Hello Everyone,

I am the organiser for a big band,and we have recently been booked for a charity dance ball. We will play for about 3 hours with breaks of course.

Since we are inexperienced at playing for dancers I need some advice on how a typical repetoire for a dance ball might look.

I imagine in 3 hours we will be playing around 40 pieces. I would like to know how many walzes, how many Rumba, Foxtrot, Slow Fox, etc etc.

The audience is likely to be fairly mixed in terms of both age and dance ability. There will also be an experienced dance pair attending so I imagine that they will be at least a small number of the more difficult dances.

Many thanks for any help!

David

Hi,
as organizer of dance parties for ballroom and latin students I would suggest:
Tango and Cha-Cha-cha are 1st place , Waltz and Rumba - 2nd, Jive/Swing and Salsa/Mambo- 3rd, Foxtrot , V. Waltz, Samba, Quickstep , according to experienced dancers request.
So I would suggest :
8 Tangos , 8 Chachas, 6 Waltzes , 6 Rumbas , 4 Swing/Jive/Rock'n'rolls, 4 Salsa/Mambos, 3-5 melodies of other dances by request.
Hope that this would be helpful.

I would modify LetsGoDance's recommendations to be a little heavier in Foxtrot (of course the distribution varies with the audience). And I also recommend this document:

http://www.mrk-inc.com/users/fjacoby/ballrm0.pdf

It is a little book written by a bandleader who is also a dancer. He talks about the correct tempo for dancing, and why it matters. Music that is too fast or too slow for a given dance is simply harder (or impossible) to dance to than music in the correct tempo. This author's discussion of this topic is clear and to the point. Since the original poster says his band is "inexperienced at playing for dancers," this book could be helpful.

Hello nloftofan1,

thanks very much for your reply.
The document link is extreemly helpful.

David.

David,

Most BR songs are around 2mins 30 secs long. Even at 3 mins you will need 20 selections per hr.

If this is just a regular non/ mixed BR type crowd, who just like to shuffle around the floor, then your program may be limited to dances they are comfortable with.

You might open with a " swing " type song to get a feel for the crowd .Not to fast, this will accommodate both the swing dancers and those who like social foxtrot.

IF its a BR crowd then, go to a med pace Rumba. Follow with a waltz and then a Cha Cha.

This selection, will give you a handle on how you might structure the rest of the nite . You then need to play the dances in 2 of each ,rotating the W/ Ft and Qsteps with the Rumbas Chas and swings. Tango is the odd ball .. you may get less people for that, but try one and see how it "flies ".

By the way, you didnt say which country you reside.. this can affect the selection .