i have heard this mentioned on one of our local college stations,Contradance that is. i’ve no idea what it means or what kind of dancing it refers to.Would someone in the know please xplain. 
thank you
According to <a href=“http://www.netheaven.com/~rfutyma/whatiscontra.shtml”>this</a> page, a contradance is a form of square dancing.
Why college students are square dancing, that I cannot answer. 
And since I was unaware of the fact that HTML is not allowed on the boards…the page would be http://www.netheaven.com/~rfutyma/whatiscontra.shtml .
From childhood memories: it’s very similar to square dancing, using many of the same moves and also requiring a “caller” to call of moves for the masses. However, instead of being formed in squares of four couples, it forms in lines of an indefinite number of couples. As the dance progresses, you sometimes end up moving up or down the line and effectively changing partners. Mind you, this is a distant memory.
mischievous
We got the word from the French contre-danse, and it looks like the first part is the French word for ‘against’ or ‘opposing’. As though the idea is partners facing one another from across the dance figure. But it is not that.
The French took the phrase from the English country dance, and folk-etymologized it (substituted a familiar word in their own language that sounded like an unfamiliar foreign word).
Contra dancing can actually be a lot of fun – it’s very energetic, the music is usually good (if you like traditional music) and lively, the patterns can be arbitrarily complex, and there’s plenty of opportunity for flirting with members of the opposite sex. The only down side is that if you’re prone to dizziness, the “swing your partner” bit is going to do you in.
I don’t know, I was under the impression that most college students went to raves. 
Try this mudcat cafe link list if you want to learn more about bands and venues for contra dancing. In many midwestern cities contra dancing is a HUGE singles scene. In one night you may dance with dozens of warm, glowing people from the opposite sex. 
The music is very good, but sometimes people get too snippy about how good a dancer you aren’t. I prefer community-minded social dances–squares, reels, contras and circles. Much more relaxed and fun for kids of all ages.
No less than two of my college friends ended up marrying women they met at contra dances.
Ed