What does a DJ actually do? What is the main purpose of a DJ? What if there is no Dancing? Does that mean they failed?
Yeah that's quite a few questions to start a blog post with! Most people who hire me don't actually hire me to make people dance however. They book a DJ because its a synonymous part of planning a party, event or wedding. They are wanting music for the reception or maybe through the day if I'm booked to cover the ceremony and breakfast.
Music is predominantly for listening to. The daytime parts of a wedding celebration demonstrate this perfectly. It fills dead air, creates an ambiance or vibe. Music makes people feel good.
Now shock horror - not everyone is a dancer!
The only DJs who get rooms full of dancers are those doing events that attract that type of crowd. Think people like James Hype, Pete Tong or Calvin Harris headlining events. There are some lesser known or local DJs who headline smaller events that manage to get crowds filled with dancers.
Weddings and Events are a different beast. You can only ever get a certain percentage of the crowd on the dancefloor. Think about your own family and friends, it's the same bunch always on the dancefloor isn't it? You have the drinkers, the talkers, the dancers and some who like to do a bit of it all. The drinkers never move far from the bar. The talkers are all around one table pontificating and or recanting stories. There are also some who physically can't dance - they'd love to be up there but just can't so rock about in their chairs.
DJs do tend to judge themselves on how busy the dancefloor is. We see our jobs to get the crowd out of their heads, and into their bodies. We use the bass line to create movement especially in the lower half of the body. The speed of the music (BPM) governs the pace of the dancing. We don't want to start the night too fast and tire the crowd so we build things up. We're always on the look out for those with the least resistance to hit the floor and bring others. Often it takes a bit of experimenting.
We always want the host on the floor as they will certainly bring others with them. Getting people to join in the first dance is a great way to start the dancing early. Its bonkers but some of my best reviews have came from bookings where there has been a slow dance floor. And don't ever believe any DJ that says they pack out every dancefloor. I hear them in group chats and forums moaning all the time. It can really make the night go a lot slower if there is no dancing to energise us.
So while our job is to get people up dancing, there are most certainly DJ gigs out there where dancing is not expected, perhaps playing a set at a car showroom opening. We always want a full dancefloor and will try our best to achieve this. Some clients themselves aren't dancers so people will gravitate wherever they spend their time.
Thanks for reading. If your in need of a DJ who is experienced and truthful about the job you need look no further.