Re: [Callers] slow down...

-My mistake... Odd numbers are the way to go (13, 15, 17). 13 or 15 being "prime", I believe, based on each time through the dance being 34 seconds (30 seconds @ 120), 13 times = 7 minutes and 20 seconds, 15 times = 8 minutes and 30 seconds. -My expanded thinking behind "dancers are there to dance" would be, that I believe contra dancing to be a form of social dancing. I believe that the social factor of contra dancing is perhaps the most important part of contra dancing. But with that said, there is always the option to sit out. There have been many nights of contra dancing for me, where I have gone with the idea that I will only dance 1/2 the dances, because I want to sit out and talk with friends. As a caller, I also believe that keeping people dancing, especially dancers takes a certain amount of uneasiness from them. I know when I was a new dancers one of the hardest things for me to do was ask someone to dance, but if you keep the dancers on the floor it doesn't give them time to sit out. So I believe keeping a good pace is important. -I have mixed feelings about the band and how many times they want to go through a tune. I agree in so some sense that the band want to "get into a groove" and that may require more times through a dance. As a dancers, I enjoy a great set of tunes, but like I said before I tend to get bored with a dance anymore then 14-16 times through. I think there is definitely a balance between want the caller wants versus, what the band wants, but more importantly, they are both there for the dancers. As, the majority of music I have been experienced on a weekly basis is Cape Breton. The Cape Breton style has a lot of tune changes. It is not uncommon for me to be @ Nelson and the fiddler play 10 different tunes during one dance. Again, I realize that this not common, but it is what I am use to. All and all, I am still not in favor of the slow down... I am a believe in a quick and efficient walk-through. Never use more words then you have to and that great teaching goes a long way. I am a firm believe that even a new dancer can dance a complex dance, as long as the caller is able to find the "right" language (in 2 or less minutes of course) :-) Jeff Petrovitch