Feedback for the 2010 Black and White Ball

[*rei*]

This year's B&W Ball was my first ever, despite it being my 5th or 6th Fanime. It was the best part of my weekend. I loved it! I enjoyed the dance classes. I believed it helped me enjoy the ball more. I love dancing, and with ball room dancing being new to me, the classes were the only thing I looked forward to attending during the day. I thought the choice of music was excellent. The playlist was well compiled. The instructors are amazing! They definitely deserve props! I danced so hard that my legs and feet hurt till the next day, but it was all worth it! The venue was beautiful and well decorated. There was always water at the water tables I went to. That helped  a lot! the Demos were also amazing!

I noticed the dress force wasn't too enforced. There were a few very short dresses roaming around. The ladies who plan to wear gowns next year should be warned on how long their dresses could be. I few of the dresses were always getting snagged, stepped on, and ripped at hems. I think the attendance will greatly increase next year; its gonna get more crowded.

I agree with some of the suggestions to let the dancers know doing their stationary dancing to dance in the middle, so the traveling dances can actually travel. I was glad to see the conga line and the break dancing circle broken up. The line dancing should have been encouraged in the middle of the dance floor so they wouldn't get in the way as well.

Overall I give the staff an A++++++ for all their hard work! Thank you! I am already excited for next year's B&W ball. The classes has inspired me to take up ball room dancing classes :)

[Okach]

Re: lighting - We probably could have gotten away with the dimming level we had for the Friday night classes, but for me I liked all the lights up.  Lot easier to navigate through the room that way and to be able to interact off the dance floor.

[michiko nakano]

there were at least four or five threads about the ball, where people could ask questions.  also, as a general tip for anything related to fanime: there is always someone to email with questions. 

congo line: perhaps it could have gone around the outside of the dance floor.  my dance partner and i were dancing to our favorite song (amazingly they were playing our favorite song) and it was all magical and fun, and then all of the sudden this congo line comes up and squishes us off the dance floor.  and people kept adding to it, so we missed the entire song because the congo line got in the way.  so basically, perhaps the congo and thriller and cha cha slide can be done off the floor, and the floor can be reserved for the ball dances. 

water: i was confused, but now i understand.  $30 per gallon is ridiculous.  i'll bring my own water bottle next year, just in case  :)

volume: already been adressed.  cool.

dress code: i think that people who can't afford dress shoes shouldn't be turned away.  if they're really trying, and have the rest of the outfit and a true desire to go to the ball, shoes should be overlooked.  however, the girls who hiked up their skirts should have been adressed, no matter how cute their legs are.  i saw three of those girls.

adding west coast was wonderful!  i loved it.  and thanks for the dance, Okach!  it was very enjoyable  :D

[HeyItsMeeEE]

water: i was confused, but now i understand.  $30 per gallon is ridiculous.  i'll bring my own water bottle next year, just in case  :)

Holy cow, did they really spend $30 per gallon for water!!???

Now that's what I call inflation.

[OniCourseMusha]

Hey Jim!  I started a Fanime B&W Ball group on facebook if you don't mind.  Here's the link for those people who enjoyed the ball so much and I'm sure we can talk more about it.  Everyone who enjoys the ball and has facebook are welcome to join!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119458761429317&ref=mf

[DarkfallDC]

I agree with the above poster that the Conga line was quite out of place on the dance floor. While doing something like that is all fun and good, it's supposed to be a formal event for a reason.

Though I did love the dance this year. I was Professor Layton...dancing with another Professor Layton! Fanime Madness is great.

[endymon]

I won't bother listing pros and cons of the ball, since I have no basis for comparison with previous years (and all the pros were already listed in this thread)

I do have several ideas to improve the black & white ball though.

1) The dance lessons. I think that fewer lessons but longer lessons would be more beneficial. Attendees show up, get the very basics of a dance, but never get much of a chance to become comfortable/confident with dancing in that way. I think 2hr lesson blocks for a particular dance would give the students much more opportunity to cement the basic dance moves. Give more time to get used to leading or following. Practice navigating the dance floor (very necessary for traveling dances). And of course meet more people.
Furthermore very little instruction time was given towards actually dancing to music. The instructors calling out 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 for the various steps is so much easier to make out than the beat of the music. Therefore more practice at listening to the music for the dance rhythm rather than simply for enjoyment would be beneficial.
Now, extending the lesson time would require either larger blocks of the day to be allocated to dancing (which of course places demands on the instructors), or cutting the number of dances taught. I believe there could be less redundancy in the lesson schedule and cut some of the harder or less popular dances maybe. I definitely believe it would be better for the students to learn 1 (or 2) dances well, than to have a whole jumble of dance moves getting mixed up by beginners.

2) The Projector. The slide layout needs a lot of work. First of all, the screen was only clearly visible from the dance floor itself. This may have been one of the reasons for people standing around on the dance floor. Trying to read the screen from a 45 (or higher) degree angle is not easy. This was further compounded by the low contrast of some of the text. Blue text on a black background...... bad.... bad. Additionally the text size of everything except the name of the dance was a good deal smaller than it could have been. Again making it difficult to read from a distance.
Specific suggestions on this front.
A) Remove the Black & White banner from the top 50% of the slide. Its pointless..... everyone already knows they are at the B&W ball. It takes up valuable screen real-estate.
B) Change the screen location to off to the side somewhere. Perhaps add 2 projectors 1 for each side of the room. Or hell, put it on the ceiling somehow. If I remember correctly, the room is rectangular, so to maximize view-ability place the screen on the shorter wall.
C) Setup the slide such that it shows the name of the song, and then a list of preferred dances. The upcoming list could be on a separate slide and alternate with the "now playing" slide (say 10 sec interval) OR the entire playlist could be on another (smaller?) screen nearby.
D) Be generous with labeling songs as one type of dance or another. Yes, its been mentioned many times that generally you can dance to anything if you know how. Key word, know how. But, with inexperienced dancers will be more concerned with trying to find something that is labeled a dance they can do rather than improvise. So, as a rule I would label each piece as "preferred dances" and then "secondary dances". List the best fits in the preferred section, and then list everything else in the other section (unless.... it totally, completely absolutely doesn't fit). That way, more people will look at slide, see something that they know how to do, and try for it.

3) The playlist itself. I personally believe a rough schedule of when certain types of songs would be played might help some people plan out their night a bit. If for example someone only learned W.C.S. then it might be nice to have a stretch of songs that could all work with that dance (not exclusively mind you). Often it felt as if things just started getting into a rhythm, and then the song changes to something entirely different. Don't get me wrong, its nice to have variety. But for instance if maybe the first 30 minutes of the ball had all songs that could be Waltzed, and then the last song in that set, would definitely be danceable with Waltz OR {next dance set}. Smooth transition.

4) I think more clearly marked areas for dancers lacking partners might have been beneficial. Similar to how the dance lessons were split with leaders on 1 side, and followers on the other. Perhaps the north side of the room could be designated leaders-looking-for-partners while the south side is followers-looking-for-partners. It would make it easier to figure out who was resting or just chatting with friends as opposed to those who currently wanted to dance. Also it provides an easier avenue for shyer people to be found by ... no so shy people.


As a miscellaneous note (from the other posts). I think the checkpoint for entry into the ball and the corresponding line that forms should be further back down the hallway. Included past the checkpoint should be a bathroom, so that attendees won't have to "leave" the ball to use the facilities.

Was there a "rave" type event held at fanime this year? I think there was in years past, and if one were held concurrently then perhaps it would attract that crowd away from the ball to prevent solo dancers from taking over the floor.

I'll probably think of more later.

[GoodAsianDriver]

The main feedback that I got from talking to people who attended:
...

B) I got blizzarded by DJ requests.  I will comment here the same way I replied during the ball:  if you have requests, we had the forum thread open for at least four months.  We don't take requests at the ball because if every 20th person who went to the ball requested a song, we would have a request list that would be longer than the actual playlist at the ball.  I might add that I loved the response I got when I mentioned that - "Well, just pick the good ones."  My civil reply was to ask how THAT would be decided.
...

I think, as other posters have mentioned, it would be useful for the dj to compile a set library before the dance that dancers could request online. A "drop box" is a good way to review requests as they come in during the dance for the dj, which could be done through the use of a simple pen and notepad.

Despite the blizzard of of competing requests, it is really up to the DJ to decide what song to play. While request tools may be very useful in gaining a sense of what the dancers want, ultimately it is the DJ who will play the right songs that is in the interest of the dance as a whole. A caveat: I have not yet been to the BW ball, but as a DJ who has spun for salsa/bachata/cha-cha crowds, I've learned to gear requests for the ladies. The gents will dance to whatever the ladies dance to. You also don't want to play a request that only 1-5 people out of the entire dance can really groove to. 

If requests come with a tip, the DJ may want to use an envelope to use as an "escrow." Simply put the tips into the envelope, and if the request gets played, the dj can take the tip. If not, it remains in the envelope.

Just my suggestions for resolving the DJ request issue.

[Wabbit98]

We actually set up the playlist in advance over a month with minor edits heading into Fanime, so that we could als have power point slides that would tell you what kind of dance and the song you are dancing too and also what dances are coming up.  So making any changes in the middle would have been close to impossible.

[tkdteo]

The main feedback that I got from talking to people who attended:
...

B) I got blizzarded by DJ requests.  I will comment here the same way I replied during the ball:  if you have requests, we had the forum thread open for at least four months.  We don't take requests at the ball because if every 20th person who went to the ball requested a song, we would have a request list that would be longer than the actual playlist at the ball.  I might add that I loved the response I got when I mentioned that - "Well, just pick the good ones."  My civil reply was to ask how THAT would be decided.
...

I think, as other posters have mentioned, it would be useful for the dj to compile a set library before the dance that dancers could request online. A "drop box" is a good way to review requests as they come in during the dance for the dj, which could be done through the use of a simple pen and notepad.

Despite the blizzard of of competing requests, it is really up to the DJ to decide what song to play. While request tools may be very useful in gaining a sense of what the dancers want, ultimately it is the DJ who will play the right songs that is in the interest of the dance as a whole. A caveat: I have not yet been to the BW ball, but as a DJ who has spun for salsa/bachata/cha-cha crowds, I've learned to gear requests for the ladies. The gents will dance to whatever the ladies dance to. You also don't want to play a request that only 1-5 people out of the entire dance can really groove to. 

If requests come with a tip, the DJ may want to use an envelope to use as an "escrow." Simply put the tips into the envelope, and if the request gets played, the dj can take the tip. If not, it remains in the envelope.

Just my suggestions for resolving the DJ request issue.

Thank you for your suggestions.  We face a couple of problems with the BWBall playlist.

1) The playlist actually coinsides with the powerpoint that we have up that evening.  The powerpoint actually states the name of the song, who sang it, where it is from, and the dances that you can do to the song.  To honor a request at the BWBall would not permit us to do that before hand and it would not fit into the powerpoint presentation.

2) The length of the song.  All the songs that we had this year were edited and cut so that it would fit around 3:30 seconds.  This is to accommodate more songs and dances in the BWBall.  Some songs that we had were 2 minutes in length when played outright, but most other songs ranged from 4:30 to 8 minutes.  The instructors and staff spent a great deal making sure that the music had a steady beat to dance to and that the length of the song was long enough to dance to but not too long where beginners would repeat the same paterns over 20 times during the dance.

3) The songs we had were suggested.  Even if we did have suggestions, there is no guarantee that we would have the music that you would like on the hdd or on cd. 

We will try to see how we can better address this issue for next year.  Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions.  Keep them coming. :)

- Jim
BWBall Head 2010

[Okach]

And for the record, the dance floor was about halfway full to totally full after 10 songs.  And it stayed totally full to the end.  :P

[StarlitHellsing]

It would be really neat if we had a competition in the dance like how AX's masquerade ball used to be where we can make ballroom versions of anime characters and enter.  I think they had two versions, solo and partner with three skill levels for both.  It was always a nice break in the dancing to see everyone who worked hard on their outfits get up in front and show them off where we could really see them (hard looking at someone's outfit while dancing.  :)  )  Plus it gave the dance a more anime feel. 

[Okach]

I was at least two of the AX Masq balls and didn't like the idea.  For me it took way too much time (I believe at least an hour) and killed the mood of the room.  Granted, I'm sure that a substantial number of people would like the idea but I really wouldn't support it as a main event for the Ball itself.  If it got run as a side activity and they allowed the winners to be presented at some point during the Ball...then I might find it palatable.     

[OniCourseMusha]

I was at least two of the AX Masq balls and didn't like the idea.  For me it took way too much time (I believe at least an hour) and killed the mood of the room.  Granted, I'm sure that a substantial number of people would like the idea but I really wouldn't support it as a main event for the Ball itself.  If it got run as a side activity and they allowed the winners to be presented at some point during the Ball...then I might find it palatable.    

At first I thought that would be nice for Fanime's B&W Ball.  Then I think about it from Okach said that if that I would like to see that happen as side activity and present it at one point at the ball.  One of my suggestion of doing that on a side activity would be stage zero.  But only problem is who's going to help judge? But I don't like the idea of asking for help from different department such as Masquerade since they have their own thing to do.

[PrincessCake]

I was wondering if this would be offered next year and if so I'm looking for a partner! Ive danced lindy hop for 2 years and west coast for 1 year.

[tkdteo]

I was wondering if this would be offered next year and if so I'm looking for a partner! Ive danced lindy hop for 2 years and west coast for 1 year.

Were you asking if the Black and White Ball was going to be offered next year or if there was going to be a side activity for next year?  The Black and White Ball will be back for 2011.  As for the side event, we are taking in suggestions but there is no guarantee that we will make every suggestion come true.  So right now we are just brainstorming for ideas. 

- Jim

[Rin_chan]

Unfortunately I didn't get to stay at the Ball long enough to take in the full experience. 3 of the 4 boys in our group neglected to listen to my reminders of wearing proper attire and thought that black sneakers with their dress shirts and pants would be good enough ^^;

This year I'm definitely reminding them before we leave for the convention.   

[OniCourseMusha]

Unfortunately I didn't get to stay at the Ball long enough to take in the full experience. 3 of the 4 boys in our group neglected to listen to my reminders of wearing proper attire and thought that black sneakers with their dress shirts and pants would be good enough ^^;

This year I'm definitely reminding them before we leave for the convention.  

Let them know that we are very strict with the dress code even towards shoes that we will turn them down.  Don't say we didn't warn you guys especially we repeated this rule many time.

[Okach]

Well, the word should hopefully be posted in good time so that there's time for arbitration and such.

[Rin_chan]

Unfortunately I didn't get to stay at the Ball long enough to take in the full experience. 3 of the 4 boys in our group neglected to listen to my reminders of wearing proper attire and thought that black sneakers with their dress shirts and pants would be good enough ^^;

This year I'm definitely reminding them before we leave for the convention.  

Let them know that we are very strict with the dress code even towards shoes that we will turn them down.  Don't say we didn't warn you guys especially we repeated this rule many time.

seriously, i know the rules need to be strictly enforced as it is a black tie kind of event. I made sure to ask in the attire thread that my outfit was good enough before I bought it all. I wish more people would read the threads so they wouldn't be upset when they aren't let inside.