Here is a question I've mulled over and I'm curious to know what
others practice. Do you always try to keep family dancers in time
with the music? Most of the family dances I've called have had a mix
of young children 4 and up and their parents; so it is this type of
crowd that I'm thinking of when I ask this question.
Rather than split longways sets into 6-8 couples, I've let them run
longer. The dancers need more time to complete the figures due to the
length of the sets and I get them going with the next figure at the
start of the next A or B. The plus is that we don't have to worry
about rushing, but I find that this requires me to call the entire
time as the dancers don't have the music as the cue.
I've played a bit with tempo. Slowing it way down does allow even
young dancers to complete the moves in sync, but I have found a
corresponding loss of energy from the slow tempo.
Thoughts?
Nancy Turner
Waitsfield VT
