[Callers] Dance Tempos

I called community dances regularly in North Florida for almost 30 years (1990-2018), mostly in Tallahassee but also in Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Melrose, and at the Florida Folk Festival. It probably won’t be news to you that it gets hot in Florida, and stays hot for a long time. Some of my favorite dance venues were not outdoors, or not air conditioned, or not strongly so. Desired dance tempo interacts strongly with how hot and humid the dance space is and how long you run the dances. My own preferred tempo for contras is always in the range of 115 to 118, but in addition to the other factors mentioned here (agility and age of dancers, mix of experience levels, etc) the temperature of the hall modifies that desired tempo. Some of these same dance venues were not heated in the cool months either, and keeping up the tempo and keeping the teaching succinct are welcomed by the dancers under those conditions. Sorry if this is belaboring the obvious. RSH Richard Hopkins hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net 850-544-7614