Re: [Callers] Appropriate Tempos

On Aug 16, 2012, at 1:06 PM, rich sbardella wrote: MWSD: 126 to 129 Over time people claim that we have slowed down. I took a sample of 12 callers in New England a while ago (New England is slower than the average, possible due to Jim Mayo's influence), and I remember numbers in the 120 to 128 range. I took a sample of at least 20 callers from around the country and I believe the range was 124 to 134. I took a sample from a National Challenge Convention and it was in the 126 to 136 range. MWSD has lost its ability to relate to the phrase of the music. Now our dancers are losing their ability to take one step for each beat of music. Do the dancers dance with the music at 120-122 BPM at MWSD? This is true. Jim Mayo (and others) did a tempo workshop in 1992 which you can fine here: http://www.dosado.com/articles/tempo.html The perceived BPM was more important than the actual BPM. Music with a lot going on sounded faster. Correct. Actually, most contra dance music is in the 110 to 120 range. The connected dancing, continuous motion, and swinging all combine to cause you to put out more energy that dancing at 128 in MWSD. I offer some contra dancing (at the tempos I just mentioned) to the callers and partners attending CALLERLAB (a 3 day meeting of MWSD callers) each year. I expect that 10% actually try it. After the first dance, I ask them what their estimate of the tempo was. They usually guess 134 or some number greater tan their usual 128. In face the answer is often 116 or slower. Let us know what you find out. -- Clark Baker, Belmont, MA cmbaker(a)tiac.net