The Barachois foot-rhythm thing is standard Acadian/Quebecois practise.

To go back to the beginning, if indeed your group knows the tunes inside out, all you need to do is throw 'em in the deep end-whoever sets the tempo, rhythm instrument or conductor or whatever, put them to the tempo that is needed, not the one that the players are most comfortable with.

Around these parts I know a lot of players who always play at moderate speeds and have convinced themselves they can't play faster. But my first piano teacher set me straight on that question forty years ago: if you really know the piece, you've got the fingerings all worked out etc, you can play it at any speed that's physically possible. But if you stumble through it cause you're not sure of certain phrasings, you can sound passable at a slow speed but those certain passages trip you up when you get faster. So, (again I hear Mrs Sierhuis saying this) practice the bits you don't get right, not the whole tune over and over.

If the bow "gets confused", the players need to get a more consistent bowing pattern. (e.g. a separate stroke for each note unless slurring is specifically called for.)

Willie-O