POWAY -- Joe McMenamin has a license to call. It's a license he puts to good use as the volunteer caller of regular contra dances at the Poway Senior Center. For almost five years, McMenamin, and his wife of 51 years, Barbera, have led the dancers through the intricate movements of the traditional line dances.

Contra dancing traces its roots to 17th century New England. It combines elements of English country dancing, French minuets and Scottish and Irish village dances into a form that most resembles square dancing, minus the puffy dresses and the squared formation.

Contra dancers face one another in lines of any length, said McMenamin. As in square dancing, the dancers follow the instructions of the caller, who weaves the moves of the dancers to the music.

The McMenamins got started with contra dancing because it was cool. Literally.

They were attending the 1975 square dancing national convention during the summer in Kansas City, Mo. The square dance rooms were hot and crowded, recalled McMenamin, so the couple took a walk and stumbled into a room "with nice wood floors and air conditioning."

"We watched one dance, then Barbera pulled me up, and we've been dancing ever since," he said.

McMenamin began calling in 1977 after finding an instruction book that included 25 dance records. The $25 price was right, noted his wife.

"It was a bargain, and Barbera can't pass up a bargain," she said.

McMenamin was also encouraged when he saw a 17-year-old girl calling a contra dance as if she were born to the task.

"I figured if she can call, I can call," said McMenamin, who later learned that the teenager is the daughter of one of the leaders of the contra dance movement. "I told her years later that she was my impetus for calling."

He got his caller's license from Contra Lab, the professional organization of contra callers, and called at his first national convention in 1979. He continued through his 25 years as a computer programming teacher at Grossmont College and on into retirement.

When the couple moved to Poway, they asked at the senior center about instituting a regular contra dance session. Turned down the first time, they came back when a new activities director was named, and got approval in 2002 to launch the class.

Since then, they have kept things moving every first, third and fifth Monday at the center.

"It's good for a lot of the seniors. They like it," said Mary Supanchick, the volunteer services manager. "We have all sorts of volunteer groups here. That's our only dancing group. It's nice that he does that. … He has quite a following."

Contra dancing is easy to learn, said Barbera, a retired special education teacher, who helps her husband encourage people at the center to get up and give it a try. McMenamin prepares the music for an hour or so before the sessions, using his portable turntable and collection of vinyl albums and singles, and a book of cards with the calls for each dance, "Because I can't remember anything."

The McMenamins enjoy most the camaraderie of the dancers, who always have smiles on their faces, said Barbera, and the opportunity to move to the music.

McMenamin also calls contra dances for the Reels and Squares group at Balboa Park every other Sunday.

"It beats working for a living. Plus, it gets me out of the chair," he said.

Contact staff writer Jeff Frank at (760) 740-5419 or jfrank@nctimes.com.