I was given some time ago the task of organising the dance list for a ball this winter. Whether I will actually end up being given the job completely remains to be seen, but here is my provisional list. I would appreciate any suggestions, comments, and constructive criticism.

Thanks in advance,

Spinner

Quickstep - You're Sensational/+others -04:51
Viennese Waltz - The Blue Danube - 03:45
Samba - Copacabana - 02:39
Freestyle - Mambo No. 5 - 02:36
Waltz - Doug's Tearful Waltz/First Kiss - 04:12
Rumba - Time After Time - 04:18
Foxtrot - Gigi/+others - 04:11
Rock 'n' Roll - At The Hop - 03:38
Cha-Cha-Cha - One - 03:34

Interval

Quickstep - Happy Feet - 02:56
Tango - La Cumparsita/Tango Please - 03:20
Waltz - True Love/Around the World - 04:05
Cha-Cha-Cha - Pennies From Heaven - 03:34
Samba - Tequila/Sinful Samba - 04:44
Rock 'n' Roll - Roll Over Beethoven - 03:52
Waltz - The Last Waltz - 04:00

Good assortment, if you are playing for experienced ballroom dancers. If your group is less experienced, I would leave out Viennese waltz and quickstep, unless requested. On the other hand, if you have experienced dancers, I would add a bolero and also include only one quickstep unless otherwise requested.
The order need some rearranging. You have lots of fast songs together and lots of slow songs together. Most folks need a breather. Alternate the slow and fast ones.

"Quickstep - You're Sensational/+others -04:51" - A bit too long for a quickstep. Something around 3 1/2 minutes works best.
"Viennese Waltz - The Blue Danube - 03:45" - good.
"Samba - Copacabana - 02:39" - Depends on version. Most versions have a very weak samba beat, some versions are cha cha and others are just plain blah. Think you can find a much better samba. There are some great sambas, and a really good one will pull them out of their seats and onto the floor.
"Freestyle - Mambo No. 5 - 02:36" - This has got to be a mambo/salsa. If you want a freestyle, try a hustle and let them do hustle or freestyle.
"Rock 'n' Roll - At The Hop - 03:38" - I assume you mean single time swing. Good song, 184 bpm, swing dancers will love it.
"Cha-Cha-Cha - Pennies From Heaven - 03:34" - Never heard this done as a cha cha. Most versions are foxtrot.
"Samba - Tequila/Sinful Samba - 04:44" - This version by Strictly Ballroom is a good samba. Most other versions are not.
"Rock 'n' Roll - Roll Over Beethoven - 03:52" - Another 184 bpm single time swing. Nothing wrong with it, good song, but maybe you should also include a triple time swing or two. Note: Good triple time swing songs are very rare, even harder to find than a good bolero. The good ones have the triple-beats which are really great for dancing. For example, listen to: Mojo Blues Band "Rockin Pneumonia & the Boogie Woogie Flu". You can do triple time to straight 4/4 timing songs without the triples, but it just doesn't work as well.
Waltz - The Last Waltz - 04:00 - Most versions of this song are too fast for most people. Englebert does it at about 108 bpm. Something around 90 is better.

Thanks! A lot of good advice there.

1) Quickstep. Many there should know the quickstep, so I'll probably keep two in.

2) Samba. Tequila/Sinful Samba - yes, this is the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack version. It has to be one of my favourite films! The Tango, the Rumba, and the Quickstep are all from it, if you hadn't realised.

3) Cha Cha Cha - I'd like a better song really, I don't think this one is up to much. Any suggestions?

4) Rock 'n' Roll - Yes, I believe in this case it will be single beat swing.

5) Bolero - I don't think anyone will know it.

6) The Last Waltz - yes, I'm not sure I'll keep it in.

What about the order? Could you suggest a better order?

I am reluctant to include Sequence/Old Time dancing as I feel it is not appropriate at a traditional ball. Comments?

Thanks again,

Spinner

Maybe others are tired of it but I love Santana's "Smooth" for cha cha. The first time I heard it I was dying to dance to it and was thrilled to learn cha cha early on in lessons!

Nat King Cole's "Fascination" is one of my favourite waltzes and nice and romantic to end the evening.

Thanks for the further advice. I'll search more for dance songs.

About what I said about Sequence/Old Time, anybody got any comments?

Also, in terms of length of each session, any comments? Too long/short?

Let's see. Overall it looks OK, I guess. You might want to mix the fast and slow songs more in the first half and mix the standard and latin songs more in the second half. The first half is fast, fast, fast, unsure, slow, slow, slow, probably slow, probably medium. The second half is standard, standard, standard, latin, latin, latin (assuming Rock 'n' Roll is swing/jive), standard. I think you want something like the style mix of the first half with the speed/tempo mix of the second half.

Personally, I think a VW near 4 minutes is too long. Blue Danube is obviously a good song, but I prefer VW songs to be down around 2 minutes or less. Int'l style syllabus only gives you 7 moves to do and most people don't even dance 3 (fleckerls and Contra Check). A limited number of figures on a fast song that lasts for a long time can be tiring and well, kind of boring. Nice to see the Q get some time; a lot of the ones played around here are too short for my tastes. Thought almost 5 minutes on the opener could be a bit long, I don't know. I don't remember the Doug's Tearful Waltz / First Kiss song being great to dance to, but it's been a long time since I heard it. Maybe it's fine. I guess that's about all I see on a quick look over. I hope this is of some help.

Hmmm...thanks for the advice. How's this for a revised version?

Quickstep You're Sensational/+others 04:51
Waltz Doug's Tearful Waltz/First Kiss 04:12
Viennese Waltz The Blue Danube 03:45
Samba Copacabana 02:39
Rumba Time After Time 04:18
Foxtrot Gigi/+others 04:11
Cha-Cha-Cha One 03:34
Rock 'n' Roll At The Hop 03:38

Interval

Sequence Session? Lilac Waltz/St Bernard's Waltz/Square Tango/Cindy Swing 20:00

Quickstep Happy Feet 02:56
Freestyle Mambo No. 5 02:36
Waltz True Love/Around the World 04:05
Rock 'n' Roll Roll Over Beethoven 03:52
Tango La Cumparsita/Tango Please 03:20
Samba Tequila/Sinful Samba 04:44
Cha-Cha-Cha Pennies From Heaven 03:34
Waltz Fascination 04:00

Any comments about whether to include Old Time or not?

I'd probably avoid starting witha quickstep, especially a long one. I think there's a fair chance that many people will sit out the first number hust while wiating to get settled into the evening, and this might even be more true if it's a slightly intimidating dance. If it's also a long track, deciding to skip it is a major loss. So perhaps doing a couple of 2-minute tracks near the beginning would be best to get things going.

Of course if the format of the event obliges everyone to participate in the first dance, you can reduce this concern. Though I still wouldn't progam nearly five minutes of quickstep. Don't be afraid to fade out and cut songs when they've run for 3 minutes - just find a good place in the music to stop.