Back playing again for dancing

[tyrosguy85]

Hi everyone.
Well at long last we can get back to some sort of normality.
From the 19th July I shall be restarting my social dance events here in the UK.
Just to let other musicians who do the same type of entertainment as me,Here are a few things I'm introducing to get things started safely
1.Vaccination cards are to be shown before anyone enters the dancehall.(I'm taking note of peoples vaccination dates)No card no entry.
2.I'm not providing any catering etc So asking everyone to bring their own.
3.Providing sanitisers at my venues but people can bring and use their own.
4Face masks are down to the individual persons discretion.
5 No progressive dances
6.Last but by no means last-Everyone enjoy themselves!!!
Hope this helps.
Good luck to you all
Regards John.

[Toril S]

I like nr. 6😀😀😀 I had my first gig this year today! Wonderful to be back😀

[Colin D]

Hi everyone.
Well at long last we can get back to some sort of normality.
From the 19th July I shall be restarting my social dance events here in the UK.
Just to let other musicians who do the same type of entertainment as me,Here are a few things I'm introducing to get things started safely
1.Vaccination cards are to be shown before anyone enters the dancehall.(I'm taking note of peoples vaccination dates)No card no entry.
2.I'm not providing any catering etc So asking everyone to bring their own.
3.Providing sanitisers at my venues but people can bring and use their own.
4Face masks are down to the individual persons discretion.
5 No progressive dances
6.Last but by no means last-Everyone enjoy themselves!!!
Hope this helps.
Good luck to you all
Regards John.

Hi John,

I would like to get in to doing this type of Gig, is it hard to get going?

Many thanks,

Colin

[tyrosguy85]

Hi Colin.
Once you have got the right music, tempo and venue it is pretty straight forward.
I play for social dancing which consists of ballroom dance music and sequence.
Sequence dance music can be tricky to start with as the music must be in a 16 bar sequence. You play a four bar intro for quicksteps, foxtrots, rumbas, saunters etc and a three bar intro for waltzes. Everybody starts doing the same steps at the same time and finishes the same.If you go on to youtube and type in for example "Saunter together" this will give you an idea of a sequence dance.I can give you the tempos of which to set the styles to for you(And anyone else who would like to use them)
Good luck
John.

[travlin-easy]

Colin, there are two avenues of approach that some musician/entertainer/singers have utilized here in the Colonies with a great deal of success.

I have a friend who is a great player, fair singer, and teaches ballroom dancing. He charges $15 USD per person for attending, he rents an American Legion Hall just outside of Baltimore, which cost him $100 for 5 hours. The dance classes last about 3 hours, he provides chips, pretzels and soft drinks at each table. If they want an alcoholic beverage, they can purchase it from the Legion's Bar, which is in another room of the same building. Then cannot bring their own beverages or snacks to the event. It took him about three weeks to get enough people to reach the break even point, and currently, he has about 60 to 70 people for each class, so he's doing OK, but not getting rich by a long shot.

I know another guy who had a Thursday Night Dance Party, he's a good keyboard player, great singer, and really knows how to read a crowd and determine what songs will fill the dance floor. He also rents an American Legion Hall, in the Baltimore Suburbs, which cost him about $150 for 5 hours, and he too supplies soft drinks, coffee  and snack food. In advance of doing his first Dance Party, he printed 100 posters, took them to gas stations, grocery stores, and other locations where he got permission to post them on the door. On the poster he placed his telephone number and asked people to make reservations because the hall was limited to 300 people. He charges $8 USE per person, the beverages and snacks cost an average of $50 a night, and he is responsible for cleaning up after each event. His very first night, he had about 220 people show up, but by the 3rd week, he was averaging 300 or more. He made a lot of money, plus he was performing the nursing home circuit 5 days a week, which added to his income.

I assume there are halls for rent in the UK at reasonable prices, and some of the same rules would apply. Everyone here that has been vaccinated get a card showing which vaccine they received and the date it took place. No mask mandate here, other than going into a medical facility (Which I think is dumb as Hell). The mask restriction was lifted in Maryland on July 1.

So, you can create a great income, have lots of fun in the process, but there is a fair amount of pre-planning that must first be put into play, and you must run it like a business with continual updates advertising. I can tell you first hand that internet advertising just will not work with this type of operation - it must be done locally in order to be effective. He also was permitted to hang posters in the retirement communities, some of which he performed at regularly. A couple of those retirement communities even provided bus service to his dance party, which was every Thursday beginning at 7 p.m., thereby allowing the attendees time to have dinner before they came to dance the night away.

He also had his attendees fill out a short form, which included their DOB and played Happy Birthday to those individuals on the appropriate Thursday night. He even had a half dozen weddings take place there as well,  ironically, between individuals that met at his Dance Party. After the wedding ceremony, they had one Hell of a big reception party, which often included invited members of the bride and grooms family. Several times, the family members would provide decorations for the hall, which really made for a festive event.

One of the things I learned from him was you should never play a song or music that someone cannot dance to. Also, keep things lively, but be sure to throw in some good ballads that US old folks can dance to as well. Yeah, I could keep up with the best dancers and jitterbug like a real pro when I was in my early 20s, but at age 80, everything has to be slower for me to get out on the dance floor. Also, variety is the best ticket to success, polkas, waltzes, old time rock and roll, etc... You gotta mix it up and no dead time between songs or just a few seconds at the very most. If you have dead air for 10 seconds, the entire dance floor will rapidly be empty in the blink of an eye,

Hope this helps,

Gary

[Colin D]

Colin, there are two avenues of approach that some musician/entertainer/singers have utilized here in the Colonies with a great deal of success.

I have a friend who is a great player, fair singer, and teaches ballroom dancing. He charges $15 USD per person for attending, he rents an American Legion Hall just outside of Baltimore, which cost him $100 for 5 hours. The dance classes last about 3 hours, he provides chips, pretzels and soft drinks at each table. If they want an alcoholic beverage, they can purchase it from the Legion's Bar, which is in another room of the same building. Then cannot bring their own beverages or snacks to the event. It took him about three weeks to get enough people to reach the break even point, and currently, he has about 60 to 70 people for each class, so he's doing OK, but not getting rich by a long shot.

I know another guy who had a Thursday Night Dance Party, he's a good keyboard player, great singer, and really knows how to read a crowd and determine what songs will fill the dance floor. He also rents an American Legion Hall, in the Baltimore Suburbs, which cost him about $150 for 5 hours, and he too supplies soft drinks, coffee  and snack food. In advance of doing his first Dance Party, he printed 100 posters, took them to gas stations, grocery stores, and other locations where he got permission to post them on the door. On the poster he placed his telephone number and asked people to make reservations because the hall was limited to 300 people. He charges $8 USE per person, the beverages and snacks cost an average of $50 a night, and he is responsible for cleaning up after each event. His very first night, he had about 220 people show up, but by the 3rd week, he was averaging 300 or more. He made a lot of money, plus he was performing the nursing home circuit 5 days a week, which added to his income.

I assume there are halls for rent in the UK at reasonable prices, and some of the same rules would apply. Everyone here that has been vaccinated get a card showing which vaccine they received and the date it took place. No mask mandate here, other than going into a medical facility (Which I think is dumb as Hell). The mask restriction was lifted in Maryland on July 1.

So, you can create a great income, have lots of fun in the process, but there is a fair amount of pre-planning that must first be put into play, and you must run it like a business with continual updates advertising. I can tell you first hand that internet advertising just will not work with this type of operation - it must be done locally in order to be effective. He also was permitted to hang posters in the retirement communities, some of which he performed at regularly. A couple of those retirement communities even provided bus service to his dance party, which was every Thursday beginning at 7 p.m., thereby allowing the attendees time to have dinner before they came to dance the night away.

He also had his attendees fill out a short form, which included their DOB and played Happy Birthday to those individuals on the appropriate Thursday night. He even had a half dozen weddings take place there as well,  ironically, between individuals that met at his Dance Party. After the wedding ceremony, they had one Hell of a big reception party, which often included invited members of the bride and grooms family. Several times, the family members would provide decorations for the hall, which really made for a festive event.

One of the things I learned from him was you should never play a song or music that someone cannot dance to. Also, keep things lively, but be sure to throw in some good ballads that US old folks can dance to as well. Yeah, I could keep up with the best dancers and jitterbug like a real pro when I was in my early 20s, but at age 80, everything has to be slower for me to get out on the dance floor. Also, variety is the best ticket to success, polkas, waltzes, old time rock and roll, etc... You gotta mix it up and no dead time between songs or just a few seconds at the very most. If you have dead air for 10 seconds, the entire dance floor will rapidly be empty in the blink of an eye,

Hope this helps,

Gary

Thanks Gary, that's brilliant,