Sorry for the late reply - I had problems sending to the list. I agree absolutely with your comments - and especially that you need simple proper dances. I do a lot of weddings and have devised a few(!) rules / tricks to make them go well: * Never call a contra, and rarely a proper longways - they find the "1s work their way down, 2s work their way up" too complicated. * Start with a dance that allows you to test their ability, not just to dance but to listen to the caller and do what they're told! A good mixer will do for this - Lucky 7 or Scatter Promenade * Keep the moves simple, and don't introduce too many new ones at once. I rarely do Ladies Chains, for example. * Start with simple dances and progress from there - so a grand chain starts as a special move but later becomes just something they do. * Don't feel the need to include too many clever moves - you can get a lot out of stars and circles! * Have a collection of 20 or so simple dances at your disposal * Be ready for not many people on the dance floor - plenty of three and four couple dances, just in case. * Equally have some "space saving" dances, in case everyone wants to get up. * Use dances that can take variable numbers of couples. At a wedding, if 7 couples get up to dance you need to get all 7 dancing. * Don't be afraid to write your own simple dances (about half of mine I wrote myself). * Have a supply of "sexless" dances - where you don't have to call "men" or "women". This is especially important if you have a number of children. * On the subject of children, if you have very young ones avoid dances which change partner, or allow them to keep their partner while everyone else changes. * Use dances that are easy to recover from when they go wrong - and tell them how ("if you don't have anyone to swing come and stand in the middle") * Use dances where one person / couple going wrong doesn't mess it up for everyone else * Use dances with leeway in them - one set will always end up well behind and need recovery time * Once you get going in a dance, Be prepared to call it "unphrased" if they're just not getting through it in time - and warn the band beforehand if you can! * Calling from the floor with a radio mike helps a lot, as you have: * The ability to correct a particular person / set having difficulties during the walkthrough * The ability to correct a person / set during the actual dance * Much better engagement with the audience than standing on the stage Regards Jeremy www.barndancecaller.net<http://www.barndancecaller.net>