Re: [Callers] Musical styles for a Barn Dance question

On 2015-10-17 2002, Leslie Gotfrit via Callers wrote: snip Try it. Maybe. <grin> I worked a Contra series dance with my first (advertised as such) old time band tonight. The No Jigs thing initially felt a bit unsettling, however the musicianship and music was great. No medleys, which I'm fine with, and a bit of joint effort looking for variety had it work out well. I'd mentioned all the basic parameters and communications points prior to the event and tonight we went over them before the intro session this series hosts. This past summer I worked with my first Bluegrass band. I'd been concerned a bit with that as well. A "Contra", really a barn dance/ONS on "grass" (beaten down by the sheep for a few years), worked out well. I covered off the points John Rogers made about tempo, length with both of them. Also starts and endings, who to talk to about what, how to speed up/slow down (if possible.) All the usual things. A few weeks ago I attended a free, intro night of MWSD. The point I took away from that was that someone could really use any music if it met the basic criteria. There were Beatles tunes/songs, pop "standards" and such. Not much in the way of tune as many of us might generally expect or appreciate. A number of callers I've experienced have offered the old saw that a dancers need for rhythm might just as easily be met by a drum stick attached to a car wiper as a band. If the band is not an established one, or don't have a recording, some practises/time with several of them playing prior to the event might prove useful. It might also be a chance to introduce some of the key points. A friend was working with a "Celtic" band a winter ago and had to work mostly on -- endurance, even tempo, how to start and end. Doing so seemed to suck up quite a bit of energy and take several sessions. So, it appears it is also good to know when to bail on an idea in some fashion if it appears bleak. For any of these one may require more lead time/contact time that might be expected. Cheers, John -- J.D. Erskine Victoria, BC Island Dance - Folk & Country Vancouver Island & BC islands dance info - site & mail list http://members.shaw.ca/island.dance/