jon
11-29-2003, 07:16 PM
Last night the DJing at Sunnyvale's Starlite Ballroom reached a new nadir. The substitute DJ (actually, a teacher there) was not only completely lacking in basic DJ skills, so that he did stuff like
Not keeping track of the dance board and recognizing that, for example, the waltz he put on was not, in fact, the rumba labelled on the board.
Slowing down music that was already too slow in response to beginners having trouble dancing to it.
Failing to screen music so that he repeatedly stopped it after 30 seconds to replace with a new piece.
Playing one salsa/set even though the other room at the studio was dedicated to salsa for the entire evening.
But also felt welcome to "entertain" us by various affectations such as
Karaoke, singing along with the music vocals.
Repeated demands that people "uncross their arms and get on the floor" and otherwise directing (not suggesting) how they should conduct themselves.
Sexist comments such as "find yourself a hot little mama for the salsa".
Numerous comments made over the music directed at specific individuals on the dance floor, e.g. "work it <name of dancer>, yeah work it" "you go" as well as various inarticulate yelps of uncertain purpose. Sorry, a social ballroom dance is not a competition and a DJ is not an MC.
Whew. OK, that particular nightmare aside, the general state of music in the ballroom dance world - at least, in my personal experience over the last 14 years - is very sad. Many of the DJs at ballroom venues do not have basic skills needed to keep the music running smoothly. The music selection is almost invariably stale and uninspiring - while there is plenty of good, old music, there is also plenty of awful, old music that does not belong in a regular rotation (for example, the person who runs the Pavilion dance in Palo Alto is still playing a lot of the same music she was 14 years ago...). Some venues simply have prepared CDs or tapes that they'll play over and over. And, despite the fact that admission prices are on par if not higher than swing and salsa dances, none of that money ever seems to go towards improving the music collection.
So, what's going on here? Many people in swing and salsa and other dance worlds (contra dancing, but I digress) feel passionately about music. The DJs usually share that passion and have extensive knowledge of music, at least music related to the dance form in question. The DJs are often hired for events, and bear professional responsibilities towards the dancers.
But the DJs at ballroom venues are usually random staff members or instructors, who don't care about music or know much about it. They usually have no recognition outside their studio. The dancers, while they may not feel as passionately about ballroom music as people do about swing or blues or salsa, still recognize the sad state of affairs and complain about it.
But nothing seems to change. Ballroom dancers collectively appear to have concluded that, since there is no hope of getting good music, they must continue to suffer in order to do the dances they like. Speaking with their feet isn't practical because, well, there usually aren't any better alternatives even if there are other ballroom venues available.
Is there any hope? Is the vapidity of ballroom dance music and DJing an intrinsic quality of the dance form? I don't have any answers. Just questions and complaints.
Not keeping track of the dance board and recognizing that, for example, the waltz he put on was not, in fact, the rumba labelled on the board.
Slowing down music that was already too slow in response to beginners having trouble dancing to it.
Failing to screen music so that he repeatedly stopped it after 30 seconds to replace with a new piece.
Playing one salsa/set even though the other room at the studio was dedicated to salsa for the entire evening.
But also felt welcome to "entertain" us by various affectations such as
Karaoke, singing along with the music vocals.
Repeated demands that people "uncross their arms and get on the floor" and otherwise directing (not suggesting) how they should conduct themselves.
Sexist comments such as "find yourself a hot little mama for the salsa".
Numerous comments made over the music directed at specific individuals on the dance floor, e.g. "work it <name of dancer>, yeah work it" "you go" as well as various inarticulate yelps of uncertain purpose. Sorry, a social ballroom dance is not a competition and a DJ is not an MC.
Whew. OK, that particular nightmare aside, the general state of music in the ballroom dance world - at least, in my personal experience over the last 14 years - is very sad. Many of the DJs at ballroom venues do not have basic skills needed to keep the music running smoothly. The music selection is almost invariably stale and uninspiring - while there is plenty of good, old music, there is also plenty of awful, old music that does not belong in a regular rotation (for example, the person who runs the Pavilion dance in Palo Alto is still playing a lot of the same music she was 14 years ago...). Some venues simply have prepared CDs or tapes that they'll play over and over. And, despite the fact that admission prices are on par if not higher than swing and salsa dances, none of that money ever seems to go towards improving the music collection.
So, what's going on here? Many people in swing and salsa and other dance worlds (contra dancing, but I digress) feel passionately about music. The DJs usually share that passion and have extensive knowledge of music, at least music related to the dance form in question. The DJs are often hired for events, and bear professional responsibilities towards the dancers.
But the DJs at ballroom venues are usually random staff members or instructors, who don't care about music or know much about it. They usually have no recognition outside their studio. The dancers, while they may not feel as passionately about ballroom music as people do about swing or blues or salsa, still recognize the sad state of affairs and complain about it.
But nothing seems to change. Ballroom dancers collectively appear to have concluded that, since there is no hope of getting good music, they must continue to suffer in order to do the dances they like. Speaking with their feet isn't practical because, well, there usually aren't any better alternatives even if there are other ballroom venues available.
Is there any hope? Is the vapidity of ballroom dance music and DJing an intrinsic quality of the dance form? I don't have any answers. Just questions and complaints.