Spaces between dances

I've found that this topic has the widest divergence of opinions, but it's still worth mentioning.  How long of a space (silence) do you have between dances?

Some dancers prefer to linger with their last partner for a little bit, if only to assure them that they had fun dancing with them, instead of rudely dropping them to search for someone new.  That might be as long as a one-minute break between songs.  Those who prefer this pace mention the sociability of lingering with your last partner.  In the days of live music, the break between dances was even longer.

Other DJs like to keep a party moving so they space about ten seconds of silence between songs.  They feel that ten seconds is enough time to say thank you, then dancers can start looking for their next partner as the next music begins.  They say an advantage with the ten-second timing is that the dancers then know what kind of dance it's going to be, upon hearing the music, before they start looking for their partner for that dance.  I would agree.

Personally I recommend avoiding any formula, and instead, truly watching the dancers as they're finishing a dance.  You'll be able to tell how much time to wait before starting the next song.

The pacing to avoid, at a social dance party, is no break at all, with one song blending into the next.  The reasons not to do this are so obvious that you might ask why any DJ would ever do that.  And the answer is often iTunes and other laptop playlist software.  The default setting is based on raves and other nonstop dances that segue tunes together.  DJs who play music from their laptop find that just as one song on their playlist is finishing, the next tune is commencing, before the first one is finished.

To turn this feature off in iTunes, go to iTunes Preferences (under the main iTunes menu), click the Playback menu at the top, then uncheck the "Crossfade Playback" square.  If you play from a laptop or iPod and just let the playlist run, consider software that automatically adds ten seconds (or so) between tunes, or make many ten-second blank mp3s and place them between the tunes on your playlist.

Crossfade beatmatched music is great... for grinding.  Social dancers would much rather know their dance is over, have a chance to say thanks to their partners, catch their breath, and look for their next partner without being rushed into it.

Exceptions:  Some dance groups like segued dance music, like retro seventies disco for example, so as always, find out what your dancers prefer.