When I first walk into the barn, I meet a mass of bodies holding hands and reeling from one end of the hay-strewn wooden floor to the other as it spirals towards the center of the room. A blonde little girl in pint-sized cowboy boots tugs a tall, young bearded man—a farmer, judging by his boots—along, laughing. The train thunders like a summer storm, and although I am only 20 miles outside of town, I feel like I’ve traveled back in time with the dozens of other folks lined up shoulder-to-shoulder under the canopy of twinkle lights.
Between fiddling parts, the caller shouts out directions to the folk dance to the accompaniment of a mandolin, guitar, banjo and a fiddle wielded by a young woman in a Pie Ranch T-shirt. The rest of the band sports contra-dance casual: button-down shirts, denim, a straw hat.
“Couple number one: Duck for the oysters!” My partner and I raise our arms high so the other couple in our four-person ring can dip, shoulder to shoulder, through them, ducking their heads before stepping back and returning to their starting positions. “Couple number two: Dive for the clams!” It’s our turn to go through the same motion in the opposite direction. “Couple number one: Shoot for the hole in the old tin can!” The first couple ducks back under our bridge of limbs before pulling us around until all four of us are reassembled in a circle, eagerly awaiting the caller’s instructions.
We do-si-do and swing between hay bales and crates of corn cobs. Distracted by whirling cotton skirts, I give up trying to count downbeats and just follow the crowd.
During intermission, the swirling mass of dizzy dancers makes an exodus from barn to yard. On the year’s first warm spring night, it smells like summer: scents of fog, sweat, coffee, dirt and the sea mingle among the mass of steaming bodies. Couples marvel at the full moon; I recognize a few UCSC students. It’s finally warm enough to be outside at night without a sweater. When I arrive home on tired but light feet, my voice is hoarse. I can only imagine how the caller’s throat must feel.
PIE RANCH, 2080 Hwy 1, Pescadero, hosts dance nights the third Saturday of every month at 7pm. $7-20 donation. www.pieranch.org
