CF Ball
Why do we have a ball?
The ball is an opportunity for pageantry and the practice of dance.
When is the ball?
The Ball is on a night that is not the Feast night during Canterbury Faire. It should be towards the End of Faire to allow musicians and dancers the most practice time in the lead up to the ball itself. Most recently this has been the Friday night of Faire, and this scheduling seems to work well for all parties.
Where is the ball?
The Ball is held in the main hall, as this allows the best opportunity for lighting, and for decoration.
What does the ball need to run?
The ball will need, at a minimum, a list of dances. The set list for this should be published as early as possible, to allow musicians a chance to practice, and to allow home groups to arrange practices.
We usually provide for a light supper during the ball. This is taken from the site budget, and needs to be budgeted as part of Faire organisation. The Ball supper tends to be very light as energy food to keep dancing, and grazing.
Recommended Dances
It would be good to start the Ball with dances that are possible for inexperienced dancers to be talked through, so that more people can participate.
Someone with more dance experience should probably flesh this out with example setlists from previous years. Maximilian von Monsterberg (talk) 15:58, 27 January 2014 (EST)
Things to be aware of
Make sure that there is a delegated ball organiser.
Make sure that there is someone delegated to be in charge of music. (The ball organiser can be in charge of this.)
If at all possible, get a copy of the the dance list early, so it can be published.
Try to an A&S stream teaching the classes for the ball.
Tassel Competition & other activities
It is best if we have some other draw cards to the ball for people who don't dance, and to allow for variety.
Usually we have a tassel kicking competition on ball night during the ball.
Any other ideas for additional activities would be something we could look into..