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Swingin'
for Cash:
Making Money Teaching & Dancing?
(Prequel
to “Gigs from Hell”)
Copyright
1990 Bob e Thomas. No reprinting without permission.
USA: 1 617 733-9298 (Boston)
GERMANY: 49 5241 307 1777 (near Bielefeld, NRW)
email bob -@- bobethomas.com
Lately
with the swing craze in full force, I’ve been getting lots
of calls from swing dancers asking for advice on work they’re
interested in doing or have already accepted. For those of you
interested in Swinging for Cash, what follows is some pratical
advice regarding arranging, pricing, and performing work for schools,
organizations and corporations.
Who
the heck is...?
I’m
Bob Thomas, who dances with and is married to Idy Codington, performing
as The Kamikaze Jitterbugs, a company I formed in 1989 or so.
We’ve been doing shows and dance-related work for organizations,
schools and corporate clients for over twenty years, and I have
a ton of advice, most of which you probably don’t need and
aren’t interested in. But, for those of you determined or
foolish enough to go out into the public marketplace to teach
and perform swing, I thought it might be helpful to write down
some advice and suggestions to help you on your way. For fun and
horrifying accounts of our most interesting gigs, read my piece
“Swinging in
the Dark: Gigs from Hell.”
Until
1996 Idy and I performed backed up by several dedicated amateur
swing dancers. In 1996 we posted auditions and hired six working
professional dancers with extensive jazz, modern and ballet backgrounds.
Finally, in December 1998, tired of too many Gigs From Hell (even
I have my limits), I laid off the other dancers. And since that
time The Kamikaze Jitterbugs are just two, Idy and me. With the
swing craze Idy and I often do shows supported by "back-up"
dancers in fancy 40's regalia. The back-up dancers work the dance
floor and provide additional excitment and color at our gigs.
(see "Swinging for Cash, Performing" below).
Idy
and I average about seventy or eighty shows a year, a majority
of them historical dance shows in schools ("Roots of American
Dance, 1850-1940"). Of the eighty shows, perhaps twenty or
thirty are for private and corporate functions and events. (Note:
I also do solo monologue and storytelling/dance shows, adding
perhaps another eighty to a hundred shows a year, but that’s
another story.)
Swingin’
for Cash, Part 1: Teaching
Someone
asks you--out dancing or over the telepone: “Would you be
interested in teaching a series of classes for my school/office/etc?”
If what they want are straight-ahead social swing dance classes,
you can say “yes” if you’re ready (see "Experience"
notes at the end of this section). Of course, you should have
a syllabus, a plan on what you intend to teach each week. I suggest
preparing to teach two steps or moves per week, plus at least
one stylistic or technical point that you intend to drill from
at least two points of view.
If
you're teaching everything you planned on teaching, you're probably
going too fast. Make sure you spend the first fifteen minutes
of each class reviewing the previous week's material. And by the
fourth week or so spend the better part of an entire class going
over and over and re-arranging in various ways the material you've
covered so far.
What
Kind of Experience Do You Need?
If
you’ve never taught swing before, you have to learn both
the leader’s and follower’s parts for every step you
want to teach. Then do some free classes for friends or a local
school to get experience. You have to be adept at two tasks. The
first is explaining what you know and communicating that through
movement (talk does little to teach dancing) exercises to your
students. The second is learning how to quickly analyze and solve
students’ swing dance difficulties. Do all of the above before
charging money.
Another
important factor is your level of skill. A good teacher has extensive
dance experience. Completing ten or twenty weeks of classes essentially
only makes you an advanced-beginner amateur. In addition to lots
of classes and many, many nights out on the dance floor dancing
the night away, you’ll want to take several months of private
lessons. Private lessons are best done with a known professional
swing dancer, someone with at least five or six years of experience
teaching and dancing. Please note that ballroom dance has several
types of highly-stylized "swing," many of which are
done almost exclusively in competition--know what the difference
is and which style you want to learn. I suggest good old generic
East Coast Swing or 1930's-40's Lindy Hop. Note that Jive and
West Coast are different styles and are more recent evolutions
of Swing and Lindy Hop. [Don’t call me. This article is not
an ad--I don’t teach anymore.]
Private
study usually costs from $40-70 per hour, which may seem like
a lot, but it’s money well-invested if you intend to teach.
Also, it would be very worthwhile to take some jazz and/or ballet
classes. Twice a week for six months or so would be best. The
dance classes will develop your physical skills, your eye for
analyzing movement, and your overall knowledge of what dance “is.”
A wonderful
goal is to take class with and then apprentice with an experienced
teacher. They usually won’t pay you much for you teachint
assistance (if anything), but it’s the best experience money
can’t buy.
Charting
Your Teaching Progress
As
you teach you need to check on how well the students are mastering
the material. My favorite approach is to sidle up to the students
during class and engage them in conversation about their work,
their hobbies or anything that might require thought. If they
can answer you and continue dancing the material without a hesitation
or break, then they're soon ready for the next step or even for
something extra: styling, movement, or rhythm concepts or variations.
If
many of your students are having trouble learning the material,
you should examine your syllabus and perhaps even your approach
to what you’re teaching. Perhaps the order or type of material
in your syllabus is wrong and needs to be adjusted. Or perhaps
your teaching method needs polishing (not enough interesting repetition
for the students), or your manner with the students should be
improved (knowing how to put anxious students at ease so they
feel safe and ready to learn is an acquired skill). All good teachers
have had days where they realized they were on the track in their
teaching. It's just that good teachers recognized it and changed
how they taught in response.
Also,
your students can be very helpful with improving your teaching.
Ask one or two students who are especially enthusiastic and who
seem perceptive to stay after class and ask them for observations
and suggestions about the class. Once you’ve asked them to
tell you what they think, LISTEN!
What
Do I Charge?
Rates.
Well, that’s a tough one. Basically, you want to charge enough
that when you’re teaching you’re making enough money
that you don’t regret it. That could be ten dollars an hour,
or it could be seventy-five dollars an hour. One rule of thumb:
for a series of classes, try and imagine how much you’ll
need to make to teach once, and then how much you’ll need
to show up for the last class when the thrill is gone. Add the
two numbers together and divide by two. That’s your per class
rate for that series.
Generally,
part-time dance teachers (with a day job) make $20-40 an hour
working for someone else, and $35-75 an hour working for themselves.
But hey, I charge $125-200 an hour (this IS my day job) and that
works for me. So you decide.
Corporate
Teaching Gigs
If
someone says, “Would you teach a lesson for my school/organization/corporation’s
party?” Think about it twice.
First,
keep in mind that the person you’re talking to may have almost
no idea what they want, or, more importantly, what will work.
Your potential client has probably decided after reading a news
article or talking with a friend, that it would be “fun”
to have “swing” at an event or function at their school,
organization or corporation. The client will tell you what they
envision, and it may sound very fun and exciting. Just remember
that it’s just as easy to say, “Wouldn’t it be
fun to have swing at our corporate event for five hundred people?”
as it is to say, “Wouldn’t it be great to get in a rocket
and walk on the moon?” Both statements are true and both
ignore a slew of potential problems, expenses and other deadly
traps.
Second,
find out some information. You have no idea if the person calling
you is the only person at the organization who is enthusiastic
about swing. It’s entirely possible that a large number of
people in the organization is dance-phobic, and that the only
person at the organization enthusiastic about dance is the person
on the other end of the phone. Imagine walking into a function
with several hundred people, taking the microphone (ever used
a microphone?), announcing “Hi, everyone. We’re going
to have some fun. Let’s all come up onto the dance floor
and learn a little bit of swing!” And as you stand there,
you feel everyone’s eyes on you, glaring with various mixtures
of terror, horror, malice, and contempt. It’s going to be
a long hour...
One
special note: avoid taking a gig teaching partner dance at a function
where people are without their spouses. Why? Think about it.
Swingin’
for Cash, Part 2: Performing
If
someone says, “Would you dance swing at my school/organization/corporation’s
party?” Think about it three times (at least).
Minimal
qualifications before considering a paid performing gig:
--
You've been dancing swing seriously--classes twice a week, going
out dancing twice a week--for at least a year.
--
You've performed successfully on four or more occasions where
people were asked to stop and watch you and your partner perform
a dance. And it went well.
--
At your "successful" performances you should have felt
good about what you did (and didn't argue too much with your partner),
and people told you--without seeming to feel sorry for you--that
you were "great."
Questions
to ask the client
1)
Is it a formal performance or will you just dance to the music
and show off? The best gig for a swing dancer is as “window
dressing.” You go to the gig and dance the night away. No
formal shows, no teaching to surly anxious people, just a pleasant
evening hanging with the band. Amazingly enough, people will pay
you for this. Do it as often as you can. My only caveat: don’t
discuss your day job. When people ask, “What do you really
do?” it’s often best to simply say, “I like to
dance. How about you?” Because, honestly, do they need to
know you’re a lawyer?
2)
When will you perform during the event? Informally demo-ing by
clearing a space around you on the dance floor mid-way through
a song with everyone standing around watching is ideal. You don’t
need to be announced and yet you have the full attention of everyone
attending. You can do this a couple of times an evening and everyone
will love it.
3)
Do they want a sit-down show? A sit-down show requires that you
have good costumes, good music and good lighting. A sit down show
works best with live music. Recorded music seems flat in a room
that just had a live band playing. But live music has it’s
own problems, including how to describe to the band what type
of tune, how long it should be, and setting a tempo that works
for you. Also, for a sit down show, have someone raise the lights
for your show. It’s awkward dancing in near-darkness. For
more on this read my article “Gigs
from Hell”
If
they want a sit-down show, keep it short, one or two numbers (see
my article “A
Guide to Using Dancers for Events and Functions”). Also,
sit-down shows work well done while everyone finishes their dessert--they’re
content and comfortable and, when you’re done, they’ll
be eager and ready to get on the dance floor.
What
do I Charge?
One-off
teaching? Dance shows? Probably a good basic rate is $25-50 per
person for window dressing or an informal show, more like $75
to $100 per person for a package of teaching and a formal two
or three number show. Right now we charge $200 to $300 per person,
but then we’ve spent a lot of money on press packets, photos,
custom videos and all the hoo-ha that corporate clients need to
sleep well at night when they’re hiring you. For us, when
you take away our expenses we’re making about $75-100 per
person.
Other
Considerations
Costumes:
Generally clients will be as impressed
with a good costume as good dancing. In fact, if choosing between
costumes and dance skill, many clients will easily choose costumes.
So when you go out, take the time to dress up. Bright colors (avoid
white and black) are best. If what you’re wearing is glaringly
attention grabbing, all the better. You’re being hired to
stand out from the crowd, not to blend in.
Improvisation:
You can improvise your dances, but it’s
helpful to have pre-choreographed bits you can use as a beginning,
middle and end of the dance.
Routines:
For routines, use live music if you can. It helps if you choreograph
to standard 32-bar choruses. Recorded music is not half as exciting
as live music. We have found that an improvised dance to live
music is usually more satisfying to an audience than an exciting
routine to canned music.
Live
Music: For live music, you must know how
to talk to musicians. Musicians describe everything in measures
or bars of music, almost always with four beats to the bar (except
waltz). The body of the music is usually in groups of eight bars
or twelve bars. Eight bars is sometimes called a verse; and four
verses often go together to make a 32-bar chorus. Twelve bars
of music is usually called 12-bar blues, although there is also
eight bar and sixteen bar blues. Someday soon I’ll write
a comprehensive guide to talking with musicians, but unfortunately
this ain’t the time.
That’s
all for now. Hoped this was helpful. Go get ‘em and good
luck.
Copyright
1990 Bob e Thomas. No reprinting without permission.
USA: 1 617 733-9298 (Boston)
GERMANY: 49 5241 307 1777 (near Bielefeld, NRW)
email bob -@- bobethomas.com
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Kamikaze
