On Sunday nights in Porter Square, a quiet community center transforms. Fiddles fill the air, feet pound the floor and dancers move in spinning, stomping patterns. This is Boston’s folk dancing scene, and for Brandeis junior Elena Giacoletti ‘26, it’s much more than a fun weekend activity. It’s a core part of her life.

 

Folk dancing has been with Giacoletti from the beginning. “Both of my parents went to Swarthmore College and they started folk dancing there,” she explains. “They stayed in the Philly area and I grew up folk dancing with them. Mostly like Scottish country dance.” Since the age of six, she’s attended a summer family camp centered around dancing. That early exposure became the foundation for her lifelong connection to the community.

 

When it came time to choose a college, she picked Brandeis in part because of Boston’s rich folk dance scene. “That was really what made my decision,” she says. It makes sense as Boston has one of the most active folk dance communities in the country.

 

The community spans generations and backgrounds. “There’s so many different types,” Giacoletti says. “It’s fairly intergenerational … definitely a little light on college students right now, but there are college students. Lots of like mid-twenties to 30-year-olds and then all the way up. Like, I’m friends with lots of 60-year-olds.” Some discover it through family or college, while others are introduced by friends or simply invited along. Regardless of how people find it, the scene is welcoming and full of energy.

 

Giacoletti has brought around 20 fellow Brandeis students to local dances. The one she attends most often is in Porter Square, which makes it easy to reach from campus. “It’s very, very beginner-friendly,” she says. That dance, like many others in the area, is filled with a mix of newcomers and regulars, even including Brandeis professors and alumni.

 

The main style she introduces to others is called contra dancing, a form related to English and Scottish country dance. It’s a social partner dance where participants interact not just with their own partner but with many others throughout the night. “You switch partners for every dance,” Giacoletti explains. “So you’re engaging with a lot of people. You and your partner interact with other pairs of partners and get to dance with the whole group.”

 

The dances are almost always set to live music, often with fiddles and upbeat rhythms that bring a lively, almost electric atmosphere to the room. “It’s very lively. People are in sync with each other in a really cool way,” she says. “Very flowy and twirly, lots of spinning. Sometimes stomping.”

 

Beyond the music and movement, folk dancing creates strong social bonds. “I’ve learned a lot about community values,” Giacoletti says. “You learn how to talk to people. Part of it is, anyone can ask anyone, and anyone can obviously turn down anyone for any reason. But it’s just having that ability to go up to someone you’ve never met and be like, ‘Hey, would you like to dance?’” That connection has shaped how she moves through the world. “I definitely feel like because I grew up in this community, I’m really comfortable talking to adults and people who are older than me, even professors,” she says. The environment is also refreshingly low-tech. With phones tucked away, the focus is fully on the people in the room. It becomes a rare space where face-to-face connection still thrives.

 

Folk dancing isn’t something she plans to leave behind. She’s written multiple papers on the subject at Brandeis and sees it as a lifelong part of her identity. “I definitely can’t imagine a future without this. If I have kids, I would definitely want to raise them doing this.”

 

For students looking to try something new, the local folk dance community is open, accessible, and full of warmth. The dance Giacoletti attends is hosted by Boston Intergenerational Dance Advocates (BIDA), which welcomes dancers of all experience levels. It’s easy to get to, affordable and filled with friendly faces.

 

Boston’s folk dance scene is more than just dancing: it’s about community, connection and being present. With live music, friendly faces and an open-door spirit, it welcomes dancers of every level, from first-timers to lifelong regulars.