Though they were at the Boys & Girls Club, the sounds of pattering feet and laughter Saturday night didn’t belong to small children.

They belonged to the 20 or so adult dancers who filled the hall for the first meeting of Wareham Dances, a new organization aimed at bringing different kinds of dances to the town. The group of mixed experience dancers all participated in a contra dance, a kind of folk dancing reminiscent of English country dancing, which originated in the late 1700s.

The organization falls under the umbrella of the fairly new nonprofit organization Cultural Connection, Inc. The organization, headed in part by Paul Ciccotelli, wants to better Wareham and Onset by bringing in more art-and culture-based programs.

He said that the organization, in trying to come up with an idea for its first event, stumbled across dance, when dance organizer Lola Mello mentioned she would like to hold a contra dance. Though Mello has been doing it for six months, her boyfriend has been doing it for 30 years. Ciccotelli himself has done contra dancing, before, too.

“There was a time in my life where I was a really good dancer,” Ciccotelli said.

Ciccotelli said the Boys & Girls Club, located in the old Ethel B. Hammond School in Onset, was perfect for contra dancing, because of its wooden floors.

“Everyone in the area who does contra dance in the area … has gone, ‘Oh, that’s a really nice place to dance, because the floor is awesome,’” Ciccotelli said.

Ciccotelli said that though he believes big businesses coming to the town are important, he believes that that more cultural programs, like dancing, will help bring in additional tourism and help the area stay thriving, long after the novelty of the big businesses has worn off.

Moreover, he believes dance can help people express themselves.

“Every dance tells a story – even this dance tells a story,” he said.

The dance was organized by Mello, and led by contra dance teachers Judith Schrier and Paul Wilde.