It's my experience that some callers have a reputation that draws dancers - it is not only bands who do that. It is also my experience that a larger band isn't necessarily a better band, nor do they necessarily draw more dancers than a well-loved small band. And if the payment is going on shares, then when more dancers are drawn - for whatever reason and by whomever - band and callers (and, in the case of our dance, sound person, a role the band can choose to supply) get paid more and are thus financially rewarded for the draw.
We don't cap the amount that the band gets. We have a different formula that kicks in when the band is larger than five. Otherwise, when we have a large band (sometimes we have as many as a dozen musicians on the stage) our caller - who works VERY hard when the band is that large - would get almost nothing. So we shift to a percentage system when the band gets larger than five (this wasn't reflected on the spreadsheet). The band always gets first dibs on bringing sound, and thus increasing their share of the take. Perhaps it's different if someone is running a big dance and hiring exclusively professional musicians and callers. But for us, as a small community dance, (with a totally volunteer organizer) I'm pleased that most of the folks who play and call at our dance do it for the joy and community and we're happy to help them defray their expenses by dividing up the take from the door. Our system attempts to do that as close to "fairly" as we can. -cynthia -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Will Loving Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 11:20 AM To: Caller's discussion list <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Callers] Caller Fees As both a dance series organizer and a caller, I'm thrilled that we are having this discussion. Performer payment was the area that I spent the most time talking with other organizers about prior to starting our Downtown Amherst (MA) series. Several posts have mentioned paying the band only a certain number of shares, usually four, even if there are more than four musicians. Though both the caller and the band are essential to the dance, this is presumably being done to protect the callers pay. Now lets consider the other side of the coin. What if your band consists of only two musicians? The assumed "normal" arrangement would be that everyone get's a 1/3 share. Now consider that the band is bringing and setting up their own top-notch sound system. Normally the person providing and working sound gets paid anywhere from $25-200, or a full share, depending on the venue, whether they are supplying equipment and their level of expertise (the high end being someone like Bob Mills). Next, let's add in the fact that this particular band will draw substantially more dancers, usually 25-50% more, than other 2-person bands. Is it appropriate to pay the band more? In this scenario would it be appropriate to pay the band 3 shares instead of 2? From the band's perspective, they are not only bringing and doing sound, but are also bringing in a lot of value/income for the dance and should be rewarded for it. Isn't this the same as limiting a band to getting 4 shares to protect the caller's pay, even if there are more than 4 musicians? Is the band correct in wanting to protect their pay as well based on the extra value they bring? My guess from reading most people's posts is that you would in fact agree with this, but some callers I've been talking with strongly disagree. I'm interested to hear people's thought on it. As an organizer, I'm feeling a bit caught between callers' feelings that 'equal shares for all performers' is a hard and fast principle and the band wanting something for the extra value they bring. From reading everyone's posts, talking with people and looking at Jeff's spreadsheet, it seems to me that while there may be an ideal of 'equal shares for all performers' (kind of like 'liberty and justice for all') the reality of how pay is divided is quite varied. I'm deeply committed to paying all performers/artists well for the efforts and energy, including minimums and profit sharing. Our dance series is only 9 months old but we committed to doing this critical piece properly. We are working hard to fund-raise for a high-quality and fully paid for sound system so we can eliminate that as a weekly expense and have more money go to the performers. We are slowly growing a reserve fund in order to be able to guarantee minimums even when weather intervenes - such as the recent tornados that came through Western Mass on our dance night. Thanks for your thoughts. Will Loving Amherst Area Contra Dances Amherst, MA USA http://amherstcontra.org on 6/18/11 10:32 PM, Sue Robishaw at [email protected] wrote: > Hi, > I know that "it varies" and probably quite widely, but I'm trying to get > an idea of what is typically charged for one-time or semi-regular dance > calling (not the high end festivals and balls and camps) or how receipts are > divided between caller, band, and house. My interest is as caller, band, and > dance organizer so all input would be appreciated. You can reply off-list to > [email protected]. > Thanks, > Sue Robishaw, Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- William M. Loving Dedication Technologies, Inc. 7 Coach Lane Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA [email protected] Tel: +1 413 253-7223 (GMT -5) Fax: +1 206 202-0476 _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list [email protected] http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
