Connections between contra dancing and mathematics

Abstract

Contra dancing is a traditional American folk dance form that is currently practised in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and several other countries. In this article, we discuss the basic structure of a contra dance and highlight several connections between contra dancing and mathematics. We will begin by examining how the structures and symmetries within a contra dance are related to certain finite groups. We will then discuss modelling the space of contra dances using graph theory. We will also look at the connection between dihedral groups and the progression patterns of a group of dancers during a dance.

Keywords:

• contra dance
• folk dance
• dance
• group theory
• graph theory

AMS Subject Classification::

• 00A08