Hi folks, This is (or feels like) my first time writing to this list. Somehow, it feels like there must be an easier way to send a response, but if this works, so be it........ Sue, is your community dance geared toward folks who just want to have fun doing all sorts of dances? You call it "old style community contra with a variety of dance forms", which sounds like what we have been doing now for 3 years in the Albany, NY area. We have tried 2 different locations and experimented with times. Our dance season is November through April, Saturday nights. At this point, I think we would be better off running it as a two and a half hour dance, with a 10 to 15 minute break. Right now, we are running it for 3 hours (7:30 to 10:30) with a 15 minute break, and by the last half hour, more than half of the dancers have gone home. We are thinking maybe 7 to 9:30 or 7:30 to 10. We get maybe 4 to 6 children, who go home after intermission. Another community dance that I have been involved with, run twice a year (Oct or Nov and April) goes from 7 to 9:30 (15 minute break), and is a huge success. They get lots of children for the first half of the evening, but there are still enough folks after the break to have good energy. Paul Rosenberg www.homespun.biz 518-482-9255 Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:59:28 -0500 From: Sue Robishaw <sue(a)manytracks.com> To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Organizers] Length of Dance Message-ID: <50F9FE00.8050201(a)manytracks.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Hi All, I'm in the process of organizing a new dance series (old style Community Contra with a variety of dance forms). It will be on a week-day evening. I'm wondering how long others run their regular dances, not including beginner sessions or potlucks or such. And typically how long is your mid-break? Thanks! Sue Robishaw, U.P. of Michigan P.S. And thanks also for all the sharing that has gone on in the past on Shared Weight. I have lots of good notes and ideas from past posts (from the Callers list).