-My mistake... Odd numbers are the way to go (13, 15, 17). 13 or 15
being "prime", I believe, based on each time through the dance being 34
seconds (30 seconds @ 120), 13 times = 7 minutes and 20 seconds, 15
times = 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
-My expanded thinking behind "dancers are there to dance" would be, that
I believe contra dancing to be a form of social dancing. I believe that
the social factor of contra dancing is perhaps the most important part
of contra dancing. But with that said, there is always the option to
sit out. There have been many nights of contra dancing for me, where I
have gone with the idea that I will only dance 1/2 the dances, because I
want to sit out and talk with friends. As a caller, I also believe that
keeping people dancing, especially dancers takes a certain amount of
uneasiness from them. I know when I was a new dancers one of the
hardest things for me to do was ask someone to dance, but if you keep
the dancers on the floor it doesn't give them time to sit out. So I
believe keeping a good pace is important.
-I have mixed feelings about the band and how many times they want to go
through a tune. I agree in so some sense that the band want to "get
into a groove" and that may require more times through a dance. As a
dancers, I enjoy a great set of tunes, but like I said before I tend to
get bored with a dance anymore then 14-16 times through. I think there
is definitely a balance between want the caller wants versus, what the
band wants, but more importantly, they are both there for the dancers.
As, the majority of music I have been experienced on a weekly basis is
Cape Breton. The Cape Breton style has a lot of tune changes. It is
not uncommon for me to be @ Nelson and the fiddler play 10 different
tunes during one dance. Again, I realize that this not common, but it
is what I am use to.
All and all, I am still not in favor of the slow down... I am a believe
in a quick and efficient walk-through. Never use more words then you
have to and that great teaching goes a long way. I am a firm believe
that even a new dancer can dance a complex dance, as long as the caller
is able to find the "right" language (in 2 or less minutes of course) :-)
Jeff Petrovitch
