The circus is coming back to town, but not as one might expect. On Sept. 6 and 7, Sovereign Hilltop Farm in Millerton, New York, will host “CONTRArily,” a daring fusion of circus artistry and contra dance presented by The Chalk Gremlin Circus Company. Directed by Margaret Hopkins, this performance will reimagine the rhythms and structures of contra dance through the thrilling, unpredictable lens of contemporary circus.
Hopkins grew up on Local Farm in Cornwall, Conn., and found circus performing “by happy accident,” she explained. In 2017, she took a beginning circus class at Berkcirque in Great Barrington, Mass. “I had none of the relevant backgrounds that you would expect,” said Hopkins. “I wasn’t a dancer or a gymnast, I was just a farm girl…but it turns out that milking cows and throwing hay translates shockingly well.”
The group’s first show was just last June, hosted in the hay loft of Hopkins’s family farm. “That was a really amazing thing to do but it is a very limited space for what we could do,” Hopkins explained. “We had a firm 60-person audience cap, we had to fit it in the time frame of when we’d used all of our hay from last winter and before our hay for this winter came in, because we did it up in the hay loft. That wasn’t going to work for this year, so we went looking for another space and got a very generous offer from Sovereign Hilltop to host us in their indoor riding arena.”
The idea for “CONTRArily” was born out of Hopkins’s own experience as a lifelong contra dancer and her relatively recent discovery of circus arts. The two disciplines, though seemingly worlds apart, share a common spirit of inclusivity and community. For Hopkins, contra dance has always been a welcoming space, a place where strangers become partners, and intricate dances learned and performed in a matter of moments. In circus, she has found a similar ethos of mutual support and creative exploration. “There is a real feeling of taking care of each other, looking after your people. This is a community.”
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“CONTRArily” is structured like a contra dance itself, with each section of the performance corresponding to a different part of the dance. It begins with the familiar call to “find a partner,” before transitioning through a series of aerial acts and acrobatic feats that push the boundaries of what contra dance can be. “There is such a cool identified set of rules, and shapes, and patterns and parameters,” said Hopkins of contra dance, “so it becomes really fun to mess with that.”
Spectators are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets, as seating will be limited. “It’s more like being outside than being in a theater,” Hopkins noted, describing the sand floor and the casual, communal atmosphere she hopes to create.
With this show serving as the sole performance planned for the year, Hopkins shared the ease and stress-free approach she and her partners in Chalk Gremlins are going about finding their way. “I’ve started to do my own projects and some of that just comes from the fact that there’s not a big circus school around here that I can go and be with a group of people who are interested and passionate about the same things that I am,” Hopkins said. “So, I kind of have to do it myself if I want it to exist.”
The show is being hosted this year by Sovereign Hilltop Farm (41 Barney Drive) in Millerton on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 7 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
No reservation required, but a suggested $15-20 cash donation at the door is much appreciated. Some seating provided but bring your own lawn chairs or blankets.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino 
