Let's clear this up first: Contra dancing has nothing to do with Nicaragua, Sandinistas or Daniel Ortega. Contra dancers do not wear camouflage or tote guns. They do gather to participate in an activity that combines elements of folk dancing, square dancing and good, clean fun. "Contra" refers to the two opposing lines - one for men, one for women - that are the basis of each lively, dizzying dance. Harvest Moon Folk Society sponsors three contra dances a month in the Greenville area: one at The Handlebar and two at River Falls Lodge, an old dance hall near Jones Gap State Park.

At The Handlebar, dances are smaller and thus less intimidating for beginners. The River Falls dances attract upwards of 100 people, pulling from the Upstate, Asheville and Charlotte. Dancers range from schoolchildren to leftover hippies, Furman University students to senior citizens. And they all dance with each other. In the course of one song, dancers will spin at least once with every member of the opposite line. Before each dance, the caller walks the dancers through a new series of steps. Some of the calls are the same as in square dancing: promenade, do-si-do, swing your partner. Can you count to 8? "If you can count to eight, you can do this," said Chris Bueker of Harvest Moon. Bands vary, but at recent contra dances the instruments included banjo, accordion, Uilleann pipes and fiddle. The music has a decidedly Irish flavor. Contra dancing derives from English country dancing, which is more proper and precise, Bueker said. Examples of that refined style can be seen in some of the recent Jane Austen movies. "Our American influence has made it into something a little looser and wilder," he said.

Once a dance really gets going, people said. holler and stomp their feet - on the appropriate beat, of course - in a spontaneous expression of communal joy. "There's no way to describe the allure," Bueker said. "There's a connection you make with everybody you're dancing with." Key to that connection is eye contact. It's expected that when you're swinging your partner and others in the dance, you'll lock eyes. "Contra dancing is certainly not for everybody," Bueker said. "Somebody who is not comfortable looking you in the eye is not going to like contra dancing."

Lee Anne Barrett of Pickens has been attending contra dances for several months and is a vision of grace on the dance floor. She said she enjoys the safe brand of physical intimacy the dance requires. For eight counts, eyes meet, hands clasp, and strangers dance hip to hip. And Barrett likes the spirit of togetherness a good dance engenders. "It's a sense of community that you don't experience every day," she said. When the music is good, you're matched with a compatible partner and the steps start to flow, it's a magical experience, she said. Jo Calvez attended his first contra dance last month. The name of the folk society piqued his interest and he just wanted to find out what contra dancing was all about. He found the moves easy to learn. "Everybody was there to help me," he said. "If you mess up, well, it doesn't matter." After almost three hours of sweat-inducing swinging and turning, his verdict was clear: "This was grand fun. I'm going to do it again." Another convert to the contra movement.