On May 12, 2010, at 9:02 PM, Meg Dedolph wrote: > I have a question about dance length - not the length of time you run a > particular dance, but the length of an evening of dancing. In Chicago, we > recently went from a three-hour Monday night dance to a two-and-a-half hour > Monday night dance. Some dancers like ending earlier, some really hate it and > others don't seem to care.
As best as I could tell, I saw exactly zero answers to your question :-) and lots of discussion about dances with small attendance. Most (perhaps all) of the dances in greater Boston are 3 hours. Most are 8-11 on weekends and 7:30 to 10:30 on weeknights. While slightly off subject, the MWSD club I dance with had been 3 hours sine the 1970's and changed to 2 1/2 hours about 5 years ago. When the change happened, it was a big deal. Now, it just seems normal. The change was motivated by our caller who had to get home and get to work early so ending at 10:30 on a weeknight helped him. Dances need critical mass. If people are leaving at the middle break, and you are stretching to keep things going for that last 1/2 hour, perhaps you need a shorter dance. Another issue to consider -- the cost. Dancers are paying $7 to $10 to get into a dance these days. Will they be upset if the dance is shortened? -- Clark Baker, Belmont, MA [email protected]
