invisiblecircus Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I'm just wondering how this works in the UK these days. My daughter takes weekly ballet classes and the school she goes to are proposing and end of year show. Each class will perform 2 dances and we are being asked €50 for both costumes. Additionally, we are being asked for €30 towards the hire of the theatre, so each child has to pay €80 to perform in the show, more if they take other classes. I think this is a bit steep but maybe I'm out of touch. I'd still like DD to have the experience of performing on stage but DH thinks it is unacceptable and doesn't want her to do it. Things work very differently over here and I'm still trying to get my head around everything but I'm curious to know this works in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyofdance Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 It varies from dance school to school. One school my daughter danced with asked for a contribution of £30 towards costume hire for several dances and the venue was paid for via ticket sales I assume. Another asked for £15 and again charged for tickets to watch the show. I believe a small charge for costumes is the norm but happy to be corrected. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 😱 I honestly can’t think we’ve ever been asked to contribute to show costs other than perhaps buying a cast show T-shirt & buying tickets/programmes for show itself raffle tickets in intervals & occassionsl fundraising things like an Xmas Fair (stalls such as tombola) at Studio.... Not sure how I wouid feel paying an amount up front rather than parents choosing tgeif level of support (which could be time spent volunteering to chaperone/make costumes/sell tickets etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 About £20 per costume and pay for tickets to watch. Presuming your theatre fee includes tickets to watch id say it’s about average Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 8 minutes ago, Peony said: About £20 per costume and pay for tickets to watch. Presuming your theatre fee includes tickets to watch id say it’s about average Those are the days I do not miss. Average I paid over the yrs was £45/50 per costume per genre per DD. That’s before a ticket was purchased. I did use to question on what planet the PTA members were on that helped choose and organise the costumes. 😧 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairpinseverywhere Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I have DCs in different schools, one charges £45 flat rate and the other charges per outfit hire so usually in excess of £100 upto around £150 is the most that school has charged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Being asked to contribute to the theatre hire seems a bit odd. Every school I have known do shows in theatres aims to cover the costs of things like theatre hire, scenery hire, lighting/sound techs from ticket sales, but as a PP said, if you then don't have to pay to watch that would be fine. I think it's pretty common to be asked to buy costumes, unless the school is very well established and has a "library" of costumes that are reused year on year. It costs a lot to put on a show. I had some idea when I helped out when my DD was a dancer but now she's a teacher it's even clearer to me. €25 per costume is probably reasonable, assuming prices are similar to the UK. I used to source costumes for the school my DD danced with and I would do everything I could to minimise the costs - buying from abroad, scouring Ebay for multiple sellers who had small numbers of the same costume trying to make up enough for a group, ringing up companies trying to negotiate discounts on bulk purchases, altering things for people myself at no cost etc. I managed to get things much cheaper that way, but it was hard work and stressful and I can understand why lots of teachers just order from the IDS catalogue or similar. It's an expensive business unfortunately. I nearly fainted when I discovered what it costs to hire backdrops! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewel Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Dances were rehearsed in class but there might be one or two extra rehearsals paid at normal class rate. Costumes ranged from £20-30 for a full outfit to source it from Primark for some dances. Tickets cost approx £12-15 each. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BattementBatty Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Errr - usually I try not to think about it. Production cost -£55 as in over 7 dances Costumes - between £25-£45 each - we get to keep these so can sell on. There might possibly be a cheaper source your own for a couple of dances. Tickets usually £18 each. I have 3 children. 2 are in over 8 dances. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing unicorn Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Eeeekkkkssss!!!! I’d better up my charges then haha 🤣🤣 In my own school, Theatre, lighting, scenery charges etc are covered by Theatre ticket sales and also what’s left goes towards new costumes for the next show. Costume hire charges cover washing, repairing and hiring - I only charge between £3 and £5 per costume depending on how many dances children are in. Dd was in 2 vocational schools Voc school 1 charged £50 - she was in 1 ballet dance for 10 sec and wore class leo and wrap skirt 😡 Voc school 2 charged £50 - she was in every dance going and costumes were fabulous! Now at College in the 3/4 yrs she’s been there we’ve not been charged a penny (yes maybe had to buy the odd commercial/tap costumes which we kept) but ballet costumes including the most amazing tutus we’ve not had to pay for 💗 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 10 hours ago, Peony said: About £20 per costume and pay for tickets to watch. Presuming your theatre fee includes tickets to watch id say it’s about average The theatre fee does not include tickets, those are extra. 9 hours ago, Pups_mum said: It costs a lot to put on a show. I had some idea when I helped out when my DD was a dancer but now she's a teacher it's even clearer to me. €25 per costume is probably reasonable, assuming prices are similar to the UK. I used to source costumes for the school my DD danced with and I would do everything I could to minimise the costs - buying from abroad, scouring Ebay for multiple sellers who had small numbers of the same costume trying to make up enough for a group, ringing up companies trying to negotiate discounts on bulk purchases, altering things for people myself at no cost etc. I managed to get things much cheaper that way, but it was hard work and stressful and I can understand why lots of teachers just order from the IDS catalogue or similar. It's an expensive business unfortunately. I nearly fainted when I discovered what it costs to hire backdrops! I know it costs a lot to put on a show. I've put on lots of shows myself including some on a professional basis, but I worked predominantly in the field of Youth Dance so it was a bit different. I also used to make most of my own costumes which obviously kept the costs down a lot. When I was hiring a theatre, I used the revenue from ticket sales to cover both theatre hire and costumes. I can see how €25 per costume is reasonable, although I personally would have tried to cut down the cost of costumes by basing one of the costumes around the class leotard. We've also been told that participation in the show is not compulsory which as a teacher seems like a nightmare because if someone is not taking part, what are you going to do with them in the lessons when everyone is rehearsing the show pieces? I think DH was caught off guard because here you have to sign up for a year of classes and have to pay either all the fees up front or in two parts, and it wasn't made clear at the start that the lessons would culminate in a performance which cost more than €100 more to participate in. I'm starting to realise what a good deal I was giving my students! 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallerinaMum13 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 My DDs go to a dance school in London. They hired a professional theatre for their Christmas show. They have a stock of costumes that they use for all performances (they don't hire or buy new ones). The only charge was the cost of the ticket £35 per person. For Central London, I think that is ok. The older students danced in 4-5 dances and the younger ones had 3 mins of stage. I thought everything was done well and within reason. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Do they get to keep the costumes? I’ve had both scenarios and when it was all ticket revenue based the tickets were considerably more expensive. I guess it’s fairer if everyone pays a set amount plus cheaper tickets otherwise some people will be paying a lot more if they buy multiple tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Having to sign a child up for a year seems unfair I agree. Do you lose the entire years fees if they decide to drop out or have a change in circumstances part way through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 30 minutes ago, Peony said: Having to sign a child up for a year seems unfair I agree. Do you lose the entire years fees if they decide to drop out or have a change in circumstances part way through? Yes, you lose the rest of the fees if they drop out. When this DD was 6, she went to a different school. She had one trial lesson, then had to decide if she wanted to continue. She wanted to but it was difficult for me to decide because the studio was not conveniently located, it was quite a long walk and two buses which I had to navigate with a 3 year old and a baby in a pushchair. There had been an accident on the road on the way home which made our journey back very long, and it was difficult to figure out how long it was going to take in normal circumstances. We took the risk and signed her up, but two weeks later she got pneumonia and was off for three weeks. The pneumonia ended up triggering a form of arthritis which persisted for 2 years and she was unable to go back that year, so we basically ended up paying a few hundred euros for three lessons! It seems to be standard here for extra currucilar activities that after a trial lesson you must enroll for a whole year. It's frustrating because it often takes more than that to decide whether an activity is for you, especially for young children. It definitely makes me wary about signing my children up for things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beautifulday Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 13 hours ago, invisiblecircus said: I'm just wondering how this works in the UK these days. My daughter takes weekly ballet classes and the school she goes to are proposing and end of year show. Each class will perform 2 dances and we are being asked €50 for both costumes. Additionally, we are being asked for €30 towards the hire of the theatre, so each child has to pay €80 to perform in the show, more if they take other classes. I think this is a bit steep but maybe I'm out of touch. I'd still like DD to have the experience of performing on stage but DH thinks it is unacceptable and doesn't want her to do it. Things work very differently over here and I'm still trying to get my head around everything but I'm curious to know this works in the UK. Hi, sounds similar to my child's School where it's £20 per costume for those who are Grade 1 and under and £25 per costume for Grade 2 and above (keep the costumes after the show). Parents also chaperone or pay fee towards a professional chaperone if not enough parents come forward. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 41 minutes ago, invisiblecircus said: Yes, you lose the rest of the fees if they drop out. When this DD was 6, she went to a different school. She had one trial lesson, then had to decide if she wanted to continue. She wanted to but it was difficult for me to decide because the studio was not conveniently located, it was quite a long walk and two buses which I had to navigate with a 3 year old and a baby in a pushchair. There had been an accident on the road on the way home which made our journey back very long, and it was difficult to figure out how long it was going to take in normal circumstances. We took the risk and signed her up, but two weeks later she got pneumonia and was off for three weeks. The pneumonia ended up triggering a form of arthritis which persisted for 2 years and she was unable to go back that year, so we basically ended up paying a few hundred euros for three lessons! It seems to be standard here for extra currucilar activities that after a trial lesson you must enroll for a whole year. It's frustrating because it often takes more than that to decide whether an activity is for you, especially for young children. It definitely makes me wary about signing my children up for things. Oh that’s such a shame. All the local dance schools in my area fees are paid per term which means if you wish to withdrawal your child you are required to give one months notice for fees. Whether your DC actually attends during that notice period is up to the you. Which does seem a fairer way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 3 hours ago, BattementBatty said: Errr - usually I try not to think about it. Production cost -£55 as in over 7 dances Costumes - between £25-£45 each - we get to keep these so can sell on. There might possibly be a cheaper source your own for a couple of dances. Tickets usually £18 each. I have 3 children. 2 are in over 8 dances. I’m like you. Never added up the costs that I have paid out over the years. As well as now the sheer number of boxes of costumes I have acquired from both my DD’s. Ticket sales were also about £18 with any profits from the show were donated to a local charity. Which is common practice in my area. Buying a new football strip each season seems quite budget friendly in comparison. At least they are worn more than once! 😏 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixiewoo Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 We pay a 'show fee' that ranges from £15 to £30 depending upon how many classes you do, and that includes a show tshirt. This also covers fees for hall hire for extra rehearsals. ( they have a few 'all day' rehearsals ) Costumes we either source ourselves ( ie ... something suitable for scene from Annie etc ) or dance school provide, and we pay £4 ( ??? ish ) per costume to hire. We are expected to provide our own tights/shoes/makeup etc. Tickets cost around £7/10. Programmes are extra. and despite fundraising throughout the year, the dance school usually makes a small loss. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SplitSoul Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 My DD's shows are in a professional theatre. Tickets are £ 12.50 per person. The teacher is really good about costumes. Most are hired and many are based around the same basic costume dressed up differently for different dances. For some, we have to source them ourselves, e.g. black leggings or black leotard. The costumes are always fabulous. Usually around £30 for costumes for 3 or 4 dances. Over €100 seems totally over the top, especially if the child is under 10 years old. It makes dance a sport for the rich and that is so wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) My dd's first dance school would charge £10 per costume. The more you were in, the more you paid. All the costumes were owned and mostly made by the school and they had hundreds upon hundreds of them. Most would be altered and adapted for different performances and they would sometimes make whole new sets, so really by everyone paying a flat £10 they managed to keep costs down overall. They also had literally thousands of headdresses and accessories. Some dances only needed such things as black leggings and t-shirts with a scarf or whatever, and you just supplied your own and borrowed the scarf so you didn't pay anything for that. Another of her dance schools charged about £25 per costume and you kept them afterwards. They were the cheap mass-made ones like fancy dress outfits and were a waste of money. Edited February 1, 2022 by taxi4ballet 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) That sounds like our dds dance school in Cambridge, @taxi4ballet.Mind you, that was twenty years ago so it probably felt more especially as they all did tap and modern as well as ballet. Edited February 1, 2022 by Fiz Added name. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum5678 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 We've had a mixed bag... Previous dance schools have asked us to pay for costumes, anything from £20-£50 (one let us keep them after, one was a hire) and then pay for tickets at around £12. The school we're currently with make a point of not charging pupils anything extra to do the shows (and have a stock of costumes) so that cost doesn't prohibit people from taking part. We do have to pay £12-15 for the ticket (performed in a professional theatre), but that doesn't feel unfair. DS has also performed in associate scheme shows, and again, we've never been asked to pay for the costumes but do pay around £15 for the ticket, also in a theatre. I wasn't sorry to leave the school that charged for the costumes behind as they really can add up and as has been mentioned above, we're pretty rubbish quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sadielou Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 It is now so expensive to hire even the cheapest performance space in London, so it is now very hard for small local dance schools to put on a professional end of year show. As a mother of 3, I completely understand how difficult it is for parents to find extra money for costumes production fees etc. So I have always kept all our show costumes adding a few extras year by year and then recycled the rest as best we could for each different production. For our last show parents were charged a flat rate of £30 per child which included 2 tickets to the show, it seemed the fairest way. Not sure when we will be able to perform again as our school has lost a lot of students over the past two years due to lockdowns, and there is currently no way of covering costs without asking parents for a ridiculous amount in contributions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 We didn’t pay for costumes or pay production fees. The school had lots of costumes but we still didn’t have to pay to borrow them. All we did was buy tickets for shows - in a theatre - which weren’t particularly cheap, but fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumof1 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Gosh I feel very lucky reading all the comments. Our dance school puts on 2 galas a year (once there was 4) and we don’t get charged for extra rehearsals or costumes. They do sell videos of the shows fir £10 so they can fund buying new costumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Flat rate for us depending on number of classes taken but capped on 3+ classes. Includes all extra rehearsals, costume hire and finale t shirt for them to keep. Tickets for the show charged separately. Dd old dance school charged for everything. Prod fees, rehearsal fees, t shirt, costume hire per costume. Tickets. Got to a stage where we felt if we sneezed, we'd get charged 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisiblecircus Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 23 hours ago, Sadielou said: Not sure when we will be able to perform again as our school has lost a lot of students over the past two years due to lockdowns, and there is currently no way of covering costs without asking parents for a ridiculous amount in contributions. That's a good point. My DD's school has had to put a cap on the number of students in a class due to Covid regulations which will also make it more difficult to cover costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJW Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 In response to your original question @invisiblecircus I would say that €80 does sound fairly dear although not at the outrageous end of the spectrum. The problem for parents, as with a lot of dance related things, is that there is not an obvious direct comparison to work out if you're getting a good deal or not. That's part of the reason why there is such a disparity between what schools charge. I suspect many teachers don't know whether their shows are cheap, expensive, a good deal etc... Parents often, and understandably, do the next best thing which is try to work out the underlying costs of all the elements of the show and see how their money is being spent. Teachers also often feel obliged to break down the costs too which is why you get things like theatre hire fee, costume fee, dress rehearsal fee and so on. The issue then is teachers might feel exposed and under pressure to not add anything on top so as not to appear greedy but which ultimately might not be good business sense. Of course, clearly, not all dance school owners have such scruples... You don't really get this situation with, say, your local car garage but the relationship between teacher and parent is a bit unique and creates what can be quite awkward situations when money is involved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise81 Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 I also feel very lucky! Never paid for anything for my DDs productions, including when they hired out the Bradford Alhambra for their big show! Just have to get then to theatre, do their make up, and then pay for tickets and programmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance*is*life Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 It seems to me that unless a school is putting on a story production, where you need specific costumes, it makes more sense to make a stock of costumes gradually, so that they can be used over and over again. We normally get a small budget every year to sew new costumes and then we just keep using them. The parents only pay for the actual tickets to the show. Of course when I was a child, the mothers sewed all the costumes themselves, which I find amazing, since the mothers of my own students can hardly sew elastics on shoes!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 On 09/02/2022 at 20:24, Dance*is*life said: It seems to me that unless a school is putting on a story production, where you need specific costumes, it makes more sense to make a stock of costumes gradually, so that they can be used over and over again. We normally get a small budget every year to sew new costumes and then we just keep using them. The parents only pay for the actual tickets to the show. Of course when I was a child, the mothers sewed all the costumes themselves, which I find amazing, since the mothers of my own students can hardly sew elastics on shoes!!! Brings back some memories. A few years ago my DD & her friend entered the Demi-character class for a local festival. Delving deep into the schools wardrobe out came the tried and tested handmade dresses, petticoats and aprons for the set choreography. Oh the memories as the photos came out to for the girls to see who had worn them over the years. The dresses had survived 40yrs. Lovingly washed, starched and pressed. A credit to the original seamstress. Can’t say the sequin outfits bought nowadays would hold out for quite so long. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaDance Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 On 05/02/2022 at 16:09, sunrise81 said: I also feel very lucky! Never paid for anything for my DDs productions, including when they hired out the Bradford Alhambra for their big show! Just have to get then to theatre, do their make up, and then pay for tickets and programmes Same here😄 I never had to pay for anything. But I didn't get the chance yet to go in Bradford Alhambra. Hope that this year will be lucky for me to visit the theatre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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