The best time for us to tour in Europe is during the warmer months when our dancers can dance outside and the festivals are in full swing. During the summer months is when most of our ministry partners host their main evangelism events reaching locals out on the town and tourists visiting the cities and festivals. Unfortunately, this is the most expensive time of year to purchase airfare.
Typical airfare ranges from $800 to $1,400 per ministry member. This means that if we send our minimal team of 5, we need to raise $4,000 to $7,000 for airfare.
SPONSOR A DANCERS AIRLINE TICKET: $1,000
Please type "airfare" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
While we are on tour we usually sleep on the floors of churches, in dorms, and one year we even stayed in a bomb shelter. While we are staying in simple accommodations, our partners usually request a daily gift per ministry member which helps to cover group meals and other outreach expenses. This amount can range from $15 per day to $75 per day.
Additionally we will often need to secure 2 to 3 hotel rooms on our first and or last night near the airport as we are often arriving late or departing early in order to secure the most affordable airfare. Typically economy hotel rooms run $120 per night.
The minimum outreach tour length that we embark on is 14 days with the longest running 30 days. If we average $35 per night for accommodation over a tour, our minimal tour expense per ministry member on a 14-day tour would be $490.
SPONSOR A DANCERS HOUSING: 2-Weeks $500, 1-Week $250, 1-Night $35.
Please type "Housing" in the memo section.
If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
When we tour, many of our meals are included in the housing expenses with our hosts; however, sometimes these meals are not the most ideal for dancers and some dancers have extreme allergies requiring us to supplement the provided meals. We are EXTREMELY grateful for every meal that is provided for us (and they are all so amazingly tasty!!!) but as our dancers are exerting a high amount of energy we need to make sure that they are getting enough fruit, vegetables, and protein to help them through the long weeks of ministry. When touring we usually stop at the local markets to get additional food to supplement the dancers diets to make sure that they can dance and share at their physical best.
Timing of meals is also difficult for the dancers. Typically in Europe the heaviest meal of the day is the mid-day meal with breakfast and dinner being very light. Even when at home our dancers usually do not eat very much before going to a program to dance but they do EAT HEARTILY after they are done dancing. As the vast majority of outreach events occur between 3:00pm - 11:00pm right after the mid-day meal ends, we usually end up grabbing something for the dancers to eat late at night before heading back to our housing.
This cultural difference was awkward in the past but we have developed such good friendships with the teams in Europe that they know that the dancers are athletes operating at a high level of artistry and physical endurance that requires different fuel to be done well.
Typically we spend between $5 to $15 per day on additional food per dancer with a $10 average if we grab a sandwich or light meal on the way home. Over a 14-day tour this works out to $140 in supplemental food.
SPONSOR A DANCERS MEALS: $140
Please type "MEALS" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
When we are on the ground the cost of ground transportation is minimal for most days with the trains between cities being the greatest expense. On a two-week tour, we typically pay $250 per dancer for trains between cities plus the trains and busses for ground transportation from where we are staying and the outreach areas where we share each night. In some towns everything is walkable and in others we need to take 5-minute to 15-minute bus and train rides from neighboring towns.
SPONSOR A DANCERS GROUND TRANSPORTATION: $250
Please type "GROUND TRANSPORTATION" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
Most of the time when we tour we do not need to purchase very much in the way of costuming as we use what we already have for the season. While we do not usually need much in the way of costumes, SHOES are an immense expense! The surfaces that the dancers dance on varies greatly and may include tile, concrete, cobblestones, wood, etc. Each of these surfaces effect dance shoes differently and different types of shoes are needed for each. On our last tour in 2019 we brought 5-pairs of jazz shoes and additional flat shoes for each dancer and they were destroyed within the first week. There were several pairs of shoes that went from new to the dancers toes sticking out within the course of a 20-minute set. Our director's had to glue and sew patches onto shoes every night to keep the dancers going. We checked every dance store in the western half of Switzerland and ended up having to express mail order shoes to be delivered to our next stop in France to be able to continue the tour.
Since this tour some different models with different materials have come out but we will still need to purchase a large amount of shoes for our next tour. Typically jazz shoes cost around $40 per pair and flat shoes cost $20 per pair. We will spend between $200 to $300 on shoes per dancer per tour.
SPONSOR A DANCERS SHOES: All Shoes $250, 1-pair of Jazz Shoes $40, 1-pair of ballet flats $20.
Please type "SHOES" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
INCIDENTAL EXPENSES WHILE ON THE ROAD
There are always expected and unexpected expenses while on tour. These expenses can be purchasing toiletries, rain jackets, umbrellas, cosmetics, cold medicine, motion sickness pills, nail clippers, etc. As these items can often be shared, we typically budget $500 - $750 per tour to purchase these incidental items for the entire team while on the road.
SPONSOR A DANCERS INCIDENTAL EXPENSES: $500
Please type "INCIDENTAL" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
We always purchase Travel Insurance for our dancers when going overseas. We qualify for a group rate with missions insurance companies which usually works out to around $125 per dancer. This covers medical, emergency evacuation, lost luggage, missed connections, etc.
SPONSOR A DANCERS INSURANCE: $125
Please type "INSURANCE" in the memo section. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor for the tour please indicate so in the notes.
