13 May
2010
13 May
'10
4:28 p.m.
On May 12, 2010, at 9:02 PM, Meg Dedolph wrote:
I have a question about dance length - not the length
of time you run a particular dance, but the length of an evening of dancing. In Chicago,
we recently went from a three-hour Monday night dance to a two-and-a-half hour Monday
night dance. Some dancers like ending earlier, some really hate it and others don't
seem to care.
As best as I could tell, I saw exactly zero answers to your question :-) and lots of
discussion about dances with small attendance.
Most (perhaps all) of the dances in greater Boston are 3 hours. Most are 8-11 on weekends
and 7:30 to 10:30 on weeknights.
While slightly off subject, the MWSD club I dance with had been 3 hours sine the
1970's and changed to 2 1/2 hours about 5 years ago. When the change happened, it was
a big deal. Now, it just seems normal. The change was motivated by our caller who had to
get home and get to work early so ending at 10:30 on a weeknight helped him.
Dances need critical mass. If people are leaving at the middle break, and you are
stretching to keep things going for that last 1/2 hour, perhaps you need a shorter dance.
Another issue to consider -- the cost. Dancers are paying $7 to $10 to get into a dance
these days. Will they be upset if the dance is shortened?
--
Clark Baker, Belmont, MA
cmbaker(a)tiac.net