1st and 3rd Sunday Contra Dances

BIDA hosts a contra dance on the first and third Sunday of every month at the Masonic Temple at 1950 Mass Ave., Cambridge MA, in Porter Square. These run 7:30-10:30 and cost $5-$20 (sliding scale).

If you've never contra danced before and you come to the 7pm beginner's workshop, or you bring someone who hasn't, we'll give you a free pass for a future dance.

BIDA hosts both mask-optional and mask-required dances. Policies for each dance are listed on the schedule below. At mask-required dances high-filtration (KN95 or better) masks are required for people two years and older. All of our dances are gender-free (Larks / Robins calling). The Masonic Hall is not wheelchair accessible. For more details, see our accessibility information.

Upcoming Events

Have feedback on a recent dance? Use our feedback form.

Sunday 11/17
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Hannah Johlas calling to Einstein's Little Homunculus
Sunday 12/1
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Lisa Greenleaf calling to Ice Cream Truckers

Show Past Events
Sunday 11/3
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Hannah Chamberlain calling to River Road
Sunday 10/27
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Alyssa Adkins calling to Anna and the Alphabet
Sunday 10/20
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Jeremy Korr calling to Open Band
Sunday 10/6
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Harris Lapiroff calling to Casey Murray, Molly Tucker, & Sam Zakon-Anderson
Sunday 9/22
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

5:30-6:30Family dance
6:30-7:30Potluck
7:00-7:30Beginner's Lesson
7:30-10:30Evening dance

Andy Taylor-Blenis will call the family dance with Emma Azelborn leading an open band.

Liz Nelson calling to Gaslight Tinkers
Sunday 9/15
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Dereck Kalish calling to Rose Jackson, Oliver Scanlon, & Max Newman)
Sunday 9/1
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional. Join us beforehand for a picnic at Raymond Park at 4pm!

Annie Kidwell calling to Calico (Jesse Ball, Casey Murray, & Eric Boodman)
Friday 8/16
Spark in the Dark
Dance with Lisa Greenleaf calling to the electronic music of Kingfisher and guests.

This dance is at a different location: The Somerville Armory, 191 Highland Ave.

Accessibility info: Lighting at this dance will be darker than usual, and will include black lights. Some dancers can find it confusing or overwhelming. The Armory's is wheelchair accessible, with more information on their website.

6:40Lesson
7:00Kingfisher
8:30Moondial, then Kingfisher
10:30Yaron, then Kingfisher
12:00End

details on facebook
Sunday 6/16
Open Band Night & Family Dance
This dance is mask-required — the family dance and potluck are mask-optional

5:30-6:30Family dance (mask-optional)
6:30-7:30Potluck (mask-optional)
7:00-7:30Beginner's Lesson (mask-required)
7:30-10:30Evening dance (mask-required)

Jeff Kaufman will call the family dance with Rick Kaufman leading an open band.

Sue Rosen calling to Open Band led by Casey Murray and Molly Tucker
details on facebook
Sunday 6/2
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Andrew Stout calling to Good Company
Sunday 5/19
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Chloe Levine calling to Chimney Swift
Sunday 5/12
Bonus Contra & Family Dance with Nova!
This dance is mask-optional

5:30-6:30Family dance
6:30-7:30Potluck
7:00-7:30Beginner's Lesson
7:30-10:30Evening dance

Jeff Kaufman will lead an open band for the family dance.

Steve Zakon-Anderson calling to Nova
details on facebook
Sunday 5/5
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Hadley Stockwell & Abi Sandy playing.
Sunday 4/21
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Ben Sachs-Hamilton calling to Thunderwing: Amy Englesberg & Cedar Stanistreet
Sunday 4/7
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Crossover: Len Bittenson, Alex Cumming, and Carol Bittenson playing.
Sunday 3/17
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Will Mentor calling to Mean Lids
details on facebook
Sunday 3/3
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Liz Nelson calling to The Red Case Band: Stuart Kenney, Matt Kenney, Clara Stickney, and Max Newman
Sunday 2/18
Family Dance & Evening Contra
Join us for an afternoon family dance - all ages fun! Everyone is welcome to join and dance or play music. This dance is mask-required

Luke Donforth calling to BIDA Open Band! Jeff Kaufman will lead an open band for the family dance, and then the evening dance
details on facebook
Sunday 2/4
BIDA's 15th Anniversary Dance!!!
Join us in celebrating 15 years of BIDA! Any musician who has ever been booked for BIDA is invited to return to our stage for a spectacular megaband extravaganza (RSVP to jeff@jefftk.com). This dance is mask-optional

BIDA musician megaband playing.
Sunday 1/21
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Annie Kidwell calling to Helen Kuhar, Elias Cardoso, & Rohan Weeden
Sunday 1/7
Contra & Scottish Combo Dance
This will be a special dance featuring a mix of Scottish and Contra dancing! This dance is mask-optional.

Kat Dutton (Scottish) & Harris Lapiroff (Contra) calling to Torrent: Nadia Gaya, Ross Parker, Sarah Stefanski
details on facebook, meetup
Sunday 11/19/2023
Double Dance! Challenging Contras with Lisa Greenleaf
This dance is mask-required

Liz Nelson calling to Calico: Eric Boodman, Casey Murray, & Jesse Ball
details on facebook
Sunday 11/5/2023
Double Dance! Challenging Contras, Triplets, and Squares with Will Mentor
This dance is mask-optional

Will Mentor calling to Eric Boodman, Emily Troll, and Max Newman w/ special guest Yann Falquet
details on facebook
Sunday 10/15/2023
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Chloe Levine calling to Casey Murray, Molly Tucker, Sam Zakon-Anderson
Sunday 10/1/2023
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-optional

Sonya Kaufman calling to Rohan Weeden & Helen Kuhar
Sunday 9/17/2023
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Don Stratton calling to Joy Factor: Gianna Marzilli Ericson, Henry Yoshimura, Rebecca Weiss
details on facebook, meetup, instagram
Sunday 9/3/2023
First Dance Back From Summer!
This dance is mask-optional

Qwill Duvall calling to Jonah Spear, Sammy Wetstein, & Hilary Menegaz Weitzner
details on facebook, meetup, instagram
Sunday 6/18/2023
Contra Dance
This dance is mask-required

Hannah Chamberlain calling to Cojiro: Jess Newman, Mark Price
Sunday 1/1/2023
Contra Dance
details TBA
Sunday 12/18/2022
No dance: hall unavailable
Dance cancelled.
Sunday 10/2/2022
No dance: hall unavailable
Dance cancelled.
Sunday 6/5/2022
Contra Dance, mask and booster required
details TBA
Sunday 4/5/2020
CANCELLED: Contra Dance + Family Dance
details TBA
Sunday 11/17/2019
Contra Dance
details TBA

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