Country Dancing

Do You Prefer Dancing to a DJ or a Band?

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When you take a line dance lesson, you dance to music played by either the instructor or a DJ. Some dancers have a difficult time transitioning from recorded music to a live band. There are several factors that I will discuss here as to why dancers may prefer a DJ or a band.

Throughout my years of teaching, I have been blessed to work with some wonderful DJs and some line dancers say that they prefer dancing to recorded music for several reasons. You can request any song, the music tempo doesn’t change from what you’re accustomed to practicing, and the song is exactly the same every time. Hopefully your DJ plays a variety of requests to keep the dance floor full all night long!

Regarding all the live bands who I have had the opportunity of dancing to over the years, most of them have a “set list” of songs they will play that night; however, some bands will stray from their list to play requests if they know the song. Tempo change might be an issue, and some dancers find it hard to adjust to either faster or slower than how they usually dance. In addition, some bands occasionally “alter” a song by either extending it or cutting it short.

Personally, I like the balance of dancing to both a DJ and a band in the same night, so you get the best of both worlds. I usually ask the band members to see their “set list” so I get an idea of what dances I’ll be doing, and then I know what songs to request from the DJ. If the bar/club doesn’t have a DJ on the nights they have a band, sometimes music is played when the band takes a break and you may be able to make song requests to whoever is in charge of that.

→HOT Country Nights live & local band schedule
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What I like the most about dancing to a band, other than the fact that you get to see and hear a great LIVE show, is that it keeps my mind sharp by figuring out what dance goes with the beat of a particular song. It’s a challenge to pick a dance that hopefully most people will know or will be able to follow along and learn on the floor. In case you’re wondering, every song has at least one dance (usually more) to it, so if the floor is big enough, there may be several groups of dancers doing different dances to the same song!

So whether you prefer a DJ or a band, the important thing to remember is to develop a mutual respectful relationship with whoever is playing the music so your requests or favorite songs are played. There are several great country bands that play in this area for you to go out and enjoy!

Dori Yez teaches Country Line Dancing on Mondays at Rolling Mills Bar in Girard, Ohio and Wednesdays at Social 45 in Lisbon, Ohio. For more information, check out the clubs Facebook pages.

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