Hi Sue, Here's something I might use to start off an event like you described: Start the music going, take someone by the hand, lead them through the crowd urging people to join onto the end of the line as it snakes through the room Lead the line into a circle, and do a few rounds of a Paul Jones to get people coupled up (Ladies forward and back, gents forward and back, ladies in and circle left while gents go to the right around the outside, ladies turn around and swing someone near your, all promenade) Have everyone promenade into a Grand March, lead the march up the center of the hall, stop the music and invite the people who have come in during the above to find a partner and join in at the bottom of the longways set which has just been created, before doing a dance in longways formation. I've had good experiences doing the above, but here are some things to consider: If the group were entirely teenagers then I wouldn't do a snake line, since that age group tends to turn it into Crack-The-Whip. If the group had more men than women at the start of the dance, then I might hesitate to use a Paul Jones to get people into couples, since the men might be hesitant to dance with each other. It doesn't matter if the number of gents going forward and back is very different from the number of ladies going forward and back, as long as everyone finds someone to swing and promenade with. However, if there were many more women than men, I might call for the gents going forward and back first, then the gents circling on the inside while the ladies go around the outside. In some groups, people might be more comfortable doing the first dance with the partner they brought with them. When that's the case, I might start by asking people to line up in couples for a Grand March. However, the advantages to getting people moving without going through the anxiety of choosing a partner, and of getting them used to changing partners at the beginning of the dance, are obvious. I hope that's of use to you. Jacob Bloom