Fair Price for a QUALITY Freestyle

[Gus]

Have always wabted to run a really smart freestyle ... you know the type, like Jon Brett's Glitter Balls ... major light and sound system, quality venue with huge sprung floor, best invited DJs etc .etc. Found a venue that fitted the bill ... but slight problem ... a hire charge of £5000

So ... back to the drawing board ... as MJers are well known for being tight fisted ... they would never pay a 'going' rate for a quality do ... all they want is some local church hall (a dance is just a dnace) ... or do they?

So ... what would you pay for a seriously good event?

[TheTramp]

Well. I think that the last time I went to the Glitterball, it was £30. And if I had it, I'd pay that to go again.

But for that, I'd probably want a great venue. 2am finish (at least). Food (Buffet). Coffee at the end.

JB used to put on a band too. But I'd forego that for a great DJ (or two).

Trampy

[Gadget]

I don't think it matters too much about the venue - as long as you get the right atmosphere;
'guest' passes (or discounts) to a few dance gods, some good music, refreshments on hand, the music played at the right volume, open 'till chucked out,...

I would say you want more of a 'party' atmosphere than a 'night-out' atmosphere; sort of stay up till 4am sitting on the stairs chatting type of party. But I think that it's the people who would make it so rather than anything to do with the venue.

[philsmove]

But slight problem ... a hire charge of £5000

But how many people can you fit in

250 dancers @ £25 would cover the cost

£25 for a first class venue with an excellent light and sound system, a huge sprung floor, with the best DJs and a late finish is not unreasonable

I don't think it matters too much about the venue - as long as you get the right atmosphere;

It’s the venue that helps creates the atmosphere. Any one who has been to The Coal Exchange Cardiff will know what I’m talking about


What do other people think are important ingredients

Live Band?

Food?

£10 is a cheap night out

A meal out with a few pre and post dinner drinks is going to cost at least £25

[Alfie]

I've organised and run events in two imposing if slightly run down statley homes over the past five years. Usually for a charity or a special occasion.
We've had D.Js, live music, piped music, food, snacks, exceptionally cheap bars with no charges for water.

I've done them for as little as three pounds, or donation to charity or evan free. At some there has been dancing till five am.
They have always been set up to be more social events than freestyles, balls as opposed to just dances with people dressing up and having fun.

I'll be the first to admit that they were not always as successful as we would of liked but I always tried to listen to peoples feed back and improve the next event or try something different although some of the final decissions were not made by me. I liked to see people enjoy themselves.

We had problems with the cold on a couple of occasions and the actual locations were not easy to get to but most of the events were enjoyed by those who attended (I hope).
But as any one who organises large or different dance events will tell you the rewards are few compared to the ammount of hard work that goes in to them.

I've found that the dancing community at large want cheap freestyles that offer value for money with good music. I dont think venue really matters. Its about the people and the atmosphere generated on the night. Alot of people just want to turn up meet their friends and dance the night away without any hassles. It appears to be a freestyle mindset now, music, low lights and open space for dancing. Who needs light shows and oppulant rooms. I don,t think dancers at large care about anything special as they only go to dance and dont seem to need or want to pay for anything extra.

[Lounge Lizard]

Originally Posted by philsmove

But how many people can you fit in

250 dancers @ £25 would cover the cost

£25 for a first class venue with an excellent light and sound system, a huge sprung floor, with the best DJs and a late finish is not unreasonable

Ok my last dance in Eastbourne

PA - 3600w sound system, 8 speakers, three amps full mixing desk, dennon decks

Lighting - none of the house lights were on, I use -Martin ego 3, chemeleon, chaos and arcan lighting, plus candles on every table.

Venue - local town hall, sprung floor, high ceiling, ornate decorations, sweeping staircase to hall, table cloths and decent chairs

Extra's - Free soft drings bar ALL night - just help yourself. Free bottles of mineral water on each table,
Free Ice cream and chocolate (after eight, matchmakers & maltesers) at 10.30, No bar but welcome to BYO alchol.
Dance finished at midnight

Music - well I was the DJ, playing from CD collection to suit the dancers (not a pre recorded MP3 or mini disc in sight)

It took over 2 hours to set up and 1 hour to clear

Capacity of venue 150 - 200 Cost £7.50.....number of dancers 42

This was my second dance in Eastbourne where I provided the above, the first dance we had less numbers as the locals drove 25 miles to a Brighton dance offering free entry before 9.00.

So sometimes it is not what you provide, dancers follow dancers

At Rock n Roll nights you pay about £5 and get a live band on a dance night, why is MJ more expensive in comparrisom?
LL

[eastmanjohn]

I run the LeRoc ball in Weston-super-Mare every year. This year is our 15th year. Every year it sells out. Every year we get fantastic feedback. It's black-tie in a fantastic venue fully decorated (takes all day), we have a free drinks reception, sit-down meal, live band, cabaret, great DJ, side shows, fun casino, photographer, late finish, free water, subsidised coaches, charity raffle (with great prizes). All profits go to charity (usually about £2000 including raffle takings etc). We pretty much sell out before the date where ticket price increases. Last year it was £30/£35. 400 people all having a great time and no complaints about the price. I guess it depends what you get for your money. This year's event on December 11th.

www.cliftonleroc.co.uk

[ChrisA]

I answered "Whatever it costs" because it's such a difficult question to answer. Comparing it with a meal out and drinks is wrong, I think, since you know exactly what you're getting if you go out for a meal, and unless you get a bad or overpriced meal, the total experience usually matches your expectations.

With a freestyle night out, so many of the factors that make for a truly magical night are totally unpredictable, so for me to chance £30, say, on a freestyle night, I would have to be pretty sure of the product.

The thing that makes for a fantastic night for me is great dancers, great music, and plenty of space to dance in. If I could guarantee that then I would be prepared to pay a lot more than £20 for an occasional special night.

The very best freestyle night I can remember was when I had the great honour and pleasure of being invited to a wedding anniversary celebration, where most of the guests were dancers, the venue was fab, the music was great, and practically every single dance was wonderful. My thanks once again to my host that night

Ironically, it cost me virtually nothing, but I would pay a lot to recreate a magical night like that.

Sadly, of course, freestyle nights are rarely like that. The ones with the best venues and music are usually packed, so the experience is very mixed. If I get yanked about, crashed into, have to spend much of my efforts protecting my partners from injury, end up inhibited in my dancing and frustrated, it may be that only 5% of the night is good - so worth much less to me.

A difficult one. Why do I do it?

Like the little girl who had a little curl... when it's good it's very very good - but when it's bad it's horrid.

Chris

[Andy McGregor]

I go for quality every time. But it's quality of partner, floor and music. If any of these is a bit short my bar-stool of dance is very wobbly.

Earlier in the year I decided to take things into my own hands and have some parties for dancers. We held it on a Friday and invited people Sue and I enjoy dancing with, found a venue with a good floor (fire capacity 160), and played music Sue and I like dancing to. We invited just over 100 people thinking half would turn up - we had 92! Everyone seemed to love the night, but it was a bit crowded so we invited a few less the next time and had 60 - again everyone loved the night. Each night cost us well over £100 to put on so we paid over £50 each, but we had a good, fun night and thought we got good value.

People asked if we could do more of them and pay - so we held a raffle, which covered the cost of the night and we all still had a fabulous time.

We only stopped because Viktor started teaching down the road on a Friday with John Miller as DJ - so we stopped holding the parties on Fridays because we didn't want to do anything to stop Viktor's night going well.

So, as far as I'm concerned, your time is your most valuably commodity. I'd be willing to pay more to guarantee a good night - but there are other nights which I would have paid to have avoided. As Jules and Hev-mate found when I bumped into them at a dance recently

[Martin]

I say put on an expensive, cool event and charge as much as you like - as long as you let visitors from Aussie in for free.....

[TheTramp]

Originally Posted by philsmove

But how many people can you fit in

250 dancers @ £25 would cover the cost

Well. That would only cover the cost of the hall. If Gus is providing food or anything else - even chocolates and candles on the table. Or a DJ to share or do the night. Or guest teachers etc. Then you've got advertising, printing tickets, person on door etc. That would add more to the cost.

Not to mention that since Gus does this as a business, he'd no doubt like to make some money out of doing it too (not unreasonably).....!!

Trampy

[under par]

Originally Posted by philsmove

But how many people can you fit in

250 dancers @ £25 would cover the cost

£25 for a first class venue with an excellent light and sound system, a huge sprung floor, with the best DJs and a late finish is not unreasonable



It’s the venue that helps creates the atmosphere. Any one who has been to The Coal Exchange Cardiff will know what I’m talking about


What do other people think are important ingredients

Live Band?

Food?

£10 is a cheap night out

A meal out with a few pre and post dinner drinks is going to cost at least £25

Food certainly doesn't enter the equation for me. Get all that sorted out at home. Give yourself time to digest before you dance the night away.

Make it a DJ every time. Have been to events with live bands, although all very talented, for a dance evening I want to hear my favourite tracks sung by the artist , at the right tempo,and with not so many breaks between songs.

There is a time and a place for live bands.......its called a concert!


A good floor and a pleasant venue are important as is the venue being a no smoking venue.

The most important item for a good night out is lots of enthusiastic jivers all willing to dance with everybody else.............. and goood music of course!!

[Andy McGregor]

Originally Posted by under par

Make it a DJ every time. Have been to events with live bands, although all very talented, for a dance evening I want to hear my favourite tracks sung by the artist , at the right tempo,and with not so many breaks between songs.

I agree with Mr Par. As an example, I love the Party Weekender format: great accommodation, relaxed atmosphere, a crowd you can get to know because there's only hundreds not 1,500+, and Darren is a really nice guy, and his gorgeous wife fancies me BUT they have bands, all good bands but often playing fast R&R. So I've stopped going

I think the difference is that you can always sit out the odd track that isn't to your taste. But when a band doesn't suit you you're sitting out most of the night - and paying extra for the priviledge! I've made the mistake of listening to someone's advice regarding a band too many times. On the odd occasion I like what a band plays, - but is it worth risking a wasted and frustrating night? So now I avoid any night with a band.

I say book a good DJ with a following

[Rachel]

I totally agree with Under Par. For me, my list of priorities is: 1. music that I like, 2. decent floor, 3. at least one nice person to dance with.

I am totally not bothered whether or not I have glamorous surroundings, food, live band, candles, coffee at the end of the night, or even a bar ...

At the end of the day, I'm going out to dance and I'll only want to dance if there's music that makes me want to dance and someone to dance with. That's all.

So I'd really prefer not to pay extra for things I'm not bothered about. Of course, if money was no object, then I'd pay the 'whatever it happens to cost' .... Unfortuantely, money is a consideration - and all those 'niceties' at an event are no more likely to make me choose to go there than the local village hall.

Rachel

[Rachel]

Oh, completely forgot to say - there is one thing that really draws me to an event and makes me more than willing to pay 'whatever it costs' - the chance to watch spectacular displays of other people dancing, i.e. good cabarets, or competitions such as the Jive Masters.
R.

[Minnie M]

Originally Posted by Andy McGregor

I agree with Mr Par. As an example, I love the Party Weekender format: great accommodation, relaxed atmosphere, a crowd you can get to know because there's only hundreds not 1,500+, and Darren is a really nice guy, and his gorgeous wife fancies me BUT they have bands, all good bands but often playing fast R&R. So I've stopped going.........

Bit unfair Andy - they only have ONE R&R band and they play 'jiveable' music 90% of their set - the only 'fast' playing bands are the swing ones and their sets are in the afternoon for the Lindyhoppers. The othjer 'evening' bands are either 'soul' or 'sixties' or 'partytype' bands - Darren (The Jive Club) teaches modern jive and his weekenders cater for MJ dancers and their families (yes children ARE allowed) Party Weekender

The dance floor is ALWAYS very full in the evenings and the majority of dances are MJ - surey that says something.

You are to be forgiven for your comments as you have not been for a couple of years

[Andy McGregor]

Originally Posted by Minnie M

You are to be forgiven for your comments as you have not been for a couple of years

It was almost all R&R bands the last time I went. If they've changed to bands we can MJ to I think I'll go again

BUT, as Under Par says, why not have DJs playing a great mix of tunes then there'll be no doubt

IMHO we don't need live music for MJ, we're there to dance, not watch and listen. I'd still pay the same amount as the Party Weekenders are good value - and Darren could make a bigger profit to squander on his lovely wife

[TheTramp]

Ah.....

But, from what I've observed, a lot of people do go to the Party weekenders for the live bands, and not as much for the dancing.

My experience of them, is that they are less about dancing than events such as Camber or Southport, and more about the 'social' aspects - hence having few classes.

The main problem that I've had with Party Weekenders (and I'm surprised that YOU haven't picked up on this Andy), is that (previously at least) there is no restriction on smoking, and since a fair few of the folk aren't dancers - or at least, aren't hard-core dancers, there's a lot more smoke in the air than you'd usually find at even smoking-allowed venues.

I don't mind live bands - quite like them for a change occasionally. They do quite often add to the atmosphere. Though, I'd agree that they aren't a requirement

Trampy