The floor bounces up and down as their shoes and boots stomp down to the beat of Cider Mill String Band. Caller Lyndsay Battle sits on stage, instructing the people in the art of barn dancing. The smiles of the people crowded together on a weekend night in the Arcata Veterans Memorial Building are infectious.
The Humboldt Folklife Society’s barn dances have gained recent popularity among Arcata High students, as a surge of high schoolers count down the days until the next dance.
“It’s something to do when there’s nothing else to do on a Saturday,” senior Vladislav Volkov said.
The Society puts on many events throughout the year, but the barn dances seem to attract the most youth. They started putting on dances in 1978 at a location on Fickle Hill, and while the location of the dances has now changed, the essence of them remains the same. “I think it was just a peace, love, and happiness kind of thing,” member of the Board of Directors and Social Media Administrator Willow Hendry said.
The barn dances haven’t always inspired youth interest though. “We’re sort of trying to breathe a breath of fresh air into getting more [young] people and more diversity,” Hendry said. “You don’t need a partner, you don’t need any experience, so it’s a great way for people of all ages, races, and orientations to just come in [and] be themselves, and have a great time.”
Traditionally, gender is a big part of the barn and square dancing culture. Dancers respond to either “gent” or “lady”, as directed by the caller. “It does feel like the gender fluidity of the dances has changed in respect to when I first started calling dances. It was quite uncommon for me to notice, for instance, two people who identify as males who would pair up together as partners,” Battle said.
With younger generations bringing new ideas to traditional dances, people are becoming more willing to open their minds, try something new, and have a good time. Volkov recounts how he was hesitant to go at first, but later found enjoyment in it. “It’s a good social place,” Volkov said. “It’s cool to see the mixing. There’s like nowhere else in society I feel like where there’s young people and old people doing stuff together.”
The Society continues to try to encourage people to show up and dance. “People show up and they work together and it’s kind of silly and super wholesome,” Battle said. “We just want it to keep going. To keep it alive.”
