Thread: what do you charge for waiting time?

Been asked to do 3 performances ,each time one dance (5 minutes), in between meals at a brunch. I would have to be there for three hours.
We agreed on the price for the performances, but I'm not sure what to charge extra for the waiting time?

If a customer wants more than one set, we quote by the hour, being very careful to specify exactly what they can expect to happen in that hour (dance time, costume changes, etc).

Even though you are only dancing 5 minutes a set I would charge for a full price show for each set, this way you do not have to calculate waiting time, if you were doing 3 full sets at one restaurant your per set charge should include waiting time.

Not knowing what the rates are in your area I can't suggest a specific amount of money.

I would also charge by the hour which will make me really pricey :( and most likely I would lose the job to someone does not care to be there all that time, cuz they dont have anything else to do anyways....but what if you end up doing one show and your fee for one show end up being less than your normal fee cause you think you will do good by charging for 3 sets...so it is important to calculate the time to wait (even time to drive, makeup...etc)

I usually say that I price for two sets it X if both performances are done withing the same hour. And every additional hour waiting time is Y.

Now I live in Switzerland and my waiting fee (around $100) will not work in the USA I guess But I also made it a bit high on purpose so that people are more motivated not to make me wait.

I think that charging for a full set is a good idea. You spend the same amount of time getting dressed, driving there etc. as if you were dancing for 15 min.

MEISSOUN

Charging for full sets is not unreasonable, especially if you are not doing other gigs because you are spending the entire night at one location.

Even if a party/gig wants less time than a full show- my prep time, travel time, costume changes and prep etc all remain the same. Therefore out of 2 or 3 hours dedicated to the gig I might be saving 10 minutes. This is the business perspective of it. With this perspective I charge the same I usually charge- or maybe a small discount, but STILL at or above the local minimum for a show.
So- just so there are numbers to give an idea- in the DC area the "local minimum" is $200 per 20 min show. I generally charge about $275 per 20 minute show. In a case where they want multiple shows if there is little to no wait time I *might* give them a deal on the 2nd and third show. If there is wait time I'd charge my full price. I'd charge extra if there was to be a long wait time.
Putting these numbers out there- I would have either worked out a different deal for the shows (such as one full show or 2 x 10-15 minute shows). That would save me time and therefore them money.
Your time is money as are *all* your investments in the dance. Education, music, props, practice, costumes...all to get you pro- and then continuing all of those things in addition to all the prep specifically for that gig.

for three shows at the same place i would charge about 350E for this.

(one show, 175, two shows, 250, three shows 350), and that's cause it's short, full lenght shows i'd charge more