[Callers] Programming a Dance

[Angela DeCarlis]

I almost always program a regular dance the day of. This has gotten a lot
easier since I now keep a digital record of every program I call -- I can
look through and find a program I called for a similar dance, pull out
those cards, and modify and make changes as necessary. I try to also make
notes on programs, like "Second half was great; first half was good except
I had three Gents Allemande Lefts in a row," etc. The ability to recycle
and modify old programs has been a life-saver!

This story isn't practical advice so much as it is A Weird Thing That
Worked for Me Once: Recently I was programming in a hurry for a six hour
advanced dance event. I went through my box and just haphazardly pulled out
everything I was excited to call, then counted to see if I had enough
dances. Once my numbers were good (4-5 dances/hour), I sorted them all into
five columns (Very Smooth - Smoothish - Neutral - Balancey - Very Balancey)
and then sorted the columns vertically by relative difficulty. I had
something like five or six dances in every column, which seemed perfect! So
then I just picked up cards from their spots in a particular order -- like
Easiest Smooth to Easiest Very Balancey to Third-Easiest Neutral, etc --
just to approximate a dynamic program. When I laid out the two programs I'd
made this way and checked them out, they were great! It was kind of magic!

That all said, definitely I almost always need to modify my programs on the
fly. I try not to sweat the details too hard; most dancers won't notice the
little things, and as long as they're having fun, all is well. :)

Angela

On Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 8:01 PM Woody Lane via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> I might be a bit different than most of the replies to your question. For
> a regular contra dance, I usually set up a program on that day or one day
> prior. Sometimes in the car enroute to the dance (if someone else is
> driving). I may be thinking of dances that I'd like to call during the
> previous week or two, but I actually put things on paper (or lay out cards)
> within 48 hours of the actual event, usually within 12 hours . Frankly, I
> don't want to get my head into an ownership mindset that would result if I
> invest so much in the program. My approach leaves much to flexibility and
> nimbleness. Of course, for some slots I'll have 2 or 3 dances listed on the
> paper -- depends on the dancers/music/heat in the room/etc -- and then make
> those choices on-the-fly while calling the previous one or two dances.
> Always watching the dancers and listening to the music.
>
> Of course, everything can change in an evening, depending on so many
> things. Dances, dance sequence, tempos, musical requests to the band,
> musician preferences of the musicians and their skills for communication,
> etc. I also have a couple of back-pocket dances for just-in-case
> situations. I also have a couple of dances that I could call as
> No-Walk-Throughs, depending on the timing of the program and many other
> on-the-spot judgements. In the end, I think it's all about the dancers -- I
> want them and the musicians to have a very fun time.
>
> Sometimes I like to have a small table at the back/side of the stage where
> I can lay out a few other cards that are not in my program. These I can see
> quickly and possibly use them if necessary. Again, the judgements are made
> on the fly.
>
> Community dances (like barn dances, Grange dances, square dances, etc.)
> are different. I rarely do any preparation. I bring my cards, talk to the
> organizers, watch the crowd, listen to the music, and choose dances on the
> fly. Again, always watching the crowd.
>
> And hot-house gigs like NEFFA, Northwest Folklife, the Portland Roadhouse,
> etc. are again different. Those are highly-organized programs well in
> advance, but they are also short (slots of 50-90 minutes). I'll think of
> dances weeks in advance, work up a program two weeks in advance, send it to
> the band, and then coordinate with them intensively. These gigs are kind of
> like Las Vegas Shows, and IMO they require careful preparation. Only rarely
> do they include on-the-fly changes.
>
> Woody
>
> ------------------------------
>
> On 3/13/2018 10:58 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote:
>
> I am curious how much time you all plan programming a dance before
> arriving at a venue.  If you do not preprogram, what is your approach for
> on the fly programming?
> Rich Sbardella
> Stafford, CT
>
> _______________________________________________
> List Name:  Callers mailing list
> List Address:  Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/attachments/20180315/9c224794/attachment.html>