Contras might be called out of a book, but the results usually reveal the minimal effort of the endeavor. As with squares, contras have a wide range of difficulty, and leading a typical mix of dancers through a range of such dances requires a practiced skill not attainable overnight. The accessibility of dances, whether read from a book or acquired through personal experience, has little to do with the ability to deliver them in an intelligible and exciting manner. Predictability and repetition of form, not strictly the domain of contra dances, nevertheless is an appeal. From this base, opportunities for flirtation and individual embellishment are legion.
Repetition is an element of both forms, and unpredictability is an option for either form.
Each is composed of simple patterns, repeated in endless variations. Repetition in squares is apparent on several levels, from the repetition of basic allemandes and swings to the repetition of figures around a visiting-couple dance. No point on this spectrum is any better than another, but every point has a different appeal. Population and popularity have led to the formation of artificial communities. Outside of small, rural groups, the attendees of local dances may only see each other at those dances, so there is a natural tendency to make the contact as broad as possible.