Lucky Number Seven

Hi, folks. Apparently I'm now getting some readership thanks to Cliff's newsletter, so thank you, Cliff.

We had a pretty good dance last night at the Davie Woman's Club, though we could have used a lot more dancers. It was my fifth time calling a dance, and I still need a great deal of improvement, but the dancers were pretty patient, anyway. I called several dances that we used to do all the time up in Indiana but that I have never or rarely seen down here in Florida. As expected, the Pattycake Polka had everyone laughing, and even those sitting out thought it was a great little dance. I also called a couple of simple square dances; no feedback on those, so I don't know how they went over. I had hoped to call a circle dance and a Sicilian circle, but we really didn't have enough people for either. Thanks to Pot Luck, our band, with Lew Pollack, John Burnett, and Linda Frank for playing. They were pretty patient with me, too.

Next 5th Saturday dance will be Halloween night; John Burnett will return with two new musicians who have never played a contra dance before, so it should be interesting. I will decide then whether or not the 5th Saturday dance will continue; we had 18 in May, 17 last night, not great turnouts. It's possible the oncoming storm kept some people away, so I'll hope for 25+ for Halloween.

Post the Sixth

Not sure what to write this time around. We had a good turnout for a Sunday afternoon, and a caller we had not had before, John Rogers, so that made it interesting. Southern Atlantic Muse played. The only new people were a couple that Andrew brought. We had several people show up that had not been to a dance in ages, including Dom and Barbara, so that was nice. Several of our more contentious dancers were NOT there, so that made it more easy-going. And Heidi was back running the door, so that was a good thing. I did get the chance to announce the fifth Saturday dance which is rapidly approaching now, and the Halloween dance as well.

Five and counting

Yesterday's dance was not very well attended, but we had some good dancers and some good dances anyway. Southern Atlantic Muse played and Brian Kushner called. I'm trying not to post negative commentary on here, but organization and preparation were sorely lacking last night. The beginner's lesson is supposed to run from 7:00-7:30 and the dance start at 7:30, but the dance didn't get going until almost 8:00 p.m. That was partially due to a lack of dancers, but also because no one was ready to go. I arrived at 7 and there was no one there to take money. I'm also trying not to generate unfavorable comparisons, but I do want to make "my" dance on the 5th Saturday different enough from the existing dances to get people to want to come out. How? By instructing the callers and musicians to make the dances a little simpler and a lot faster. Personally, I find faster dances more exciting than more complicated dances. So I'm going to push for faster dances. I believe that those who come to the 5th Saturday dance will find that I am correct and that "my" dance is more fun and exciting than the other dances. Notice that this does not mean I will avoid the other dances. Contra dancing is my main social outlet and the more opportunities I have to go, the better.