20+ years ago I was in the green room pre or post-performance where I learned the owner of the studio I was working for was earning $400 for each of us for a 3-minute performance alongside a big band at a dinner where the KC Chiefs cheerleaders were also making an appearance. It was a classy affair where us swing dance performers saw $0 of that income. Why? Because we had a verbal understanding that, in exchange for performing across metro Kansas City, we’d receive free training at our weekly practices and had access to all the group classes the studio offered. It took me a few years to realize the math wasn’t mathing and I was being taken advantage of in a way.
This is where it gets murky. I loved performing swing dancing and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of performing in front of people. I still do but I make sure I and others get paid or make sure there is meaningful value being exchanged and everyone knows the terms & conditions before providing consent - “yes, I will accept.” Back then I’d likely do those performances for free for the feels and “the glory” but I wish I was taught the value of those services being offered. It made me easy to exploit later on and I falsely assumed that others would do the same - work and train for free.
A few years back I met with a newer local DJ to discuss rates because a national event was offering them $12/hour to DJ. This person was viewing this offer as experience, practice and paying of dues. We delved into this and reframed their offer as exploitative and undervalueing their work.
An event producer demanded I make an appearance on a television show to promote an upcoming event I wasn’t part of. It was uncompensated and would take me away from my compensated work. When I discussed declining, they threatened to hire someone else for an upcoming gig I was already hired for and working on so I dissolved that contract and walked away. They exploited my replacements with lower pay than my original quote sourced from performers in LA and NYC.
A year ago I’m informed that a venue changed their band compensation to be $100/person instead of a fixed flat rate where a band could show up with the right amount of people for more fair compensation. $100/person is the rate I was encouraged to pay on a Wednesday night back in 2014 and that’s increased to a minimum of $125/person and I decreased my typical show from 3 hours to 2 due to musician feedback.
An Aussie event hired me to DJ in 2012 for $25/hr for a 90 minute set. 48 hours before I was to DJ they informed me I’d have to pay the $35 admittance fee for the dance I was DJing. I quit.
A Melbourne event whose DJ coordinator was Sam Carroll told me I was going to be paid $30/hour to DJ the band breaks and, since I was expected to contrast the music of the band, the expectation would be that I’d be working while the band was playing and would be compensated for my time listening to the band and the band breaks. She also gave me the band’s set list. Sam’s a badass.
DJs
In 2006-2008 or so, I was being compensated $20/hour to DJ the Mercury Cafe when slots were highly competitive. Swingin’ Denver rates in 2017-2019 were a sliding scale of $20-50/hour depending if you were a newbie in training versus big events hire you.
Based off polling in an international swing dance organizers group, those numbers are average with college scenes compensating less
Local Classes
We were compensating $40-50/75 min classes which is line with our national peers.
Private Lessons
These vary city-by-city based off your experience and if you’re folding studio rental in your cost and how you’re feeling about that fold. In Madrid, I was charging 40 Euro while the going rate in Zurich was 100 Swing Francs.
In Denver, I charge between $75-100 + studio rental but your value is your own. If you need to charge a certain amount to make it worth your time or you want to peg it to a certain value based off research/peers in other dance disciplines, do it. Don’t let the value I associate with myself, my other work, my lifestyle determine your worth.
Workshops
I started at $100/hour but am now at $150/hour. It could be higher based off peers in the space but the number will fluctuate within the state of Colorado for accessibility and the importance of the work dependent on the space. I find it’s important to have transparent conversations about your value and if you’re offering discounts for a specific reason.
Class Pricing
Back in 2015 or so, I sat down with a long-time Denver swing dancer who asked me why I was devaluing my offerings. I specifically chose to be competitive with the pricing at the Mercury Cafe but she asked to tell her what other dance and movement classes were charges and if I thought I was offering similar or greater value. The answer was “yes” and we increased our pricing while offering student and accessible pricing over the years.
Lindy Hop and other social dances that emerged from Black American spaces where white people like myself commodified them seem to have devalued pricing compared to other African diasporic dances such as Salsa, Bachata, Zouk. Another example is where African diasporic dances retain the names their creators gave them (for the most part and there are conversations within the Zouk communities) but Black American dances like Lindy Hop might be renamed to Jitterbug to invisibilize their Blackness. I’m unsure what conclusions to draw but this has been on my mind.
Hopefully this information helps someone providing their talent to the swing music and dance community in the future. Your contributions are valuable and you deserve to work with non-exploitative people and organizations.