Our policy states: "People arriving during the waltz before the break up to when you put things away pay half the regular price." People arriving at that point will get to dance less than half the evening - the break is around 9:30 in an 8 - 10:45 dance. We let the people working the admissions table close up during the second dance after the break (since there is very little activity and we like to be kind to volunteers), so naturally there is no charge after that point. I would admit that there is not universal knowledge of or agreement with these policies among those enforcing them. David Chandler Country Dance New York On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 10:12 AM, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:

At the Lenox Dance we charge $10 for general admission, $5 for students, which is purposely left undefined. If people want to claim that they're students, that's good enough for us. And a little while ago we decided to have a Family rate that caps the admission at $25. This was in response mostly to one family who comes, and with 9 children, and they all like to dance, when I offered them a "bulk" rate, they really jumped at it! We don't advertise this beyond a sign at the desk when people come in. And then after the break we pretty much give up worrying about people paying, mostly because we want to dance. We also offer the second dance free for people who want to try it, sign on a list, and then claim it if they return. And we get a few redemptions every month. Also, if people are just curious and want to watch and listen for a bit, we just let them. I would say to them, "if you decide to stay and try out the dance for a while, it would be good if you'd pay, and also sign on the 2nd Dance Free list." But we don't really police that. It's nice to be welcoming and let people explore without making them pay. As it happens, our dance is in very good shape financially, so some small laxness on our part really doesn't make a difference. I suppose it cuts back just a tiny bit on the performers' share, but even then I bet it's really pretty small, and we pretty much always exceed our guarantee to them anyway. Steve Moore LenoxContraDance.org Lenox, MA On Jul 11, 2012, at 10:12 AM, Chrissy Fowler wrote:

Chrissy Fowler wrote: BIDA charges $5-$10, as a sliding scale, where people are encouraged to pay what they can. This was a deliberate decision over a "students", "young people", "low income" rate, but it predates my time on the board. It's worked well for us; we tend to average between $7 and $8 per person and the dancers seem to like it. (Special event dances generally cost more, volunteers get in free for about an hour's work, musicians for open bands pay on a $0-$10 sliding scale (though the bandleader is paid). Sit-ins at regular dances count as $5-$10 just like dancers. If you bring someone new to contra in time for the 7pm beginner's workshop, you both get in free.) We have volunteers taking money at the door until 10pm (the dance goes to 10:30). At that point a board member starts calculating the night's finances, and pretty much no one comes that late. Someone who did arrive then would still be asked to pay $5-$10. We would like people to come for the whole dance. It's not like it saves us money if they show up for only the last hour. [1] If they can't afford our minimum admission, we're always looking for volunteers. Jeff (BIDA Board Member, written without consulting anyone else.) [1] This would be different if we were regularly at capacity. We would rethink this then.

I'm involved in two different SF Bay Area dance organizations (and call for dances with many others). Bay Area English Regency Society sponsors 10-a-year informal dance parties where nobody gets paid; Admission is $10 for a 2.5 hour dance with some refreshments. That's on the honor system, though, and It's a goal that nobody's excluded because they can't afford it. Reminder at the break to kick in and sign in if you haven't; cash box stays out until the end. Most months admission covers rent. BAERS also runs several balls a year, where some of the musicians get paid, rent is higher, and there are decoration and refreshment expenses. That's $15 in advance, $20 at the door, some discounts for being with affiliated organizations ($2 discount max); two breaks, price is the same throughout the evening, and the door probably closes about halfway through the last set. (There's a tendency for people to come late to costume events because they're getting their acts together, so it would be counterproductive to drop prices in the second set.) Bay Area Country Dance Society (BACDS) runs contras and English dances, balls, workshops, camps. Fee structure: Supporter: $15 Regular: $10 on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, $9 on weeknights Member Discount: $2 from regular prices Student/Low-income: $5 or pay what you can. ("Special" dances with out-of-town staff might be two dollars higher, although we don't raise the Supporter price and the student price goes up only $1. We figure the "pay what you can" option - pioneered in our area by the Queer Contra folks) covers the problem if the prices are too high. The board made a formal decision in the early 90s that it was full price until the end of the evening. (At that time we were getting tons of dancers; we peaked about 2002, had some of our local dances fall very low, and some of those dances have been brought back to excitement and solvency by the efforts of committees, but nowhere near the size we were in at the height of the dotcom bubble and before our neighboring organizations started strong programming which provided alternatives in semi-plausible driving distance. There was an argument about how you still had to pay the door price to get into the Freight (local folk club) after intermission, and how the musicians had been working all night even if you weren't there, and deserved their pay.) The board also made a formal decision that you wouldn't get the member discount if you didn't show your membership card. Dance managers and people at the door generally quietly decline to do things they think are stupid. (Making everybody to pull out their cards (a) makes the process of getting in really slow, and pisses people off if they miss the first dance because they're waiting in line to pay and (b) doesn't make that much difference. We make 'em sign in (for insurance) and check a box for the rate they pay, and we've occasionally checked to see that the people claiming member rates are in fact members. They almost always are.) As far as I can tell, the general policy in actual effect at BACDS dances is that it's full price as long as somebody's sitting the door; the dance manager will close the box, count the money, and start doing the split for the band sometime in the second half, and if you arrive after that it's kind of up to you whether you pay, and with the "pay what you can" option, it's officially okay for you to not pay at all if you can't do it now. The rate chart given above is out at dances; otherwise, no formal discussion or signage on the what-to-pay-if-you-arrive-late option is in sight. On a personal note: back in 1989 I was in the Boston area for a training course, and wanted to go to the Scout House dance. My local friend gave me directions to Concord with a "and then just ask anybody on the street!" trailer. It rained fiercely; nobody was on the street. No GPS, no cell phone. (I found a phone book to look for the street address of the Scout House; I eventually found it just flipping through pages because it was under "G" for "Girl Scout House", so now I knew what street I was looking for.) I didn't find the street because the street name changed at an intersection and a tree covered the sign with the street name. I found Walden Pond three different times. I spent three hours driving frantically around Concord in the rain. I arrived at the Scout House as the last contra was starting, and I probably looked like death; I was certainly haggard and pissed off. The gal at the door refused my money and just waved me in. I would have paid full price if I'd been asked, but it sure made me feel welcomed and helped to change my mood. [That was the first time I'd contra danced outside the Bay Area, and I had this bizarre feeling of déjà vu, because it was all the same kind of people in the same kinds of outfits doing the same kinds of moves, even though all the faces were unfamiliarity, mixed with a strong feeling of homecoming.) So I'm personally very much in favor of not being a hard-ass about charging full admission after about halfway through the last set. -- Alan

Regarding "Does [your] admission price drop at any point in the evening?" A philosophical question: How many dances rebate part of the entry fee if a person leaves at mid-dance? Wouldn't this be similar to taking only part of the entry fee if a person arrives at mid-dance? We offer a small card to first-timers at our venue -- It offers 1/2 price for any two of our next five dances. Card is dated and return dates checked off. Only 3 takers so far. Paul Marsh Londonderry NH contra dance (Alice Morris, organizer)

I seem to be the only person at our dance who remembers this, but ages ago we charged a bit less at the very beginning of the dance to encourage people (both experienced and new) to come to the teaching session we did 7:30-8:00. --Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org