On April 2, 2018 Southdale Elementary third grade students came together to demonstrate the basics of traditional contra dancing to their parents in a show and tell type "informance." These informal type of concerts allow the students to show their parents what they have been working on in music class in a fun way. Contra dancing allows students to hone the musical concepts of steady beat, phrase length, and form, in addition to learning to collaborate, cooperate, communicate with their peers. Informances are a communal experience and even the parents jumped in and joined the fun to close the evening by folk dancing with their children. Add some live dance music performed by local musicians and you have a formula for a fantastic night of community music appreciation.

Adam Depew, elementary music specialist, organized the event with the support of former trombonist and Southdale principal Jay Borchers.

Check out some video of the event here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZK3wIg3jsRL2IGjgyY0zgVGJMvW4NY-Q/view?usp=sharing