Clubs usually have a nucleus of callers who are members of the club, and will sometimes book outside callers. As well as their regular meetings, many clubs run a number of Saturday night dances. Some run one a month, some run one a year depending on the level of support they can attract. The Saturday night dances usually involve live music and an outside caller. Clubs usually dance a mixture of dance styles - Playford, American contras and American squares, the exact mixture will be determined by the caller.
Some callers have biases in one direction or another, some callers present a mixed program.
I feel that there are advantages and disadvantages to this lack of a split. However, there are times when I'm worried that we are in danger of just creating a mid atlantic 'mush' of American and English dances and music without a clear distinction between each style. The dances The dances are usually walked - there is little stepping. Contras tend to be those with fewer swings in. Contra dances are usually done 7 to 10 times through.