We want a contra dance at our event! What's next?
Shoot me an e-mail with your proposed date and location. I'll check my availability, and get right back to you.
How much do you charge?
It all depends...distance from my home, time frame, date, and other factors come into play. Let's discuss.

What do we need to put on a dance event?
A venue and a date. Plan on about 90 minutes to two hours, and invite at least 30 people. The dance space should be smooth and level. Outdoors is fine, take a look at the surface first -- no bumps or gopher holes. Please check the forecast, and figure out a rain plan. Daytime: shade is more comfortable for dancing.
For an evening dance, please look up the sunset time, and plan to illuminate your dance space. Indoors: consider a church basement, school gym, or your uncle's new pole barn.
You'll need cool water to hydrate your dancers. I'll need a nearby standard electrical outlet, a load-in space, and a parking space.

How do we find the music? and the PA system?
No worries, I'll bring everything. Dance-length recorded music, speakers and stands, mixer, and a table. Happy to use your music device and playlist; let's coordinate this in advance so that the right equipment is present. 

We have a world-class PA system already set up.
Typical digital systems lack capability for several line inputs. Mixing the various levels is critical so that dancers can easily hear the prompts. A tabletop boombox is great for a living room setting; mine is intended to professionally amplify a dance floor.
We want to do this at school for our Wild West or Civil War day.
It will fit right in. Sessions should be at least 30 minutes long, with at least 20 students in each group (more is better). An even number of participants means that no one is left out; everyone should have a partner. Kindly mix up the groups to be relatively gender-balanced, and please "mainstream" any special needs.

How do we find a band?
I'll reach out to my musician friends to see who's available. Costs a little extra, much more fun. (I'm friends with many of the musicians in the Michigan Humanities Council Touring Directory, if you're connected to a non-profit association.)

Our church band can play.
Oh good! Just put me in contact with them, and we'll discuss tune lists and tempos.

Can we have country-line dancing? rock 'n roll? hip-hop? karaoke?
Those genres are not within my level of expertise. My specialty is traditional country dancing, and I also lead Civil War and Regency (Jane Austen) vintage dances.
We're rank beginners, and we've never done this before.
Great! If your group can follow simple directions ("join hands in a big circle, go forward and back..."), you can do this.