[Callers] music for dancing

I think that it depends on the musicians. Some bands I've worked with don't have the slightest idea when you request a certain type of tune. Others are tuned in to what the dancers need (they even dance!!!). You could ask for a traditional flavor like French Canadian, old time, New England etc. Adjectives that are typically used include flowing, marchy, bouncy and driving. So, you might want to request a flowing tune for a dance that has a hey in it. But does it get to be the 'same old thing' to always dance heys to flowing music? Don't be afraid to be different from what everyone else does in your area. Dances with many balances like Summer of 84 by Gene Hubbert and Four, forty four, forty four by Steve Zaken work well with jigs (but they work fine with reels). It will help the musicians to tell them where the balances are. I think that the majority of these kinds of contras start with a balance (2 measures), then two measures of some movement followed by a balance. Less frequent are the dances where the dancers do something for 2 measures and then balance. It makes a difference depending on the tune. Remember that musicians usually talk in measures whereas we usually talk about beats. The typical tune has 64 beats or 32 measures. At our dance festival last weekend we danced a flirty type contra to a march (or maybe a slow reel with a marchy feel). It was magical and a nice change of pace form the regular reels and jigs. I wouldn't have thought of doing that. On occasion, I have heard Steve Hickman play a set of polkas for a contra and it really worked. Be careful of Irish bands. I don't know about Irish bands in your area, but here in Virginia they play the jigs way too fast, about 140 beats per minute. I prefer the tunes to be around 120 or a tad slower depending on energy and skill level of the dancers, type of dance, condition of floor, and temperature. If your dancers are not dancing to the phrase well, you could ask the band to use a tune that is well phrased. Also, some musicians can pick the right tune just by looking at your card. Tom callers-request(a)sharedweight.net wrote: