Thread: How to price troupe wallpaper time?

I need to bid on a 3-hour troupe gig

Not 3 hours of dancing though. This would include greeting guests in costume, performing during dinner (I'm sure I can recommend a duration for the show), leading some activities, etc.

I don't know yet whether the client will want three dancers or five or seven....how would you ballpark this per dancer?

Honestly, I wouldn't be able to without more detailed information. For me, I would need to know precisely how much dancing vs. hostessing vs. other stuff would be required during the 3 hours. A gig that is 2 hours of standing around for photo ops, 45 minutes of passing out flyers, and 15 minutes of dancing would be priced very differently from 1 hour of photo ops, 1 hour of walking the crowd, and 1 hour of dancing.

For the most recent of these kinds of events that I participated in, the breakdown was 1 hr photo ops, 30 min mini-class, 2-15 minute performances. For the total of 2 hours of work (and 1.5 hours of wait/schedule time), I charged $350 for my time (all parts of event) and $200 for each dancer (1 hr photo/2-15 min performances only). My basic rate for 2-15 minute sets + 30 min mini-lesson is $300-$350, so this price was discounted from what it would have cost to hire each dancer individually for that time. As I had 3 dancers with me, the cost was $950 for 4 dancers. Pricing for things like this will vary a lot from area to area and even event from event (discounts for charity, educational events, etc.).

I assume the gig might contain some of these components:

1. Greeting guests
2. Posing for photos
3. Walking around for ambience
4. Being backstage getting ready to perform
5. Performing

For 1, 2, and 3, I'd find out the per-person hourly rate that local modeling agencies charge for models and that's what I'd propose for my dancers. So you'd have to figure out how much time would be spent doing those activities.

For 4 and 5, I'd charge for that segment according to what I'd normally charge for a troupe performance gig for this type of event.

I don't know what to say regarding the reference to "leading some activities". I guess it depends on what the activities are.

For 1, 2, and 3, I'd find out the per-person hourly rate that local modeling agencies charge for models and that's what I'd propose for my dancers. So you'd have to figure out how much time would be spent doing those activities.

I have a friend who used to do "promotional" modelling like this - walk around, look pretty, hand out samples and flyers etc - and it is worth noting that she got extra money if midriff-baring outfits were required.

hey

we only do this when it's on top of a normal performing gig, and then i dont price it per dancer, but just top UP the price of the normal performing gig depending how much time, how many dancers etc...

hostesses (normal ones) get paid PEANUTS

Update: I sent the client my proposal and broke out what JUST the dinner show would cost (a price with three dancers and one with five) as well as the full price for the entire evening (which came out to more than double the price of just the show, priced at roughly $50 per hour per dancer, based on what appear to be the going rates for costumed characters in my area ).

I'm not the only one bidding, so we'll see.

Anyway thanks for everyone's help.