Five parties in…
We have now thrown five parties and we have learned a lot in that time!
We would like to be transparent with you about our party finances... Each party has cost around £3,500 and most of the time we have managed to cover these costs with tickets sales and bar commission from the same party, around £4000 income. Not every time though, our March 2023 party saw a reasonable loss. No one is paid to organise the parties, we are generously supported with borrowed equipment and we pay upfront costs for the party from our personal finances, reimbursing ourselves after the party. We are happy that we break even for the most part, though we are conscious that it wouldn't take much to go wrong for significant financial implications to fall on the organising team.
We are really pleased with how well our tiered ticket reservation system has been working. As we are sure you are aware, we allocate tickets for self-selection in three tiers: Supported, Standard and Solidarity. We implemented this system to try to remove financial barriers to collective dancing. Supported and Solidarity numbers are roughly equal each time we dance. A testament to you all. Thank you.
In time we hope to have built up enough financial reserves to be able to pay for one party up front, or buffer any unexpected losses. We also hope to begin paying key organisers, musical hosts and artists and to purchase necessary equipment and materials. We have no intention of profiting from our dance parties, but healthier finances and the means to pay for labour are key for our survival and sustainability.
To help us achieve this, we have decided to increase the price of admission by £2 across all tiers. We will trial this for our next few parties at these prices and let you know how it goes. We are open to introducing more ticket price tiers and adjusting prices up or down, depending on financial health, feedback from our community and what we learn from other party collectives. This means that for the next few parties ticket prices will be:
Supported: £8
Standard: £15
Solidarity: £20
We do not want ticket prices to ever stop people coming to our parties. So, if this price increase feels financially inaccessible to you, we welcome you to email us with an amount you feel able to contribute down to as little £0. We invite anyone who may feel marginalised at our parties to choose the supported tier, regardless of your financial resources. If you would like to speak with an organiser about what to expect or discuss any specific adjustments you need to feel comfortable attending our party, please email us.
We aim to create a space that celebrates and welcomes everyone in their wholeness. We plan to spend some time listening to our community and working to make our dance parties more accessible, comfortable and joyful for everyone who wishes to take part in them. This is an ongoing project and an imperfect process. We welcome suggestions, feedback and being held to account for our work.
Thank you for reading this far. We hope it has been useful for you. If you have any questions, please email us.
Thank you for your support, for bringing your dance moves and joy to the dance floor, for being a part of our community.
See you soon!
RM
