I know this is a callers list not an organizers list, but many of us do both, so I wanted to share this letter that Toronto Contra Dance has sent to all our spring season talent after cancelling our season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope other dance organizations are likewise trying to provide at least partial payments to talent who rely on the gig economy for their livelihoods. 

If you haven’t done so already, please consider paying your talent for cancellations if your finances allow. We only announced our first dance cancellation last Thursday, and only 5 days later we have received well over $1000 in donations from concerned dancers who want our callers and musicians who rely on this money to be taken care of. So even if your current resources do not allow for paying talent for cancelled dances, you may want to consider soliciting donations from your dance community to allow that. 

I have no illusions that the pittance that we pay will cover anyone’s rent. But the effort has been deeply appreciated by a number of our callers and musicians who rely entirely on gigs, since gigs are nearly all being cancelled due to the coronavirus.

You are welcome to forward this letter to organizers and feel free to cut and paste any parts of this letter that might be useful in your own situation.

I am not on the dance organizers list, but if someone would like to forward this post to that list, that would be great.

Wishing you all good health and financial security in a difficult time, and anticipating joyous dance reunions in the not-too-distant future,

Becky Liddle, Toronto

As president of Toronto Contra Dance, it is my sad duty to announce that TCD has cancelled its entire spring dance season, including our Spring Thaw weekend due to the corona virus pandemic. Most of you likely know that CDSS has recommended that all dances be cancelled through the end of April in a preliminary effort to slow the spread of the corona virus. In the (unlikely, I fear) event that COVID-19 risk has passed by May or June, we will be delighted to reschedule those events if that is still feasible when the time comes. But for now we think it is important to let you all know that we believe the most likely eventuality is that our next dance will be the Island Dance on July 11. We have heard from some talent that they need to know what to expect so that they can seek other employment, so we think it is responsible to go ahead and cancel the season now.

 

It is our feeling that we are all Dance Family. Dance organizations and callers and contra bands would not exist without each other, and we need to take care of each other. Having never faced a pandemic or its ilk in our 20+ years of existence, TCD has never included provisions for what will happen in case of cancellation, so we have been scrambling to figure out what is fair (and financially feasible) in these circumstances.

 

We know that some callers & musicians have “day jobs” that completely support them and they rely little on money from gigs, but we are also well aware that others rely somewhat or entirely on gigs to pay their living expenses. And we’re also aware that for the latter, COVID-19 is likely to have a devastating effect on their livelihoods, since TCD dances will of course not be the only gigs that will be cancelled in this pandemic.  The TCD organizing committee has done a great deal of soul-searching and number-crunching over the last few days, working to balance our own financial stability with that of our beloved performers. Given our present financial circumstances we are able to offer this:

 

To those who rely entirely on the gig economy for their livelihood: We are offering 30% of the talent payment now (not including any travel allowance, since the travel will not happen), with the hopes that at a later date if our finances allow, we would offer a top-up of another 20% to a total of up to 50% of the original talent fee for the cancelled gig. We cannot guarantee the 2nd amount, but given that some of our members have already stepped up with special donations we are hopeful that we will be able to make the second payment/top-up happen.

 

To those who rely partly but not entirely on the gig economy to pay their basic living expenses: We are offering 15% payment now (not including travel allowance) with the hopes we might be able to top that up by another 10% to a total of 25% of the original gig fee.

 

To those who do not rely significantly on the gig economy for basic living expenses: we offer a sincere apology for the cancellation, and our deep gratitude for your intended service (but no monetary compensation).

 

We are asking each of you to let us know which category you fall into, and let us know whether you would like us to send you the payment(s) we are offering. You are in the best position to assess your own needs. We believe this will enable us to provide some support to those who need it most while not completely emptying our bank account, thus remaining responsible to our own local community and financial stability.

 

We hope that these token payments will help a little in this very difficult time. 

 

You can simply reply to this email with your request for payment (or your indication that no payment is required) and I will forward your request to our treasurer. If you are the main contact person for a multi-person band, we ask that you forward this letter to each of your bandmates. Because various members of the same band may be in very different financial situations, we ask that each of you respond individually (based on your own circumstances) with regard to requested payment.

 

Wishing you all the best in a difficult time,

Becky Liddle (president, Toronto Contra Dance)