Organising a Dance?
Organising a Dance?
We in Wheelwrights have been playing for barn dances / ceilidhs / weddings etc for nearly 20 years. In that time we have played for people with ages ranging from Nursery School children through to golden wedding anniversary celebrants. We've played for a wide spectrum of dancer skills from complete novices in PTAs to dances for experienced dancers. These pages will try to put that experience to use and help you maximise the enjoyment out of your event and minimise the opportunity for "howlers".
What we play for are often called Barn Dances, some times Ceilidhs and some times Country Dances. If you take an "English" slant then these are all really different flavours of the same thing, so for the purposes of clarity and simplification this guide will use the term barn dance to refer to them all. We will however point out that many people equate barn dances to American Square dance and although the callers we work with often put in an American Square dance set into the evenings dances, we do not sound like an American Square dance band.
What is a "Barn Dance"?
The Oxford English dictionary states: "an informal social gathering for country dancing, originally in a barn" . Country dancing uses dances mostly from within and around the British Isles, a few of these are traditional, however many have been recently invented in the style of traditional dances over the last 50 years or so. There are a large number of anoraked academics who will have strong opinions on this so we won't take it any further. However, one thing to note is that these days, barns are not the norm and can often be quite unfriendly places to both dance and play.
First Thoughts
Why are you holding a Barn Dance, what sort of event is it for? The following links will give a brief outline of the most common sorts of events which include barn dances:
Social Events
A Party
Weddings
Fund RaisingDance
A Ceilidh
– an evening of dancing (and optionally singing)
Why Hold Barn Dance?
A barn dance / ceilidh is a really good way for people to have fun, socialise and meet others.
It is suitable for all ages, barn dances / ceilidhs tend to cross what in other circumstances can be social barriers.
You don’t necessarily need experience, the caller will walk you through the dance before the music starts.
You don’t necessarily need to bring a partner with you.
Types of Dance
A barn dance can be a very good way of providing a dance for a company occasion OR a special party. Regardless of many peoples apparent prejudices, when they finally get to a barn dance they usually enjoy themselves. It is fair to say that if they are willing to dance any form they will enjoy a barn dance. Barn dances are good mixers and good levellers.
Many couples arrange an after the event party to invite all those people they couldn't get into the main reception. A Barn Dance allows everyone to join in the fun.
Unlike a disco, a Barn Dance is fun for all ages, from nine to ninety, there's no barriers. If you can't join in the dancing, then it's enjoyable from the sidelines, either listening to the music (which we think is good, well we would wouldn't we), or watching the dancers.
We work with a number of different callers, and can arrange one suitable for you.
These events usually meet several functions, primarily raising money for a specific purpose whilst at the same time providing an enjoyable social event for your supporters. A dance and in particular a barn dance is ideal for this.
If you need help and guidance on organising a Barn Dance, we can help.
Ceilidhs / Dances for regular Dance Goers
The term Ceilidh is used here in the recently coined English Ceilidh sense where
"English Ceilidh is an more riotous and eclectic variation on English Folk, Barn or Country dancing. Simple Folk Dances done with excitement and energy to music deriving from anything from Irish to Caribbean."
(lifted from Martin Kiff's excellent WebFeet site).
There doesn't need to be much "selling" for this sort of dance to regular dance goers, except to say that we as a band really enjoy playing for them and in order to do so we are promoting our own series of dances on about a twice a year basis. Get to them if you can, to date they have been a real blast for both the band and the dancers.
I've avoided the phrase "dances for dancers" as this seems to have become a term of reference for dances where the majority of the dance goers are regular attendee's at dance clubs at which they learn complex dances. They have a reputation, probably completely without foundation, for "dancing without a smile on their faces". This may or may not be true, though we'd be delighted to disprove it.
Advice and help
Contact the band to discuss your specific needs, and if you need advice on what to do and how to go about organising a Barn Dance, then we can probably help. Below are some quick guidelines to help you ensure a successful event:
Our Caller on the night, will guide the dancers through the dance without the music initially, and then calling the moves while We the band provided the music.
This means that you don’t have to be an expert dancer to have a fun evening.
The callers we arrange have a relaxed, friendly style and mounds of patience. Our aim is to ensure that you and your guests have an enjoyable evening.
We are sometimes asked what to wear for dancing. Something casual and loose fitting is best and flat comfortable shoes (preferably non-slip, especially if the venue has a polished wooden floor) are generally the best. For the ladies, dancing in high heels is an acquired skill and is not recommended.
Theme evenings are popular for fund raising or parties. We the band are usually unphased by the appearance of the audience. We don't mind stetson hats, string ties and check shirts despite the fact that that is the "uniform" for American Square dancing not English Country Dancing.
A special note here for weddings: A bridal gown is special and the bride may want to wear it for the whole day. However, it is difficult to join in the dancing with a dress that is very full or one that has a long train. In the end it's the bride's decision, (Mary - Rex's wife and our sound engineer decided that it was a one off and danced in the dress, at the end of the evening, the skirt bottom was ripped to shreds, so she cut the bottom off and it was converted to a christening shawl).
Types of venue
There are many different sorts of venue. A selection of these is listed below. We've played in everything from a cleared out floor in a carpet shop (the accoustics were great, the dust was hell) to a banqueting hall in a big country house (converted to a hotel / conference venue).
Considerations when looking for a room that is suitable for dancing
The room size, layout and shape
The dancing area needs to be a reasonable size and typically should be rectangular or square. A clear dance floor the size of a badminton court will provide sufficient space for a ‘dancers’ dance. It really depends on the number of guests.
There are more details on Derek Kingscote's excellent guide site.
It is important that you try and avoid barriers of any kind, such as :
Lighting
A laser light show is not required for barn dancing, but you do need to be able to see where you are going!
Fluorescent lighting usually makes the atmosphere a bit cold and unfriendly. Normal incandescent lights with dimmers can be fairly effective and strings of coloured lights particularly so.
Acoustics
This is a very important consideration. Mary our sound engineer is good at her job, but fighting with a huge echo chamber is almost impossible and will result in the dancers not being able to hear the caller and the music sounding "muddy".
Unfortunately the worst type of room is the most commonly available: School gymnasia where the walls, floor and ceiling are all hard and reflective and where the width to length ratio is about 1:2 are particularly bad. If you are stuck with that sort of venue, try and get some soft coverings and festoon the whole place (with due regard to fire regulations). It will both improve the acoustics and help with the overall ambience.
Special Considerations
Marquees can be decorated to look very attractive for the wedding feast and speech making, however the seating is usually arranged to fill all the available space. This means that there is going to be a major furniture re-organisation required after the meal to create the space for dancing.
Often the "floor" is covered with matting. If this is not very securely fastened down it can be a serious hazard during the dancing.
Barns may seem ideal but these are really only suitable during the summer. They can be draughty and cold particularly for the musicians during the latter part of the evening. To create the right atmosphere for your guests, it is essential that the barn is clean and dry. Some of the huge modern barns have all of the disadvantages mentioned above as well as having all the atmosphere of a car park (huge concrete pillars and corrugated iron walls and roofs).
For the band, it also needs to be dust free; concertinas and whistle players have bellows / lungs that suck air (and dust) through the instrument and this can cause problems and lead to potentially expensive repairs both to instruments and instrumentalists.
In the UK you are very much at the mercy of the weather.
The band uses a significant amount of electrical equipment and instruments which do not survive getting wet. Thus if it starts to rain, "End of Dance" as we all scurry in different directions trying to get our equipment under cover and try to avoid electric shocks by switching off all electrical power.
If you plan to have the dancing on grass this will be slippery when the ground becomes damp as the dew rises in the evening. Dancing on grass is also very tiring (ask any Morris Man/Woman).
It also gets very cold and damp at the end of the evening for both guests and musicians.
Electricity Supply
In all venues the band needs an electricity supply which is properly earthed, and meets the standard safety regulations.
Times
A typical evening runs for between three and a half and four hours with a break half way through e.g.
However, the timings can be very flexible to meet your needs. Try to avoid having the dance scheduled to go on too long after the bar closes.
Access
Please arrange for the hall to be open at least an hour beforehand; this will allow the band to set up in good time. However, we do understand that wedding timings can significantly over-run.
Again for weddings, it is worth remembering that if the band cannot get into the venue to set up the PA, their instruments etc, until after the speeches, you are going to get about an hours hiatus while the floor is cleared, the band sets up kit, tunes instruments etc. This can be very disruptive.
This is a topic very close to the band's heart. However, the type of food will largely depend on the event. If you want a self catering approach, there are a number of options :
Ploughman’s Supper
A Ploughman’s supper is easy to organise but keep it simple, trimmings take time which is probably not "cost effective" use of your effort.
The main benefit of a ploughman’s is that nearly all the preparation can be done in advance. The biggest benefit of all is that you are in complete control regarding timing and serving.
Cold Buffets
These are popular, but you have to remember that valuable dancing time can be lost due to queuing.
Fish and Chip Supper
These need to be well organised particularly for large numbers, otherwise multiple deliveries are necessary. This means that you could end up with half of the people dancing and the other half eating. Timing of the arrival of the food is critical and needs to be co-ordinated with the caller. We have had several occasions where the food break has been announced only to find that the food didn't arrive, or alternatively the food arrives mid dance and things have to be abandoned in an unseemly hurry to avoid the food getting cold.
Barbecues
Barbeques suffer from the same timing problem as "Fish and Chip Suppers". They also encourage everyone to stay outside if the weather is fine, which can mean that it is difficult for the caller to get the dance going.
Caterers
This is not a cheap option however, Caterers can make a big difference if you want to concentrate on enjoying your event. They will get on with the business of organising the food whilst you get on with the dance. You will need to book them well in advance and ensure that you discuss all the details of the evening with them. It is useful to ensure that the caller and the caterers have been put in contact at the beginning of the dance if not before so that they can co-ordinate events.
Other Catering Issues
Providing drinks for the band and including them in the food arrangements during the mid-evening break is always appreciated. However, note that if you serve us last, then we will finish last, thus delaying the restart of dancing. It is thus best that the band is served early, often with "ploughmens", organisers put the bands food to one side so they don't appear to be queue jumping. It is well to brief us whether there will or will not be a bar and whether we will or will not be getting fed. We have to make preparations as well.
One key point is: It will always take longer to serve everyone than anticipated and don’t forget to make the arrangements for clearing up after eating.
Discos
We have many years experience, and if there is one thing that is almost a universal truth it is: Barn dancing and discos don’t work very well together.
On the occasions when a disco is used at the end of an evening, there are invariably difficulties with space to accommodate both the disco and the band, and the band always have to remove all of their equipment in near dark and very loud conditions. This can result in equipment loss and damage and can sometimes inconvenience the guests as the band struggle to haul large peices of heavy PA kit through a room full of sweaty dancers.
We have noticed on many occasions that many of the guests tend to leave once the disco starts. For these reasons it is better to either have one or the other.
Here is a checklist for organising a dance; the first three items need to be done in plenty of time to secure the date that you want, ideally 9 to 12 months ahead.
What do you need for a successful dance?