RUSS President 24/25
My name is Leah. I am the newly elected President of Reading’s Salsa Society for the 2024/25 academic year.
I’m writing to apply for funding to host an Afro-Latin Day of Dance on behalf of the Reading University Salsa Society (RUSS).
Our aims for this event are:
1) To be an outreach event targeting university students, staff, and Reading’s more expansive community.
2) To host a day where people can visit the University, experience the positive benefits of dance, and gain insight into Reading’s Afro-Latin dance community and culture.
3) To make Afro-Latin dance more accessible to our community by breaking barriers to dance that are widely encountered, particularly economic background and/or inexperience with dance.
An event outline & why we need funding:
● Event date: a Saturday during the 2024/25 academic year
● Event format:
– Host a day of workshops (7 hours) in different Afro-Latin dance styles, catering to differing levels of ability and experience with dance. – End the day with an evening of social dancing where people can practice what they’ve learnt throughout the day. – Please see pp. 4 for an example timetable of the day.
● Funding need: We are applying for funding to cover the cost of hiring leading dance practitioners/teachers within Reading’s Afro-Latin dance community. Receiving your grant will enable us to support Reading’s dance community while making entry to the event as affordable and accessible as possible.
● Expected attendance numbers: 120-150 people.
● Estimated amount needed: c. £2.5K. Please see pp. 3 for a comprehensive breakdown and alternative means of running and funding the event.
More about Afro-Latin dancing and how our event would benefit Reading’s students, staff, and the wider community:
We intend to host this event in the 24/25 Autumn Term to encourage new, incoming students to integrate with Reading’s wider community from the start of their degree. This event will help bridge the gap between the University and the rest of Reading, making it less daunting for students to pursue future opportunities to engage with Reading beyond the University’s campus borders.
A key aspect of Afro-Latin social dancing is its positive impact on physical, mental, and social health.
The heart of Afro-Latin social dancing has always been building community – similar to Britain’s ‘pub culture’. In present-day Latin America, these social dance gatherings continue to bring people together to relax and have fun while meeting new and old friends.
Furthermore, in today’s world, the positive effects that exercising to music with other people has on individuals’ physical and mental health are common knowledge.
We want our community, which includes UoR students, staff, and the wider Reading public, to experience these benefits. Lastly, we hope to highlight Reading’s rich cultural diversity and how dance unites us all.
More on action UoR Salsa is/will be taking to ensure a successful event that meets budget:
• In March 2024, we attended the University of Birmingham’s Afro-Latin Dance Festival: https://fb.me/e/56yY8dM8m. The event is very successful and hosted annually by Birmingham’s DCL Salsa Society. From attending this event, we took away ideas for workshops, best practices, and ways to adapt them to Reading’s community.
• We are trialling volunteer-led workshops with our student members this summer (April-May 2024) to receive feedback from our student and community RUSS members.
• We will book University-owned venues, i.e. 3SIXTY, MONDIAL, MONTEREY and the GREAT HALL, to negate venue-hiring costs.
• We will investigate advertising our event through the following establishments: RISC, Revolucion de Cuba, Reading Voluntary Action, and dance teachers’ weekly classes, in addition to University channels and RSU Culture Societies like ACS and LASS.
Thank you for reading and considering this application. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Leah Logan
RUSS President 24/25
3 AFRO-LATIN DAY OF DANCE – FINANCIAL BREAKDOW
N n.b. ‘Teaching couples’ are required for social dancing – most dance companies only operate with two teachers (one couple) per class minimum.
Our ideal event would consist of the following…
Morning & Afternoon Block: £400 per hour for 3 teaching couples for 6 hours = 3 workshops per hour.
Evening Block: £425 for 1.5 hours of teaching & 4 hours of hosting = 1 class followed by social dancing.
Miscellaneous Costs: £175
(e.g. advertising, entry wristbands for guests, printing and signage, etc.)
Ideal Event TOTAL = (400 x 6) + 425 + 175 = £3000
We understand that funds are limited in the current economy. Thus, The Friends of UoR may not be able to fully fund our ideal event. In this case, we could trial an amended version of our event with £2.5K through volunteer effort.
Morning Block:
£250 per hour for 2 teaching couples for 3 hours = 2 workshops per hour Volunteer effort from UoR Salsa Committee = 1 workshop per hour
Afternoon Block:
£400 per hour for 3 teaching couples for 3 hours = 3 workshops per hour
Evening Block:
£375 for 1 hour of teaching & 4.5 hours of hosting by Reading’s SalsaBachataSocialClub = 1 class followed by social dancing
Miscellaneous Costs: £175
(e.g. advertising, entry wristbands for guests, printing and signage, etc.) Trial Event TOTAL = (250 x 3) + (400 x 3) + 375 + 175 = £2500
Other avenues of funding we could pursue to supplement a partial grant from The Friends of UoR include:
● Sponsorship from a relevant business = c. £200
● Charging for event entry – £2 for morning, afternoon, or evening block.
£5 for the whole day. (n.b. We are intentionally keeping entry prices minimal, which aligns with our event’s aim of providing dance accessibility for all.) = c. £150
● UoR Salsa Reserve Account – using profit from money students pay our society for classes and membership. = c. £150
Other funding avenues TOTAL = c. £500
4
AFRO-LATIN DAY OF DANCE – EXAMPLE TIMETABLE
Beginners Improvers
Intermediate/Advanced All-levels-friendly WHITEKNIGHTS CAMPUS 3SIXTY MONTEREY MONDIAL
10:00 – 10:30 MORNING REGISTRATION
10:30 – 11:30 Salsa
SBSocialClub
Merengue
UoR Salsa Society
Kizomba
L2 Dance
11:30 – 12:30
Salsa
UoR
Salsa
Society
Salsa
SBSocial Club Afro-Latin Rhythms UoR Salsa Society Kizomba L2 Dance 12:30 – 13:30 Salsa SBSocialClub Afro-Latin Rhythms UoR Salsa Society Kizomba L2 Dance 13:30 – 15:00 LUNCH & AFTERNOON REGISTRATION 15:00 – 16:00 Salsa SBSocialClub Bachata Bachakiz Reading Kizomba L2 Dance 16:00 – 17:00 Salsa SBSocialClub Bachata Bachakiz Reading Kizomba L2 Dance 17:00 – 18:00 Merengue SBSocialClub Bachata Bachakiz Reading Kizomba L2 Dance 18:00 – 20:30 Break before EVENING CELEBRATION Attire: Party Smart/Casual GREAT HALL, LONDON ROAD CAMPUS 20:30 – 21:30 Salsa UoR Salsa Society Rueda SBSocialClub Rueda
SBSocialClub 21:30 – 02:00am SOCIAL DANCING PARTY Put the moves you’ve learnt into practice with your fellow dancers