Very interesting discussion. One thing I try to pay attention to is the music and whether the band will be playing two-tune or three-tune medleys. If I think the dance will not run for a long time (short hall, time running out, etc.) I’ll let the band know so they can make their changes sooner rather than later. I always feel badly if I have to cut the dance short and the band hasn’t gotten a chance to play the last tune at least four times through. If I have to make an “emergency” stop I always try to apologize to the band for cutting them short. If I lose track of the changes I’ll ask where they are. Ann Fallon Annapolis, Maryland From: Callers [mailto:callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Ryan Smith via Callers Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 10:25 AM Cc: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] Dance length/dances per evening "If you decide on a number of times through and actually count, you can stick to that pretty well, but if you decide a running time, it is much more difficult to stay on track of the time and warn the band three times before you want to end, etc." I couldn't disagree more. I have always used a stopwatch to keep track of how long I'm running the dance, and since one time through the dance is close enough to 30 seconds as to make it not matter, I signal the band 3 more times at whichever B2 is closest to one and a half minutes (usually 6.5 minutes since we started) from my target time (usually 8 minutes). I don't count times through or use marker couples or anything like that because I don't need the distractions. If I were counting, I would definitely have a moment where some couple needed my help and I'd be figuring out what calls would best put them back on the right track and forget whether I was on 5 or 7, and then I'd probably end up running the dance too long thinking I was on 16 times through, when it was really 20. If counting works for you, that's great. For people like me, having a target length is much simpler.