At 05:20 AM 2/15/2010, Andy Shore wrote:
>The program was a bit overly-ambitious for the crowd we got, but it 
>was fun and we made it through.  There were more "new to me" (marked 
>with the + above) dances than I like to present in an evening, 
>mostly because I was determined to stick with the theme.  In 
>retrospect that wasn't the best idea.

Thank you Andy for this cogent and self-critical analysis.  We need 
more of that.  It is clear that you are learning from your experience.

I admit that I view dance program "themes" with considerable 
dread...as soon as I become aware that the caller is embarking upon 
one.  As your analysis reflects, the selection of dances for a 
"theme" evening often veers far from the course of what program would 
"work" best for the crowd, the hall, and the music...all for the sake 
of keeping the names of the dances in character with some 
"theme."  This idea is a recipe for a difficult evening of 
over-teaching and long walk-throughs and "theme evenings" should be a 
signal of danger to all in the hall.

I wish callers would consider any "theme" to be the developing 
story-line of all of the dances considered from the perspective of a 
mixed crowd of dancers looking for an enjoyable social evening.  This 
is how any good evening of contra dance should be programmed and the 
name of the dance is seldom a useful indicator of where the dance 
would best be positioned in the evening's program, or if it should be 
included at all.

Just a thought.