!VAR HAGENDOORN

The Economics of Dance

I am currently preparing a new dance production and that means that once again I bump head-on into the problem of financing the project.

I still find it frustrating to see that acts like Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and U2 can charge 75 euro or more for a ticket and still sell out. When last year I was in Las Vegas I paid 160 US dollar to see a show by the Cirque du Soleil. The show was sold out. It was a great show and I didn’t regret paying 160 US dollar to see it. But still.

This is the somewhat perverse economic logic of the performing arts. New technological products are often introduced at a high price point. As the product or the technology matures prices drop.

In the performing arts the opposite logic applies. In music at the beginning of their career artists have to perform for next to nothing. Once they are famous they can charge the kind of prices for concert tickets that acts like U2, The Rolling Stones etc. do.

In dance and theatre, to attract an audience, ticket prices are usually low. You never know whether it’s going to be worth it and if the show sucks you will have wasted precious time but little money. Please note that I’m not talking about musicals and commercial theatre productions, which are created not out of artistic necessity but to make money.

Another reason ticket prices tend to be low is that prices are usually set by government subsidized theatres. They don’t have to make a profit and thus don’t have to take into account any economic considerations. The consequences of this policy emerge once you want to rent a theatre. In some small theatres there aren’t enough seats to make up for the rent at the set ticket price even if the show sells out.

Writers, filmmakers and musicians sell multiple copies of their work in the form of books, cd’s, cinema tickets and DVD’s. In the performing arts the performance is the product. As Merce Cunningham once said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is not for unsteady souls.”

Part of the problem is that audiences are unaware of the costs of creating a dance or theatre production and don’t compare ticket prices with other products and services. Starters (entrees) in upscale restaurants can cost up to 20, 30 or 40 dollar, euro, whatever or more. For the same amount of money you can buy a ticket to see a dance or theatre performance, which may have a much more profound and lasting emotional impact. Somehow that doesn’t make sense to me. If it’s a full evening production it should cost the same as a full meal, that is, starter, main course and dessert.

In restaurants people can leave a tip. In some countries a service charge is included in the bill, in other countries people are encouraged to add a tip. I’ve been thinking about devising a scheme, which will encourage people to show their appreciation in the form of a tip after the show. The problem is that in restaurants waiters present the bill in person, whereas in theatres the audience leaves en masse. I’m still thinking and will keep you posted. I also welcome other ideas and of course sponsors and donations.