We just did a caller-musician workshop where we talked a lot about tempos. Our conclusion was that the tempo can really vary with the dance. We found a simple line dance like Gallopede/Virginia Reel might be danced up to 125bpm with a young energetic crowd.... our typical speed for most beginner-friendly contra dances is 115-117bpm, and an elegant contra with lots of circling and weaving could go as slow as 105bpm.
A big learning for me was that our house band plays a lot of Irish Reels - and these are so dense with notes that they tend to feel rushed if played faster than 105bpm. It explained why we've had issues in the past, when I've asked for a reel for a typical dance in the 115+ bpm range, and they break out an Irish Reel , I keep trying to get them to speed it up, and when they do it feels all jerky and wrong. (Plus they get exhausted!) Kat K in Hfx
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