Re: [Callers] Estimating space and couples

On 10/19/2012 6:06 PM, Leslie Gotfrit wrote: First, good for you! Setting up house parties is the way to get practice! I think you want 17-20 square feet per contra dancer. I'm having some trouble understanding what the "24 feet on the diagonal" measurement accomplishes. You're making me do algebra and geometry here. If you have a square room then the area is diameter**2 /2 (result in square units). So your 24-feet on the diagonal is 288 sqft and you can fit 14-17 dancers into it. However, that has to be modified by figuring out where you stand, whether the musicians take up space, whether there's any furniture, etc. It would be more helpful to have a length measurement and a width measurement of the danceable area after subtracting some room for caller and band. But assuming optional distribution, it seems like you can have a 7 - 8 couple set. If you don't have at least five couples in a duple minor set then you do a high percentage of standing out compared to dancing, and the ratio gets better as the set gets longer. (If the dancers are major dance geeks, you can do contras with four people, never stopping, and either change number and gender every time through, or change partners and head of the set every time through.) (I'm not going to push you to call squares rather than contras, because you're trying to practice contras. But it sounds like you're setting up a classic squares environment!) Good luck! -- Alan