[Musicians] Programming an evening - Organizers

7 Feb 2011

[I'm responding to the question below and have changed the subject line to
match.]

...
  do you, as dance musicians, "program" an
evening in the same way a caller does?

I think this is driven by whether the caller programs the evening in advance. 
When a caller plans a program and sends us their requests beforehand, the
extra time can be helpful in matching tunes to dances.  We may get anything
from dance-card shorthand, to "marchy with a balance at the top of B1", to
"anything works, play your favorite medley" (my favorite).  

Sometimes callers send us a program days ahead of time, and sometimes we get
it when they arrive for the sound check.  Some callers never program in
advance and let the energy and abilities of the dancers guide their choice of
dances -- in that case we choose tunes during the walk-through.  It all works
-- it just depends on what paradigm the caller prefers.  

Rick

------ Original Message ------
Received: 07:03 PM PST, 02/04/2011
From: barb kirchner &lt;barbkirchner(a)hotmail.com&gt;
To: &lt;sue(a)manytracks.com&gt;om>, &lt;musicians(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
Subject: [Musicians] activity (was waltz length)

> 
> ok - i've got a topic.
>  
...
  do you, as dance musicians, "program" an
evening in the same way a caller does?
...

 i'm asking because i DO program evenings as a caller, and i do the same as a
musician.
...

 so...what is your GOAL as a dance musician and how do you "program" that?

 cheers!
 barb

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