19 Sep
2023
19 Sep
'23
6:57 p.m.
Hi Jeff! It does vary by community... If you played at 120 and up where I
dance, the dance would be empty and/or over halfway through. Even at
116-120, older/less fit dancers are getting frustrated, sitting down to
catch their breath, and leaving early.
In my experience, 112-114 is the sweet spot. It's not too slow as to be
clumsy. It's not too fast for beginners and older/less fit dancers. And for
more proficient and creative dancers, it's a pace that allows them to play
around a little, while still finishing in time for the next move. 116-118
is okay for a couple dances if they have fewer moves, so the caller needs
to tell the band "a little faster is okay".
Keith Tuxhorn
Springfield IL
I call/dance in STL, and central IL
On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 11:59 AM Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
For me:
116-120: normal, hard to go wrong
110-122: usually fine, depending a bit on the dance and crowd
104-126: possible with the right dance and crowd, but on the edge of
undanceable
<104, >126: almost never a good idea
Younger or more athletic crowds generally do better with another couple
bpm, and vice versa.
This also varies some by community: some areas historically have had
faster or slower music and those communities have many people who've
adapted their dancing to the typical music.
As a musician, if I'm playing too fast or slow for the dancers I'm happy
to be given real-time correction! A caller watching the whole hall has a
better sense of how well the tempo is going over than a group of musicians
who are able to give the hall less of their attention.
Jeff
On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 12:35 PM Roberta Kogut via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Just wondering what tempos your bands are playing
for contra dancers.
Thank you!
Roberta Kogut
Western North Carolina
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