[Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 31, Issue 15

[Loerchen2 at aol.com]

Dick,
 
Depends on what kind of dancers you want to please -- the perfect  1920s-30s 
foxtrot tempo averages 94-96 bpm.  I analyzed a bunch of tunes  from the 
mid-1920s to 1933 for a demonstration of period dance at French  Quarter Festival, 
and almost all of them came in that range.  It's a very  comfortable tempo for 
dancing Foxtrot or Toddle.
 
If you want a one-step, 110-120 is good, a Castle Walk can go to 130, and  
for a two-step, you can pump it to 140.  But that's only for the  young!
 
Charleston around 120; Black Bottom is a little slower at about 96.
 
Good Shag tempo is around 103-105.  If you're talking swing and Lindy,  
you've got a lot of leeway -- those folks will dance to  anything!    I used 88 for 
an early Lindy demo.
 
Sue
 
*******************
In a message dated 7/9/2005 2:00:35 PM Central Standard Time,  
dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com writes:

Listmates:

A number of posters have referred to the term  "danceable tempo" in our
discussions about what draws and keeps an audience  for OKOM. I'd like to
hear opinions (especially from the prolific and  thought-provoking Steve
Borbone) about where that comes out on a metronome. I  realize there are
slow, medium, and fast dances, but what would you say is  the range that
fills the dance floor? I  realize, too, that a series of  hot tempos all in
a row will clear the floor but, given an intelligent  variety, what's your
idea of slow, medium, and fast?

--Dick  Miller