Re: [Callers] Quiet or am I no longer getting posts?

On Sep 23, 2012, at 8:05 AM, beth(a)hands4.com wrote: I'd be interested in hearing what Beth, or anyone else, does to get people back onto the floor after a break (or at the beginning of the dancing) at ONS events. * * * * * * * * * * * * One of the few ONS gigs I've called was a company party where the band's repertoire included songs as well as dance music. The format for the event, announced well in advance, was dinner followed by dancing. I don't recall whether the dancing was described as "square" dancing, "barn dance" or what, but I'm pretty sure people were expecting some kind of dancing with a caller/teacher/leader, not jut a band playing current popular music that they could bop around to. Anyway, when people were pretty much finished with dinner, the band started with a song. This helped get people's attention and let them know that the dancing was about to start. (There might also have been some announcement by someone from the company before or after the song.) Then we did two or three dances, and took a break for a few minutes. I decided that starting with a song had worked well, and the band had more songs that they were interested in playing, so we followed the same pattern for the rest of the evening, using a song to mark the end of each break and the start of the next set of dances. The pattern of song, dances, break, song, dances break, ... seemed to work very nicely on that particular occasion. I don't have enough experience with ONS gigs to say when and would or wouldn't be good in general. Obviously, it wouldn't work with a non-singing band. Also, I think the songs helped connect the band and the attendees in ways that would have been irrelevant for an event where the caller was using recorded music. * * * * * * * * * * * * One topic I've always discussed with event organizers before taking on a ONS gig is whether the organizer is committed to helping get people onto the dance floor, including by getting onto the floor him/herself and also by making sure that the dance aspect of the event is well publicized in advance (including, btw, the fact that it's a kind of dancing where high heels are strongly discouraged). * * * * * * * * * * * * At weddings, a grand march led by the bride and groom (with caller and a partner as the couple just behind) can be an effective way to gather people for dancing. You can meander around past all the tables, etc. and people will see a that there's something going on that (a) involves the wedding couple and (b) is clearly simple enough for everyone to join in. Once you've got a nice long parade of couples, you can lead them around into a circle and--poof!--you're set up for a simple circle dance. One word of caution, though. The first time I did this, the band (an Irish band that I hadn't worked with before, hired by the wedding couple) played rahhther faster than I was expecting for the circle dance (a mixer), and it didn't seem as if slowing them down on the fly was going to be a happening thing. I noticed an older woman (perhaps an aunt of the bride or groom?) who looked like she might be tiring and wanting to drop out, but not doing so lest she abandon her partner of the moment. I was just about to signal the band to go out when a woman on the sidelines also noticed and stepped in to take the place of the tiring dancer. So I let the dance run a few more rounds (still not as long as I'd have run it, even for a "non-dancer" crowd, if the tempo were more moderate), before stopping. And then I talked with the band about keeping the tempo more moderate for the remaining dances. --Jim