I was wondering WHY do costs pertaining to ballroom have to be wrapped up in secrets? Cost of dance heats, the costs of the comp.?

West Cost Swing competitions - everything is posted on the web page as to costs.

Swing Out competitions - everything is posted on the web page as to costs.

Country Western competitions - everything is posted on the web page as to costs.

East Coast Swing Competitions - everything is posted on the web page as to cost.


It sure makes ballroom look really shady with instructors who mark up packages!
Instructors you have your day fees that you charge.
You have your per dance heat fees.
You get cash awards for top teachers.
You get cash awards for top studio.

It sure feels like the student is getting drained of as much cash as possible.

Cost per heat is listed on entry form online for that particular competition. This charge is only for what the instructor has to pay in order for you to complete in a particular heat, this is above and beyond what he/she charges you for their time on the floor with them in that heat. And yes they are secretive when it comes to giving you a breakdown of cost and expenses.

It is secretive because many studios do not wish you to know how much the studio and teacher are actually making off of you. Plus, there generally is no discount for teachers taking multiple students. Also, remember that the studio needs to make its money during the competition. And instructors won't do competitions week in and week out unless they are making good money.

I believe that all competitions now post the prices online if students decide to attend without an instructor or studio. Which means that the studio will not let you join them if they have paying students with them. But if you choose to take up the time of an instructor or studio, then they will charge you what they feel is appropriate.

Let's look at something simple as if you were the owner of the studio.

$100 / entry to competition x 2 = $200
$25 per heat for competition and $15 per heat for teacher = $40 x 20 heats = $800
$300 per day for teacher ($200) and studio ($100) x 7 days = $2100
$10 / breakfast, $15 / lunch, $20 / dinner = $45 x 2 x 7 days = $630
$500 / flight x 2 = $1000
$150 / night x 2 = $2100

$200 & $800 & $2100 & $630 & $1000 & $2100 = $6830 - $2400 for studio/instructor = $4430 towards competion and expenses. So the studio and instructor really aren't making much off of you.

What am I missing? Costumes, shoes, makeup, hair, jewelry, lessons.

Instructor made $200 for the 20 heats
Instructor made $1400 for the daily rate for taking care of you for over 14 hours per day
Instructor $1400 & $200 = $1600 / 7 = $230 per day essentially

Studio made $100 for the 20 heats
Studio made $700 for the daily rate of taking away their instructor
Studio $100 & $700 = $800 / 7 = $110 per day essentially.

Studio $100 / hour for private lessons x 6 hrs teaching per day = $600 - $180 instructors pay = $420. A studio is losing money by sending a student to a competition unless they can get multiple students per instructor.

I hope that helps.

This definitely helps break down those costs! Thank you!

I brought this up on another board and got my head bit off. There is no reason for these "wholesale" prices except that the teachers want to be dishonest. It makes me laugh when they call them "wholesale" so the price list is password protected. Wholesale is for materials like buttons, not dances. One thing you can do is to insist that your instructor print out the price list and give you a copy. This is what I started to do. If your teacher has integrity they will do it.