Most "called dances" can use a pretty much fixed temp, but an additional difficulty appears with "ballroom dancing."

While it probably makes little difference at a high school prom, there may still be some "elder" dancers who actually learned to dance, so when playing for the Elks or Moose club (with mostly older and more experienced dancers) it may be important to vary the tempo within each song to accomodate the "dips" and "swings" that the dancers want time to insert.

The appropriate changes usually are a little "hold" on a note or two, usually at the end of a phrase, although more subtle variations may be appropriate for some tunes and with some dancers.

The only way to do it right is to watch one or two of the couples and "make it easy for them." Usually it's best to pick the couple that is "performing" best to watch. The tempo "schmaltz" that fits their dance is very necessary to them, and won't hurt anything for the rest of the crowd.

I've related before here the incident when, after several polite requests to our "band leader" that he "watch the dancers," a sweet little old lady walked politely up to the stage and shoved an ice cream cone ..up..the..bandleader's .... into the bell of our "leader's" trumpet.

He just didn't listen. She was right (if a little extreme). He was wrong.

She came back to the stage (escorted by her partner this time) to thank us for doing "much better" on the next number, and politely didn't mention that the trumpet was missing in that piece since he was still trying the get the muck out of his bugle.

John