Think of how as a kid you might have run around a metal pole stuck upright in the ground. It would take far more energy to run around it without touching it than it would if you stretched out your arm and grabbed hold of it. Same principle applies. Your objective is to give just enough weight so as to stabilize your movement as a couple. One of the conventions which makes contradance so exciting is eye contact .
People look into the eyes of whomever they are dancing with.
Many people find this discomforting at first. However, once newcomers become aware that it is dancefloor convention, a way to acknowledge and connect with your partner which reinforces the physical connection of joined hands, they usually begin to enjoy it. Besides being fun, there are those who claim that maintaining eye contact will also reduce the dizziness which some people experience as a result of the swinging and spinning which goes on. Dizziness is a common complaint among beginning contradancers. Within the contradance community, advice and remedies for dizziness abound.