On 2015-10-17 2002, Leslie Gotfrit via Callers wrote:
snip
In any case, I’d be grateful for advice
Leslie Gotfrit
Try it. Maybe. <grin>
I worked a Contra series dance with my first (advertised as such) old
time band tonight. The No Jigs thing initially felt a bit unsettling,
however the musicianship and music was great. No medleys, which I'm fine
with, and a bit of joint effort looking for variety had it work out
well. I'd mentioned all the basic parameters and communications points
prior to the event and tonight we went over them before the intro
session this series hosts.
This past summer I worked with my first Bluegrass band. I'd been
concerned a bit with that as well. A "Contra", really a barn dance/ONS
on "grass" (beaten down by the sheep for a few years), worked out well.
I covered off the points John Rogers made about tempo, length with both
of them. Also starts and endings, who to talk to about what, how to
speed up/slow down (if possible.) All the usual things.
A few weeks ago I attended a free, intro night of MWSD. The point I took
away from that was that someone could really use any music if it met the
basic criteria. There were Beatles tunes/songs, pop "standards" and
such. Not much in the way of tune as many of us might generally expect
or appreciate.
A number of callers I've experienced have offered the old saw that a
dancers need for rhythm might just as easily be met by a drum stick
attached to a car wiper as a band.
If the band is not an established one, or don't have a recording, some
practises/time with several of them playing prior to the event might
prove useful. It might also be a chance to introduce some of the key points.
A friend was working with a "Celtic" band a winter ago and had to work
mostly on -- endurance, even tempo, how to start and end. Doing so
seemed to suck up quite a bit of energy and take several sessions.
So, it appears it is also good to know when to bail on an idea in some
fashion if it appears bleak. For any of these one may require more lead
time/contact time that might be expected.
Cheers, John
--
J.D. Erskine
Victoria, BC
Island Dance - Folk & Country
Vancouver Island & BC islands
dance info - site & mail list
http://members.shaw.ca/island.dance/
