Medina Lindy in the Village has worked with Bent’s Opera House to create a new arrangement that will create more options for the Medina Lindy community.
In summer of 2022, I worked with Heather Hungerford and Bent’s Opera House to host a Lindy Hop dance at Bent’s, the first dance event since the venue’s reopening. Our goal was to hold a fun, community-centered event in the beautifully restored third floor ballroom. What better than to hold a vintage swing dance there? The event was received so well that I began collaborating with Bent’s to offer the dances monthly. Eventually I realized more could be done to support and grow Medina’s emerging Lindy Hop community. I added additional lessons throughout the month and created Medina Lindy in the Village to help organize everything.
By the end of 2022 we all realized that Medina Lindy in the Village was better able to handle all Lindy Hop lesson- and monthly dance-related logistics, and that Heather and Bent’s could help by providing their venue at an affordable rate to support our community-centered efforts. So now Medina Lindy in the Village will run the monthly dances exclusively.
What this means for dancers:
- Lindy Hop dances will still happen at the gorgeous Bent’s Opera House space on their beautiful new floor.
- I’ll still be running around setting up, teaching, hosting, and facilitating.
- More lessons are now available, though most have been moved to Mondays.
- Our ticket pricing model will change slightly (more on this below).
What this means for Medina Lindy in the Village:
- We are now responsible for:
- taking payments
- setup, takedown, and trash removal
- all signage
- all publicity
- all expenses associated with renting the dance floor, liability insurance, music agreement costs, signs, etc.
- We are now in a rental arrangement and need to cover our costs including insurance and other dance-related fees with attendance. Prior to this change, turnout and ticket sales didn’t really impact us.
- Any additional monies beyond our immediate costs can be used to support more Lindy Hop activities and special events such as themed dances, live bands, etc.
- We have more autonomy with advertising, how we run the dances, pricing, special events, etc.
- We need more volunteer help to make this all possible.
Our first change we are making is to add new reduced student and family pricing. Our new pricing for the monthly dances will be set at $5 for students and $30 for families.
The second change is that we are looking for volunteers to help offset our increased responsibility. We will need volunteers to:
- help people at the door.
- help set up chairs and tables and put them away after the event.
- decorate for special events.
- help with advertising and publicity.
- come to dances and bring friends!
The third change is that we will now accept monetary contributions to keep us going. Soon a new page will appear on the website to accept gift contributions. Medina Lindy in the Village is not looking to profit from this venture, only to facilitate swing dancing in Medina. Since we are not structured as a 501(c) organization, we cannot accept what US tax law calls “donations.” We can, however, accept gift contributions which will be used exactly like donations. They will be used to continue to provide free lessons for the community and to pay for expenses related to running Medina Lindy in the Village and its dances. Over time, we hope eventually to set aside enough money from dances and gifts to occasionally bring in live bands and hold special dance events. My hope is that as the local area supports Medina Lindy, Medina Lindy can in turn do an even better job enriching our local community and fostering friendy ties through this magical dance called Lindy Hop.
I believe that this change is a good one for Medina Lindy in the Village. It puts the success of community social dancing in Medina in our collective hands. If you’d like to get involved, there’s room for you and we can certainly use your help. I look forward to watching as we grow this together. See you on the dance floor!
-Phil Berry
Director, Medina Lindy in the Village