right now, said Orr, who also helps facilitate the Fourth Saturday Dances.

During events hosted by the Dartmouth Argentine Tango Society, community members and students would dance side by side to learn from each other. Partners would take turns leading and following.

Like other forms of social dance, tango stopped. This summer, there was an event featuring instructors from New York City, but it was open only to members of the Dartmouth community.

Tangos a less socially distanced dance, said Armin Helisch, the societys adviser. You dance in an embrace, and its a close embrace.

He and his partner-in-life Marta Ceroni, who teach tango classes at Dartmouth, have a dance floor in their Enfield home that now holds exercise equipment.

Somehow its much more fun to do it in the community because its a social dance. Its meant to be social, Helisch said. For ourselves somehow we dont feel as inspired to do it.

Over the summer, dance instructor Gina Sonne, of Norwich, briefly tried to bring back weekly waltzes to St. Barnabas Church in Norwich. After about three weeks, she stopped them due to lack of interest.

People were scared, and people were busy in the summer, she said. I dont think they wanted to be indoors.

She currently does not have a timeline to resume the dances. COVID-19 case rates are rising, and shes not sure she can guarantee that all attendees, even if theyre fully vaccinated, will be safe.

Around 25 years ago, Dave Beaufait attended a Dawn Dance in Brattleboro, Vt., where he met his future wife, Sharon.

We didnt know each others names for a month or two, but now weve been together for 25 years, Dave Beaufait said. I worked a lot, so it was a good way to socialize with a lot of people. I love the music. I love to move and it was a way of doing that.

Like social dancing, contra dancing a form of folk dance that requires close contact with other participants has largely been paused in the Upper Valley. Dave Beaufait, an Enfield resident who is chair of the Norwich Dance Committee and president of Muskeg Music, the umbrella nonprofit organization for the committee, said the last dance that was held at their home base of Tracy Hall was in February 2020. The group had been hoped to hold a New Years Eve dance there this month, but those hopes were dashed as COVID-19 started to surge again. Now, they have nothing scheduled through the end of their season in June.

That may change if something miraculous happens, but I dont expect that, Dave Beaufait said.

The twice-monthly dances at Tracy Hall used to draw 60 to 100 people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Its something that the whole community can participate in, young and old, very inclusive and welcoming and energetic and just really a great sense of community, Sharon Beaufait said. It doesnt matter if youre dancing with a child or someone 90 years old: People are smiling and just having fun. And for me its unbridled joy.

The Ed Larkin Dancers, a contra dance group that has been around for close to a century, performed at the Tunbridge Worlds Fair this year just like they have in years past. But it was a different performance: Instead of going out in the crowd to get audience members to dance with them, they stuck to the stage.

When it started, we basically stopped all dancing altogether, said Bill Matoon, president of the group, which has around 18 active members. This June, they started meeting again to prepare for the fair and they plan to meet in the future, as long as everyone is comfortable.

Live music is a staple of contra dance and musicians who regularly performed at them have also been greatly impacted. There have been some virtual concerts where musicians play dances and people are encouraged to dance in their homes. But just like social dancing, it isnt the same.

We are exploring some carefully formatted concerts with vaccine requirement and mask mandate as well as social distancing and therefore limited capacity in order to be able to support some of the bands that play the live music for us, Dave Beaufait said.

The activity of dance itself is missed, but in many ways the social connections are missed even more. Whatever the style of dance, there would be breaks for people to talk and eat. Communities formed over a shared interest flourished. Its also curtailed the ability to hone skills that people have worked for years to develop.

I practice at home by myself almost every day, but its hard, Michael Dathe, of Strafford, said. It is, I dont know what the word would be, awful isnt a strong enough word. Its just crushed my own development. My development has just stopped.

Dancing is also a physical activity. People stretch their muscles and move fast, increasing their heart rates.

Dancing was my main form of exercise, said Kim Witmer, who has been dancing with her husband, Alan, for more than a decade. We were heading into empty nest syndrome. We just wanted something we could do for us to help nurture our relationship.

The Lebanon couple would dance at least twice a week and sometimes head up to the White Mountains for larger dances. The Black Centers Fourth Saturday dances were always a highlight.

It was a huge loss when the pandemic came, Witmer, who also line dances, said.

Like the Witmers, Amy Chan and her husband, Ben, were looking for an activity to do as a couple when they started dancing around five years ago. It was something they long had an interest in doing.

We were just at a point where we really wanted to be intentional about doing something that number one would be fun, something that would be a date night for us and that would help us make other friends with shared hobbies, Amy Chan said.

The couple quickly took to it and developed a particular affinity for the hustle, a 1970s dance largely performed at discos. In February 2020, they helped organize an event at the Black Center where they invited a instructor up from Boston. More than 100 people attended.

We were looking forward to doing more of that, Amy Chan said. I felt we were just getting rolling with bringing some new life to the dance community here.

The Chans, who are in their 40s and live in Lebanon, share a concern that is echoed by other dancers: Without holding events, they cannot recruit dancers and there is a worry about the state of the social activity in the Upper Valley. While the Ed Larkin Dancers are meeting with each other, theyre no longer holding open houses. Community classes at Dartmouth are no more and there is no sense of when they will resume.

We were enjoying bringing more younger people to the dance community here so having it disappear for two whole years has been hard and sad for the future of dance in our community, said Amy Chan, whose husband, as the New Hampshire state epidemiologist, has been playing a public role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dance ended up being the thing we both enjoyed. It kept us active in making new friends. We miss it. We cant wait to get back.

Its hard to say when dances will resume. Recently Orr put out a survey to people who regularly attend the Fourth Saturday dances asking under what circumstances theyd feel comfortable coming back. The majority said theyd attend if people were required to show proof of vaccination. Hanover, where the Fourth Saturday Dances are held, has a mask mandate, which also might put people at ease. Some dancers said that while dancing with masks can be cumbersome particularly with the tango theyd be willing to give it a go.

Theres been talk of gathering in person, but only dancing with the partner participants arrive with. That doesnt always appeal, though, as people are encouraged to come by themselves to socialize and dance. Changing partners is one of the hallmarks of social dancing.

One of the joys of it is youre able to make that physical connection being close to somebody who maybe you just met, but you share that warmth of not being socially distanced, Amy Chan said. It fed part of our soul, and that part has been aching for two years.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

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Tango, contra and other dancing still stalled as other activities have returned to the Upper Valley - Concord Monitor