Your Performance CD

“Wait,” you say, “I thought this was a costuming blog!”

Well, it is; but, it is also a blog about organization and saving money. And, when you take a whole CD full of songs (store bought or burned) with you to perform, you will not appear organized and you will risk losing money (especially if it is a CD you purchased).

So, let’s talk about the CD you take with you when you perform. Please do not take an original. Performances are tense for everyone – and, the person who runs the music gets the jitters, too. Any of the following things could happen:
- you are so full of adrenaline after the performance that you forget to get your CD back after the show
- you get it back, but then lose it while you changing out of your costume
- the person running the music keeps it
- or, they accidentally give it to someone else
- someone takes it (intentionally or not)
- it breaks
- it gets stuck in the player (This happened to me the FIRST time I performed at a hafla. The venue came with a player, but no one knew how to use it. 2 CD’s got stuck in at the same time – luckily, no permanent damage happened!)


If you take a COPY versus the ORIGINAL, then you will still have the ORIGINAL at home even if something happens to the COPY. That is how the advice below will save you money.

Now that we have covered the virtues of using a COPY, here is why it is important to label it: If you do not label your music, it looks like everybody else’s music. And, that means the emcee could put the wrong disc in, causing another dancer to hear your CD when it is their turn and just keep dancing. (I have seen this happen!) Or, you hear the wrong song from your multi-track disc and just keep dancing. (I have seen this happen, too!)

Labeling ensures that your music is ready when it is your turn. Having only one song on the disc helps, too, because the more songs on the disc, the greater the likelihood that the wrong one will be queued up. On your COPY disc, include ONLY the song you are dancing to. Then, label the disc with the following information, in this order

1. YOUR DANCE NAME
2. (Your real name)
3. The song name
4. The duration of the song

Here is why:
1. YOUR DANCE NAME should be in all caps, large font, so that it can be read in dim light through false eyelashes.
2. (Your real name should be in parentheses, in case that is the only way others know you and so you don’t get introduced that way.)
3. The song name is there because you will develop a collection of these and you want to quickly sort through and find the one you want when a last minute opportunity arises.
4. The duration of the song should be there because sometimes you want a longer number, and sometimes you don’t!

These simple steps will help you be (and appear) more organized. A little organization prior to the performance will greatly contribute to how your actual performance goes!

- this post was inspired by recent events. ;)