We provide event promotion and event management: marketing, music, pre-party lesson, enforcing rules (venue security handles expelling troublemakers). We may handle collecting entrance fees, or this may be responsibility of venue owner.
Venue owner provides: sound system, furniture layout, dance floor preparation, bar, food service, security, cleaning. Some nightclub venues might charge no fee on Monday or other slow nights because dance party attracts customers who buy drinks. Possibly split entrance fees with venue, with guarantee of minimum attendance (venue share of minimum attendance is their minimum fee), as incentive for promoter to increase attendance. Avoid incentive for venue to dump promoter and do their own promotion and event management. Avoid long-term commitments to venues that we do not control.
Start with Monday night at small club, then add Friday/Saturday night at big nightclub if enough dancers. Be ready to shrink back to Monday night if big event doesn't work.
Possible free admission, including lesson and practice, until 8pm, then anyone staying past 8pm must buy drink coupon and wrist strap for €5. Free drinks with coupon: water, carbonated water, mors, alcoholic mors, kvas. Otherwise, coupon gives €2 discount on other drinks. Students (age 25 and under) and seniors (age 55 and older) can buy wrist strap without drink coupon for €2.
Large sign at entrance, in multiple languages, specifying that all dancing must be in close embrace, regardless of music type, and that violators of this rule will be expelled without refund of admission fee. Entrance desk assistant must ask everyone if they have read this sign before accepting their admission fee.
Primary organizer (woman). Presents pre-party lesson, manages business affairs (contracts with venue, accounting, legal, etc).
Backup organizer (woman). Normally sits at entrance desk and collects entrance fees. Takes over organizer role and presents pre-party lesson if primary organizer absent.
Music organizer (man). Creates playlists. Performs demonstration dances with organizer. Helps primary organizer direct practice dancing.
Leader assistant (man). If music organizer absent, performs demonstration dances with organizer and helps primary organizer direct practice dancing.
Entrance desk assistant. Replaces backup organizer at entrance desk if primary or backup organizer absent. Does not need to know anything about dancing.
Always have business cards on hand to hand out.
Social Dancing in Close Embrace to Tango, Swing, Samba, Salsa, Cuban and African music. Details at www.CESDance.com
At entrance desk, ask how attendees found out about our event. "Previously attended" and "friend told me" are acceptable answers. Also ask if attendee is resident of city or visitor/tourist. Count of visitors/tourists useful for government tourism agency.
SEO for website, Facebook, cross links to related sites.
Photos and videos of dance party for use on website and elsewhere.
Website regularly updated with date, time, location, playlist of future dance parties.
What we call close embrace is identical to the most common of various embraces used for dancing to Argentine tango music. It is also identical to one of the embraces used historically for dancing to Swing music, hence the expression "dancing cheek to cheek" often used to describe Swing dancing in the 1930s. We also this embrace for dancing to Tropical music, including Samba, Salsa, Cuban and African music.
Close embrace dance style may not look impressive to spectators like other dance styles, however that is not our goal. Our goal is to dance with comfortable embrace and close connection to music, so as to create an enjoyable experience for the dancers themselves versus impressing spectators.
Using a single embrace and dance style for all music we play has two advantages: (1) reduces the amount to learn, so that beginners can quickly participate in our dance parties; (2) ensures that everyone knows what to expect when they issue or accept an invitation to dance.
We differ from other social dance events in three ways: (1) we play a variety of musical genres rather than just one genre; (2) we use close embrace dance style for all the music we play; (3) we focus on dancing as a social activity, or way of connecting with people of the opposite sex, versus dancing as amateur performance art or competitive sport.
We anticipate six categories of people likely to be interested in our dance parties: (1) singles looking for intimate partner; (2) couples in honeymoon phase of relationship, still wanting to go out at night, dancing exclusively with one another; (3) couples past past honeymoon phase of relationship, wanting to go out at night, no longer dancing exclusively with one another; (4) singles not looking for or expecting to meet intimate partner, but nevertheless interested in dancing and socializing with the opposite sex; (5) people not currently interested in meeting an intimate partner or enjoying dancing with the opposite sex for its own sake, but rather want to learn and practice dance skills for future use; (6) finally, some people are not interested in dancing themselves but rather attend our dance party to socialize, watch other people dance, listen to music, enjoy food and drink, and otherwise enjoy a nightclub atmosphere.
(only if asked) Social dancing benefits society in two ways: (1) promotes relationship and eventual family formation in a much more natural way than online dating services; (2) in the future, our social dance events might attract tourism business.
4 sets of 16 playlists (everything, part a only, part b only, tango only):
make_plists.txt -> plist##
make_plistsa.txt -> plista##
make_plistsb.txt -> plistb##
make_plistst.txt -> plistt##
Playlist order (jumps of 11 to shuffle ordering):
1,12,7,2,13,8,3,14,9,4,15,10,5,16,11,6
Multiple smartphones with playlist, in case one smartphone dies.