Thread: rehearsals?

so i've been booked through an entertainment agency to dance at a huge corporate event sometime in april. one set, two dancers, i ask for 200 € per dancer plus travel, and they agree. we're dancing around 2245.

today i get the contract: it says: start: afternoon rehearsal finish show 2245-23h.
i also get an email with the order that also states: afternoon rehearsal with stage director for all acts

now,
- my colleague cant make that, she works in the afternoon
- i work in the afternoon but could take time off
- i was going to teach a class and then do this show after
- for that pay i'm not going to hang around from three in the afternoon till ten at night

so i've emailed them that i'm sorry but a rehearsal in the afternoon really isnt possible, wasnt mentioned beforehand, and that us hanging around for hours wasnt part of the deal.

i did mention that if the show director really needs to see me beforehand to discuss our show, i'd be willing to make an appointment with him sometime before the show

the entertainment agency emailed back and said they agree that the rehearsal was news for them too, and that they'd forward my comment to the client

did i handle this ok, what would you do? i'd feel weird asking for more money, but i do kind of feel that if they want us to hang around for this much time, they should pay for the rehearsal time too.

I think you definitely did the right thing. Unfortunately this sort of thing does happen occasionally - I call it moving the goalposts...
The agency really needs to sort this out - it's their job and what they take commission for...really and truly if the client had wanted you to be there in the afternoon they should have told you in the first place, before you quoted for the job...If I were you I would give them another quote (I suggest double the original one) for early rehearsal and waiting time...

I was looking at some SAG (a union here in the US) rehearsal rates for dancers, and they appear to be about 75% of the performance rate, if that helps.

Sounds like you did the appropriate thing.

AGMA (American Guild of Musical Artists?) dancers get about $40-$50 USD per hour of rehearsal time, but charged at a 3 hour minimum. There is no reason for you all not to get paid for your rehearsal and waiting time at a professional rate ($40 USD is nothing now, don't follow that rate ..cr.: ).

These people don't deserve any favors: why not ask for the money? ..g.:

In my experience this is not unusual and was the most surprising part of doing corporate events! I think if you offered to meet with the individual beforehand you handled it well. They should have stated they expected dancers available for rehearsal.

I've danced at a lot of corporate events, also big ones. But there was never a rehearsal.
So it's not to be expected. You did the right thing.

MEISSOUN

I think you handled the right way, the entertainment agency should've been informed about the scheduled rehearsel in the afternoon.

Also for a dancer it's really not necessary to do a rehearsal, as long as you arrange the following beforehand:

For you it's very useful to know what the actual sizing of the dance space is (If it's a stage, are there any instruments, band equipment or a speaker's desk on there during your performance? If it's a dancefloor, what kind of material is there on the floor?). Also a floorplan of the room can be useful.

The sound engineer has to know how long your set(s) will be, which number(s) on the cd you'll be dancing to etc.

The light engineer has to know which colors/patterns you want, if you need a 'volgspot' and if so which direction you'll be heading etc.

If the organisation does want a rehearsal it's normal to also ask your wage for the time between the rehearsal and the performance.

Good luck!

B

Artemisia, I think you handled it very well. You kindly told them that this wasn't mentioned in the contract and even offered a solution. So get off the computer and start having fun in Caïro!

I saw a sample contract of a professional dancer (for concerts) on Perez Hilton's website.

Their rehearsal time is paid as is their performance time.
If you have to cancel anything else or are required to be there I'd ask for $$$.

Just found it...

Rehearsals:
$175 + agency fees / 4 hours
$250 + agency fees / 8 hours

Shows:
$500 + agency fees / show

Travel:
$150 + agency fees / travel day

Per Diem:
$35 / day domestic

Edited to add: These are minimums


Going off of this I would say your rehearsal time is worth 50% of your performance time, if you did one.

Artemisia, just curious if you did the event yet and how it turned out?

B

ha, it's tonight!!

i just went over there during my lunch break for a quick light/staging rehearsal, give them the cd so they can coordinate it with the light etc for tonight, and we're all set!
they changed the gig last minute to only ten minutes, so we had to change the music last minute, but i think it's allright. it's a huge event with like 10 acts or something all through the night, food, music, video, show, etc.

this is the problem with working through an entertainment agency, you get miscommunications about the clients wishes and the artists wishes etc. but i think we've figured it out by now.

i think the best thing would have been to have had a short meeting with the artists involved like a week or two ago... now there were so many miscommunications that could have been avoided. but i think it's going to turn out ok. i now know what they want, and we'll provide ;-)