Lyle Woodward slides his feet into a pair of leather-soled shoes. His eyes sparkle as he ties the laces and waits for the fiddle and banjo players to strike up a toe-tappin’ tune.

“Oh, to be young again,” the 77-year-old said, jerking his head enviously toward some of the much-younger dancers. “There used to be dances like this back when I was young. I missed so much as a teen because I was bashful. I guess when I went into the service, I got over that.”

The Nehalem resident and his wife, Virginia, are enjoying an evening of country dancing at the White Clover Grange in Nehalem. They also enjoy the monthly country dances sponsored by the Astoria Country Dance Community at the Netel Grange, four miles south of Miles Crossing on Lewis and Clark Road. The group’s next dance will be from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Netel Grange.

Number one rule: Have fun

Chantal Seely and Daric Moore, who live in Manzanita, smile as they dance together on a crowded floor at the White Clover Grange.Tonight the Woodwards are joined by about 30 dancers of all ages, as well as Caller David Ambrose and the Blue Heron Band, led by Gina and Hobe Kytr. The grange hall is filled with shouts of laughter, clapping hands and stomps by those younger dancers.

“The number one rule at country dances is to have fun,” said Dave Ambrose, a country dance caller and member of the Astoria Country Dance Community. “If someone is trying to make you dance the “proper” way through a figure or is getting a little cranky about the perfect figure, remind them of that.”

Couples try out their footwork on the dance floor of the White Clover Grange.Country dancing is a combination of circle, square and contra dances. The roots of circle dancing can be found in most folk dances. Square dancing is an American invention with roots in Irish set dancing. Contra dances comes originally from England, where peasants and “normal folks” got together for country dances. The fad made a stopover in France in the late 1600s, where the word “country” was mispronounced as “contra.” The dance went back to England as “contra” dancing and eventually traveled across the Atlantic with settlers to New England.

“Contra dancing really has a lot in common with square and round dancing, in that the figures are common,” Ambrose said. “Do-si-dos, swing your partner, left and right allemandes. People tend to take a mix of the three styles and call it country dancing. The intent is to make it accessible to people who don’t dance.”

Denise Harrington takes a quick spin.All dances are performed with a simple ‘walk step’ and 8-beat timing is used in all Contra dances. After about 64 counts in the music, dancers return to the beginning of the dance. Dancers form groups of four and will usually rotate partners.

No fancy footwork

Each country dance begins with a beginners workshop and all dances are taught. So even an inexperienced dancer will know how to contra dance by the end of the evening.

“I think a lot of people might be afraid of the fancy footwork, and there is none,” David Graves said. He regularly attends country dances at the Netel Grange with his wife. “If you can count to eight, you’re done. It was folk dancing, not court dancing. Those folks weren’t trained. They had a caller who told them what to do.”

Kamila Loupalova of Wheeler takes a spin to toe-tappin’ music.A caller will teach dancers the figures first and then call out the figures a beat before to give dancers “a heads-up so they’re kind of led through it.”

“A good caller, at some point, gets to just shut up because everyone has gotten the sequences down good enough that they don’t need a caller,” Ambrose said. “You can make it as challenging as you want. I think that the people who are new are the people who get most excited about it. Somebody kind of drags them to the dance and they start to feel the beat.”

Country dancing is a very inclusive form of dancing because anyone, any age can do it. It’s an event that lends itself well to families and, often, children as young as 8 and 9 years old will join the fun. And don’t be surprised if even some teen-agers show up.

Wendy Bryan and Phil Archambault, visiting from outside of Vancouver, B.C., share a waltz.”I asked my teens if they knew what a contra dance was and they said no,” said Graves, a school bus driver. “I asked them if they know what a rave is and they said yeah. I told them, ‘well, this was a rave back then.’ It’s a place for common folk to get together.”

The dances are performed to Irish, Celtic, Old English, Early American and modern ‘traditional’ tunes that are played by live local and regional bands. Saturday’s dance will feature Seattle string band Hart and Blech playing the traditional music of the Southern mountains and plains.

“I play the fiddle and mandolin, and I love folk music,” said Sharman Ensminger-Stapp of Tillamook, as she wiped sweat from her brow after a particularly enthusiastic round of dancing. “Country dancing is keeping the music and traditional atmosphere alive.”

If you go

What: Monthly country dance, sponsored by the Astoria Country Dance Community.

Where: Netel Grange, four miles south of Miles Crossing on Lewis and Clark Road (just past the Logan Road Chapel sign).

When: 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Beginner workshop is at 7:30 p.m. All dances are taught. No experience is necessary.

Cost: $5 minimum, up to $10, pay what you can. All money supports the dance series. Children under 12 who are escorted by an adult are free.

What to wear: Leather-soled shoes make it easier to glide during the dances. You may get quite warm, so wear loose clothing and dress in layers.

You do not need a partner to attend a country dance. In fact, organizers encourage dancers to switch partners often. And since there are frequently more women at the dances than men, women may dance the man’s part.

All dances are non-smoking and alcohol-free.