By LEAH WEATHERSBY

I went to Lake City Community Center with 10 perfectly good excuses in my head about why I couldn't dance.

They lasted about four minutes.

At first, everything went as planned. I sat down at 8 p.m. on a Thursday night with Sherry Nevins, a Wedgwood resident, who not only coordinates the weekly Lake City Contra Dance (just one of many such dances in the region), but is also an avid dancer and dance caller herself.

Nevins said that modern contra dance is derived from English country dances which originated in the 1600-1700s, although it has other cultural influences including French. Early settlers brought these dances with them to North America and over the years they evolved into what is now called "contra."

The term contra is most likely a French take on the English word "country." Also in contra dances, two lines of participants stand opposite to each other, dancing a series of figures, or moves, so contra could also refer to contrary lines. Lake City Contra Dances typically draw participants in their 30s-50s, but include dancers as young as 14 and as old as in their 80s. I wanted to see what a contra dance looked like for myself, but I was more than happy to let the 130 people at the community center that night tell me what it felt like. However, as the first dance got started, Nevins refused to answer any more questions until I hit the floor with my two left feet.

The "I don't know how" excuse, which had frankly seemed like a sure thing before I walked in, got me nowhere. Apparently that's the beauty of contra: unlike modern square dance, where beginners often have to take weeks or months of lessons before they start, at a contra dance, first-timers are welcomed.

And so I'm whisked on to the floor, and as the music (always live) starts, I'm turning, dosado-ing, and literally at times tumbling my way up a line of dancers and back down again. It's been my experience that dizziness is a sign that I've lost control of an interview - and even when the music stopped it appeared that there was no end to this hot-footing in sight. Contra dancing may be one of the few activities, outside of pro sports games, where men actually out-number women by a slight amount. That meant my dance card, like those of the other ladies in the room, could be very full. ("Easy fellas, there's enough Leah to go around!") Does that mean contra dancing is a good way to meet your mate? For some, the answer has been yes.

Nevins said she knows of several couples who met while contra dancing. Since many contra fans attend dances up and down the Puget Sound region every week, it's easy to see how they can cultivate a broad circle of acquaintances.

Russell Owen, a Ravenna resident, said if it weren't for contra dancing, he probably wouldn't have met his wife.

"I was looking for someone quiet and shy like me," said Owen, explaining that not only does this social form of dance provide opportunities for normally retiring folks to get to know each other, but learning to call the dances, as he has done, helps bring people out of their shells.

Of course, Nevins is quick to point out that just because someone comes to the dance single doesn't mean they aren't married in real life, but heck - at least you got a spin around the floor.

One dancer I spoke to, Warren Hargo of Olympia, took a moment to explain how he thinks contra dance in its current form came about.

"Communities developed the dance to have something to do with themselves. You only (danced) with people you knew," said Hargo, who has been an avid contra dancer for nearly 20 years.

However, he said, these days contra dancing has actually evolved to the opposite of that idea: a way to meet people.

Hargo also said that contra enthusiasts, especially callers, are constantly choreographing new routines, something that keeps contra dancing fresh - of course

before they trot out a new combo, they try it out at home using dimes and nickels as dancers - it's embarrassing to write a dance that makes people bump into each other after all.

Contra music, which also continues to evolve, can perhaps best be described as instrumental folk. Fiddle and piano are instruments traditionally used to accompany contra dances, although on any given night, you might hear everything from an accordion to a didjeridu. Nevins said that her group's dances feature a variety of musicians, both local and from throughout the country.

A while later, having sweated off both that night's Italian dinner and my future breakfast, I begin to see the end in sight. After a waltz, which ends each contra dance set, I head out into the night having gotten my interviews, done a little fancy stepping, and learned about a night life scene in Seattle that I never dreamed existed. All around a successful evening. Although, I am still a little dizzy.