Sorry for the late reply - I had problems sending to the list.
I agree absolutely with your comments - and especially that you need simple
proper dances.
I do a lot of weddings and have devised a few(!) rules / tricks to make them go
well:
* Never call a contra, and rarely a proper longways - they find the "1s
work their way down, 2s work their way up" too complicated.
* Start with a dance that allows you to test their ability, not just to
dance but to listen to the caller and do what they're told! A good mixer will
do for this - Lucky 7 or Scatter Promenade
* Keep the moves simple, and don't introduce too many new ones at once.
I rarely do Ladies Chains, for example.
* Start with simple dances and progress from there - so a grand chain
starts as a special move but later becomes just something they do.
* Don't feel the need to include too many clever moves - you can get a
lot out of stars and circles!
* Have a collection of 20 or so simple dances at your disposal
* Be ready for not many people on the dance floor - plenty of three and
four couple dances, just in case.
* Equally have some "space saving" dances, in case everyone wants to get
up.
* Use dances that can take variable numbers of couples. At a wedding, if
7 couples get up to dance you need to get all 7 dancing.
* Don't be afraid to write your own simple dances (about half of mine I
wrote myself).
* Have a supply of "sexless" dances - where you don't have to call "men"
or "women". This is especially important if you have a number of children.
* On the subject of children, if you have very young ones avoid dances
which change partner, or allow them to keep their partner while everyone else
changes.
* Use dances that are easy to recover from when they go wrong - and tell
them how ("if you don't have anyone to swing come and stand in the middle")
* Use dances where one person / couple going wrong doesn't mess it up for
everyone else
* Use dances with leeway in them - one set will always end up well behind
and need recovery time
* Once you get going in a dance, Be prepared to call it "unphrased" if
they're just not getting through it in time - and warn the band beforehand if
you can!
* Calling from the floor with a radio mike helps a lot, as you have:
* The ability to correct a particular person / set having
difficulties during the walkthrough
* The ability to correct a person / set during the actual dance
* Much better engagement with the audience than standing on the
stage
Regards
Jeremy
www.barndancecaller.net<http://www.barndancecaller.net>
