I agree totally with Mark.  As long as the band keeps the phrasing clear and 
the tempo appropriate, I absolutely LOVE when the music is spiced with 
blues, swing, pop, rock 'n roll, Carribean, old TV show themes, or anything 
else.  After dancing for 35 years, I find straight-ahead New England or Old 
Time to be pretty boring at times.
Mark, I'm glad to hear that your band keeps the focus on the dance.  Some 
bands try TOO hard to be different, and the dance quality can really suffer.
~Barbara Groh

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Hillegonds" <mhillegonds at comcast.net>
To: "'Caller's discussion list'" <callers at sharedweight.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 12:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Callers] Caller's opinions on non-contra music at dances


> Hi all,
>
> As a dancer with a wide range of musical tastes, I enjoy dancing to a wide
> variety of music. As a few of the respondents said, as long as there is
> clear phrasing and an appropriate, steady tempo, I'm happy contra dancing 
> to
> just about anything.  I actually prefer really interesting music instead 
> of
> the same tune played the same way at the same volume for the entire dance.
>
> As a musician who plays for contra dances, I also enjoy playing a wide
> variety of music.  My band ranges from celtic to classical to old-timey to
> Eastern European to jazz and blues and swing.  We tend to stray quite far
> from the original melody.  Having said that, as three of the members of 
> the
> band are also callers and dancers, we are extremely aware that we need to
> clearly define the 8 bar and A1, A2, B1, B2 phrases for the dancers.  On 
> the
> occasion that we get feedback from dancers that they had to count during 
> one
> of our tunes, we assume responsibility for adjusting our playing such that
> we restore any missing structure to our tunes.
>
> On the other hand, we've had many dancers say they sometimes forget to
> concentrate on dancing because they so enjoy the music we're playing. 
> Even
> though it's a compliment, we try to reserve those moments for our concert
> performances and not in dances.  People come to a dance to dance and not
> listen to us give a concert.
>
> Great conversation.
>
> Mark Hillegonds
> Phone:   734-747-7148
> Cell:         734-756-8441
> Email:      mhillegonds at comcast.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: callers-bounces at sharedweight.net
> [mailto:callers-bounces at sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Marian and Parker
> Mann
> Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:54 PM
> To: callers at sharedweight.net
> Subject: [Callers] Caller's opinions on non-contra music at dances
>
> I'm looking for comments on a trend I've noticed in contra music,
> specifically, bands playing music far removed from pieces traditionally
> associated with the form.  The catalyst was  a mid-December  dance in the
> northwest where "as a special treat" the band shifted to rock music during
> the next-to-last contra.  The caller had stopped and we were left to our 
> own
> devices.  The A/B parts and the beat were hard to pick out, and the dance
> began breaking down as people had to guess when one move ended and another
> began.   I was there with a group of experienced dancers and our opinions
> were uniformly negative.  This was not the only time the band's selection 
> of
> tunes was hard to follow, just the most excessive.
>
> Over the last few years  I've seen bands play "unusual" music in several
> locations across the country and at both regular dance series and dance
> weekends.  There are some good examples in Youtube  (links provided
> offline.)  IMHO, contra music is an integral part of the dance, cuing on a
> nearly subconscious level the changes between figures.  Having to
> concentrate excessively on the timing takes emphasis off both the flow of
> the dance and the interaction with fellow dancers.
>
> Part of me can sympathize with the bands.  It must be incredibly boring 
> for
> talented musicians to play, say, Jefferson Reel over and over.  On the 
> other
> hand, they are hired to play for dancers, not each other, and some of the
> extreme examples smack of self-indulgence.
>
> I assume that essentially all of the members of this list are dancers and
> that a number of you are also  musicians.  I wondered what the group's
> feeling was on this and whether anyone felt it was a positive development.
>
>
>
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