Recently I danced to a band that played almost no tunes during the evening in a traditional style. The dancers loved the swing in the music but something was missing. Missing was the trance state achieved by the regular, repetitive, driving tempo of a traditional reel or jig.

Hi all, As a dancer with a wide range of musical tastes, I enjoy dancing to a wide variety of music. As a few of the respondents said, as long as there is clear phrasing and an appropriate, steady tempo, I'm happy contra dancing to just about anything. I actually prefer really interesting music instead of the same tune played the same way at the same volume for the entire dance. As a musician who plays for contra dances, I also enjoy playing a wide variety of music. My band ranges from celtic to classical to old-timey to Eastern European to jazz and blues and swing. We tend to stray quite far from the original melody. Having said that, as three of the members of the band are also callers and dancers, we are extremely aware that we need to clearly define the 8 bar and A1, A2, B1, B2 phrases for the dancers. On the occasion that we get feedback from dancers that they had to count during one of our tunes, we assume responsibility for adjusting our playing such that we restore any missing structure to our tunes. On the other hand, we've had many dancers say they sometimes forget to concentrate on dancing because they so enjoy the music we're playing. Even though it's a compliment, we try to reserve those moments for our concert performances and not in dances. People come to a dance to dance and not listen to us give a concert. Great conversation. Mark Hillegonds Phone: 734-747-7148 Cell: 734-756-8441 Email: mhillegonds(a)comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Marian and Parker Mann Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:54 PM To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Callers] Caller's opinions on non-contra music at dances I'm looking for comments on a trend I've noticed in contra music, specifically, bands playing music far removed from pieces traditionally associated with the form. The catalyst was a mid-December dance in the northwest where "as a special treat" the band shifted to rock music during the next-to-last contra. The caller had stopped and we were left to our own devices. The A/B parts and the beat were hard to pick out, and the dance began breaking down as people had to guess when one move ended and another began. I was there with a group of experienced dancers and our opinions were uniformly negative. This was not the only time the band's selection of tunes was hard to follow, just the most excessive. Over the last few years I've seen bands play "unusual" music in several locations across the country and at both regular dance series and dance weekends. There are some good examples in Youtube (links provided offline.) IMHO, contra music is an integral part of the dance, cuing on a nearly subconscious level the changes between figures. Having to concentrate excessively on the timing takes emphasis off both the flow of the dance and the interaction with fellow dancers. Part of me can sympathize with the bands. It must be incredibly boring for talented musicians to play, say, Jefferson Reel over and over. On the other hand, they are hired to play for dancers, not each other, and some of the extreme examples smack of self-indulgence. I assume that essentially all of the members of this list are dancers and that a number of you are also musicians. I wondered what the group's feeling was on this and whether anyone felt it was a positive development. _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers