Tea Dances, Sequence Dancing, Social Dancing

(SEE FULL DANCE LIST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE) 

Tea Dances, Sequence Dancing and Social Dancing are types of gigs are where I play specific music for dancing where the dancers require particular songs and specialist music to accompany the dance steps of the various dances they do. Dances can range from general freestyle dances to stricter ballroom type dances.  Sequence dancing is so called because the dancers and their partners circle around the dance floor in an anti-clockwise direction using very deliberate dance steps called a sequence. The length of the sequence varies from dance to dance but usually they will be 16 or 32 bar sequences which repeat 3 or 4 times. 

These gigs are highly specialised and cannot be played by just any musician. Knowing the music which accompanies each dance is, as you can imagine, vitally important, but so is also knowing the length of each sequence (lest the musician gets to the end of the song while the dancers are still in the middle of a sequence - you'll hear growls and see scowls on the faces of the dancers on the floor if you dare to do this)! 

When it comes to the tempo of the songs, musicians work in BPM ("beats" per minute) but to a sequence dancer BPM means "bars" per minute. Inexperienced musicians who try to play for sequence dancing often get this wrong with disastrous consequences, so a musician playing for dancing needs to fully understand the difference between bars per minute and beats per minute. 

Another reason this is a very specialised type of gig for a musician is because the dancers tend to be of an older age group. If the musician plays a quickstep at its standard competition tempo, it may be too fast for older dancers. Fortunately I'm very experienced with these types of gigs so I can match the tempos of the songs to the age and agility of the dancers I'm playing for. Many musicians are unaware of this very important factor and think that just playing the right songs for the right dances at the right tempo is all that's required - it's not, playing for dancing takes much more more skill than that. 

Before I turn up to a Tea Dance, Sequence Dance, or Social Dance gig I ask the booker the specific dances they would like me to play. Not only does this ensure I play the right music and the right dances to suit the audience, it allows me to learn any particular dances that I may not have come across yet. My secret to doing these types of gigs (if you can call it a secret) is to make sure that as a musician I know exactly what dances the dancers want me to play for them long before I turn up with my keyboards to play. Even when I play regular or repeat gigs I often find even the dancers themselves will come up with new dances they want to learn from time to time and it's great - it keeps things fresh for the dancers and for me and there's nothing more exciting for a musician or a dancer than learning a new dance.  

I'll just tell you one quick funny story which happened to me at a Tea Dance a few years ago. I was asked by a couple of dancers to play a particular dance for them, which I did, and they both took to the floor. However half way through the song they stopped dancing and abruptly left the floor. During the break I walked over to their table to speak to them to ask if I'd done something wrong as I had noticed they only stayed on the floor for half the song. I thought maybe I'd played the wrong song for them or perhaps made an error with the tempo (although I was quite certain I'd played everything correctly)? 

It turns out that they were "Competition Dancers" and had been working on a new dance step. As soon as they'd got the new step right they were quite happy - they had achieved what they'd set out to do on the dance floor, so they left the dance floor half way through and sat down. It had absolutely nothing to do with my playing!

I suppose what this story (and all the information I've written above) tells you is that playing for dancing isn't something that just any musician who plays an instrument can do. It is highly specialised and can be quite complex so it needs a highly experienced musician to navigate its complexities.

I've listed below the dances I currently play at gigs at this particular moment. However remember that I'm always adding new dances to my repertoire as new dances become popular. Similarly, some dances fall out of favour with dancers after a while so this list is constantly evolving. As you look through the list just remember that if you don't see your favourite dance there don't worry, I probably know it but just haven't listed it or if I don't know it I'll soon learn it for you.

Dance List:
    Quickstep

    Slow Foxtrot

    Modern Waltz

    Classic Waltz

    The Jive

    Ballroom Rhumba

    Ballroom Tango

    Ballroom Cha Cha

    Square Tango

    Mayfair Quickstep

    Melody Foxtrot

    Chicago Swing

    Sindy Swing

    Saunter Together

    Empress Tango

    Breakaway Blues

    Honolulu Blues

    Sally Anne Cha Cha

    Rhumba One

    Rhumba Rosalie

    Catherine Waltz

    White City Waltz

    Samborina

    Valentino Jive

    Caribbean Calypso
    The Slosh

    The Alleycat

    Saturday Night Fever

Country/Line dancing:

    Red Hot Salsa

    Irish Stew

    Cowboy Strut

    Electric Slide

    Boot Scootin Boogie

    Rock Me

    Slow Cha

    Triple Mix

    Waltz across Texas

    Down On Your Uppers

    Tush Push

    Cowboy Charleston

Scottish Country Dancing:

    Gay Gordons
    Canadian Barne dance

    St Bernards Waltz

    Pride of Erin Waltz

If you're looking for live music for your sequence dance club I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland, contact me on 07734590458 or email kenny@kennycampbell.co.uk