Wow..... love this post Joe! So so so cool to hear about your experiences and thoughts over the years. Really helpful. :) Emily in Ottawa
On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 11:30 PM Joe Harrington via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > The Tempo Question...enough to start religious wars, so please let's tread > lightly in replies! There are regional/style, complexity, and agility > components. Dances in the northeastern US, simple dances called to > non-beginners, and dances with more agile dancers tend to go faster. > > These are tendencies, not rules. There are plenty of slower-tempo dances > in the North that are sprinkled in among the high-tempo dances, but fewer > high-tempo dances (120 bpm typical) in the South. Flourishes are more > frequent and more complex in the South, which may account for the tempo > difference. The faster dances, no matter where they are, tend to be those > with more agile dancers, but fully agile dances in the South are often 115 > typical. > > I'm basing this on spending several years about 10-15 years ago counting > tempos all over the East Coast, trying to figure out why I found dances in > certain areas more fulfilling than dances elsewhere. Turns out that I get > a much bigger runner's high (dopamine/adrenaline release) at 120 than at > 115. I don't know if that's everyone's experience or just mine, nor how > important a runner's high is for others. Of course, those Southern dancers > are quite happy and any problem is mine. And no, I don't have a file with > all the counts. It was an informal, unscientific study done as I was > dancing; I didn't write them down. > > I've been instructed in workshops by Asheville callers that dance tempo is > 115 and that more would send people to the sidelines. I've been instructed > by New England callers that it's 120 typical, with a few much-faster dances > that could be followed by resting dances down around 115 or so. That's > regional/style preference. And, yes, at least one Southern caller insists > on 120, for which I am eternally grateful! Again, these are tendencies, > not laws. > > Some communities and some callers really prefer complex dances done more > slowly (sometimes much more slowly, depending on agility), and clearly > one's agility plays into tempo preference, especially when well into > physical decline, whether due to age or other factors. Very agile dancers > tend to like it faster. > > Down here in Florida, most dances peak at around 115, with maybe one > faster dance done later in the evening. Some are even slower, though > that's been less common since the pandemic. The Southern location and the > large number of much-older dancers makes this a hard pattern to break, if > that's your goal. > > Some dances have the "moral" goal of dancing slowly enough to include > literally everyone. But, they don't include me, or others like me. Sure, > I can dance at 105, but I have low interest in it. While that's a choice > rather than exclusion due to capability, it's just as effective. The dance > product I most want to participate in doesn't exist consistently in > Florida, and is rare in the South. > > So, I decided to start a dance series in Orlando, where I live (visit > contraknights.org). The idea is to build a community around a dance > product rather than fitting a dance product to a community. My original > plan to have a student-oriented campus group and an inclusive in-town group > got us on our feet to establish the in-town group, but fell apart when some > experienced community dancers told the students how to behave and the > students decided as a group to stop coming to the in-town dance (some still > come, but it was about 10-15 before and now it's maybe 3-5). > > I have had careful and detailed conversation with all the callers and > bands about the tempo strategy. The typical tempo should be 120, with some > variation. Do not slow down, even if dancers ask for it. Send them to me > if they persist. Yes, I expect some will not be interested in staying. > But, the energetic dancers we're trying to attract will not stay (or at > least won't come back) for slow dancing. Call dances simple enough to work > with that, with a lot of new dancers. Keep a positive attitude when > talking about it, and refer anyone really upset to me (I'd give them a > refund, but nobody has come). > > The good news is that we've had over 40 dancers for the first several > events of the season! And, one of the callers did call fast, simple > dances, which people absolutely loved. However another caller asked the > band to slow down, despite my pre-dance instructions. I'm guessing their > simple dances were not simple enough and they didn't have simpler, so they > had no option but to slow it down, because the dances weren't working. The > band asked for clarification and I told them the caller is in charge. > > So, that, in a (coco)nut shell, is my tempo saga, at least as it stands to > date. Is it possible to establish Northern contra tempo in > south-of-the-South Florida? The next episode is Friday, and I'm calling, > so we'll see how it goes. > > I'm sure I've said things that some disagree with. Please be gentle in > replies. > > Thanks, > > --jh-- > > > > > > On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 8:10 PM Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> 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 >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to >> [email protected] >> > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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