On Wed, 27 Apr 2022 20:08:28 +0000, Bill Olson via Contra Callers wrote:
The BAND is suggesting the dance that you should call
to a tune they want to play?? uhhhh...
That ain't how it works. Make it easy on yourself.. You are in control here.. Just
tell the band NOT to play the
tune..
I don't agree, Bill. I think a good dance is when dancers, caller and band all enjoy
it, so I try not to be the man
saying "I'm in charge - you do what I say". For instance, I'm calling
the opening contra dance at May Heydays tomorrow:
http://mayheydays.org.uk/programme.html
and the band said they had two good sets of jigs going into reels and asked whether these
would fit any of my dances, so
I told them which two and they'll enjoy the change and so will the dancers and the
caller.
Surely the way to approach it is: "That's a great tune, and it goes well to this
dance, but it needs to go faster than
you normally play it" - and then give a tempo indication. If they're a dance
band (rather than a bunch of prima donnas)
they'll welcome the opportunity to get the whole room dancing to a tune they really
like playing.
Colin Hume