I almost always program a regular dance the day of. This has gotten a lot easier since I now keep a digital record of every program I call -- I can look through and find a program I called for a similar dance, pull out those cards, and modify and make changes as necessary. I try to also make notes on programs, like "Second half was great; first half was good except I had three Gents Allemande Lefts in a row," etc. The ability to recycle and modify old programs has been a life-saver!
This story isn't practical advice so much as it is A Weird Thing That Worked for Me Once: Recently I was programming in a hurry for a six hour advanced dance event. I went through my box and just haphazardly pulled out everything I was excited to call, then counted to see if I had enough dances. Once my numbers were good (4-5 dances/hour), I sorted them all into five columns (Very Smooth - Smoothish - Neutral - Balancey - Very Balancey) and then sorted the columns vertically by relative difficulty. I had something like five or six dances in every column, which seemed perfect! So then I just picked up cards from their spots in a particular order -- like Easiest Smooth to Easiest Very Balancey to Third-Easiest Neutral, etc -- just to approximate a dynamic program. When I laid out the two programs I'd made this way and checked them out, they were great! It was kind of magic! That all said, definitely I almost always need to modify my programs on the fly. I try not to sweat the details too hard; most dancers won't notice the little things, and as long as they're having fun, all is well. :) Angela On Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 8:01 PM Woody Lane via Callers < callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > I might be a bit different than most of the replies to your question. For > a regular contra dance, I usually set up a program on that day or one day > prior. Sometimes in the car enroute to the dance (if someone else is > driving). I may be thinking of dances that I'd like to call during the > previous week or two, but I actually put things on paper (or lay out cards) > within 48 hours of the actual event, usually within 12 hours . Frankly, I > don't want to get my head into an ownership mindset that would result if I > invest so much in the program. My approach leaves much to flexibility and > nimbleness. Of course, for some slots I'll have 2 or 3 dances listed on the > paper -- depends on the dancers/music/heat in the room/etc -- and then make > those choices on-the-fly while calling the previous one or two dances. > Always watching the dancers and listening to the music. > > Of course, everything can change in an evening, depending on so many > things. Dances, dance sequence, tempos, musical requests to the band, > musician preferences of the musicians and their skills for communication, > etc. I also have a couple of back-pocket dances for just-in-case > situations. I also have a couple of dances that I could call as > No-Walk-Throughs, depending on the timing of the program and many other > on-the-spot judgements. In the end, I think it's all about the dancers -- I > want them and the musicians to have a very fun time. > > Sometimes I like to have a small table at the back/side of the stage where > I can lay out a few other cards that are not in my program. These I can see > quickly and possibly use them if necessary. Again, the judgements are made > on the fly. > > Community dances (like barn dances, Grange dances, square dances, etc.) > are different. I rarely do any preparation. I bring my cards, talk to the > organizers, watch the crowd, listen to the music, and choose dances on the > fly. Again, always watching the crowd. > > And hot-house gigs like NEFFA, Northwest Folklife, the Portland Roadhouse, > etc. are again different. Those are highly-organized programs well in > advance, but they are also short (slots of 50-90 minutes). I'll think of > dances weeks in advance, work up a program two weeks in advance, send it to > the band, and then coordinate with them intensively. These gigs are kind of > like Las Vegas Shows, and IMO they require careful preparation. Only rarely > do they include on-the-fly changes. > > Woody > > ------------------------------ > > On 3/13/2018 10:58 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers wrote: > > I am curious how much time you all plan programming a dance before > arriving at a venue. If you do not preprogram, what is your approach for > on the fly programming? > Rich Sbardella > Stafford, CT > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: Callers@lists.sharedweight.net > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/ >
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