USA Dance General Guidelines for Dace Playlists Fill in swing on the 1st and every 5th spot Start filling in with major - minor dances Do not put rumba/bolero after each other or swing/west coast after each other or mambo/salsa after each other. When choosing swing there are 5 types to rotate between: Big band / Rhythm & Blues / 50-60’s / Hustle / 70’s to current When choosing wcs – rotate between slower & faster tempos When choosing latin – rotate between authentic/strict tempo and modern/current music Try to balance out the number of times each dance is used but if need be, you’d rather be heavier on the major dances. (use Paso Doble’ sparingly) If using USADANCE laptop, most of the songs in the library have all been edited for length, but if not, try keeping songs between 2:30-3:00 minutes.
I have found the easiest way to make the play list is to : 1. I begin a new play list on my Windows Media Player. I drag the songs I have picked in the following order. 6 - 3x swing 6 - 1x swing (5 1x swing and 1 Jive) 6 - waltz (5 waltz and 1 V. waltz) 6 - foxtrot (6 foxtrot) 6 - chacha 6 - rumba 4 - west coast 3 - mambo / salsa 3 - merengue 3 - samba 3 - tango 2 - hustle 2 - NC 2 step 2 - polka (I use slower polkas, 90 year old Mary finds them easier to dance to) 1 – bolero I only play PasoDoble when it is being taught or someone requests it. After every song I want to use has been dragged to the play list, I start putting them in the play order I want them according to the attached format. I then listen to the music to make sure I have not put 3 fast songs one right after the other.
2.
3.
The attached format is not carved in stone. It just gives me a solid starting point, helping me expedite the selecting of songs and their placement in the play order. During the first 20 songs played, I have played each of the Major dances (swing, waltz, foxtrot, chacha
and rumba) at least twice and 8 of the minor dances (hustle, mambo, merengue nc2 step, polka, samba, tango, and wcs) once. For example, if foxtrot and mambo are being taught, I may have to go the bottom of this list to bring up a mambo and position it so that at least 2 songs for each of the dances taught that night are played in the first hour of music. Remember there are two breaks for announcements, one at about 9:15 and again around 10:15. Usually a mixer (foxtrot or waltz) follows each break, there are usually 3 to 4 songs in each mixer so that the mixer last about 10 to 12 minutes. The USADANCE music has been edited so that the song length is between 2:15 to 3:00 minutes. We have also added 5 seconds of silence to the end of each song to allow for exiting off the dance floor.