It's a valid question, and one that a lot of people ask us, so we wanted to take a few minutes and address this topic.
It's more pricey than you would think to put on a show of our caliber. Things that you might not have even considered go into the planning and execution of our show each year. We want it to look like a professional production, and your children work so hard all year in classes to show off what they learned that we want to honor them (and you, the parents) by putting on the best performance that we can. For example, here are just some of the costs involved in putting on a show:
Cost of renting the venue itself
Cost of hiring a videographer
Cost of our staff, who work really hard to bring everything together and work tirelessly to make it all happen.
Rental truck cost to transport our props, gym mats, and flooring with us.
Cost of the staff at the school - the sound guys, the custodians, etc all get an hourly rate that isn't included in the space rental.
The backdrop - which costs an astronomical amount to rent, but sets the tone for the whole show.
Could we have small show in a clubhouse? Probably. But, we would have to limit tickets, and then split our show into 4 or 5 acts to ensure everyone could fit in there, and the seating would be tight, uncomfortable, and not a very good view for anyone who sits anywhere other than the front row. Plus, those of you with siblings or kids in multiple classes would have to sit through multiple shows. The Warwick High School seats over 1000 people, has stadium style seating so all seats are a good seat, and is very comfortable and climate controlled.
After almost a full year of practicing, we think you should be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the show in a great venue.We think your kids should be able to show off their dancing and costumes on their very special day, onstage where they belong!