DanceHive is a home-sharing and networking platform, made exclusively for dancers. It will allow dance practitioners to get in contact, offer and request each other hospitality over auditions, training opportunities, performances, battles, or simply to explore new places. DanceHive combines the necessity to network in the dance world, with that to find cheap, short-term accommodation solutions. After its pre-launch, which happened in June 2023, DanceHive has quickly gathered over 1.500 pre-scribed dancers from 50 countries worldwide. It is now possible to access the waitlist by registering at www.dancehive.net, to get notified on the launch of the platform scheduled for Fall 2023.
We believe our platform can support artists in any way they need, whether it's auditioning, training sessions, or even just finding a cheap flight to Barcelona for the weekend. It's not just about dancing; it's about connecting with others and building relationships. From our experience, getting to know other dancers can lead to job opportunities and new experiences. Our platform is designed to support any type of dancer, from students to freelancers to teachers. We hope to create a community that fosters growth and development for all dancers.
Lidia Caricasole & Luca Parolin: Yes, it comes from personal experience although it wasn't only about auditioning but also about traveling for workshops and intensives, or even just to go and watch a performance. After graduating from Juilliard, I traveled for nine months to audition here and there. Of course, most of the time I would try to find friends who could host me because many times it was about receiving a callback to an audition and then having to decide whether or not it was worth it to spend money on travel. Nowadays, thankfully, you can find cheap solutions thanks to low-cost companies, traveling only with a backpack. But then what about accommodation? Hotels are very expensive, B&B’s a little bit less, but not that much less nowadays, and hostels even then, are a minimum of 45 EUR per night to sleep in a room with bunk beds and eight other people with you.
DanceHive really is about how we can support each other and make good use of this community that we already have. Whenever I would go to another dancer, it would be so much better to actually share the experience with them. It makes the tough job of looking for a job a little bit easier and less frustrating as well.
Once you are in this audition mode, it happens once, it happens twice. The third time you start questioning whether it's worth it to go, between flights, accommodation, trains, and buses. It's not only about the audition itself, but other expenses too. I (Luca), for example, was able to get to Costa Rica and stay there for a whole month only through acquaintances and friends.
Lidia & Luca: We appreciate the research you've done. At first glance, it may be difficult to understand the platform because it's not yet launched. Initially, we could have made the platform free and allowed everyone to request and offer hospitality. However, we thought this would lead to misuse and people would lose the value of receiving hospitality from other dancers. Additionally, many would use it purely for requesting accommodation and not offer it in exchange, which happens often.
To avoid this, we decided to make registration free, allowing dancers to come and create their own profiles. They can then request hospitality from other dancers, but they must give one cell per night to their host, as a reward. The host gains cells, which they can use to travel themselves and stay with other dancers. If they gain plenty of cells, they can also redeem rewards, such as opportunities to improve their artistry, discounts on events, and much more. We plan to partner with events that are willing to show appreciation to their audience.
In summary, hosting on the platform is free because hosts can gain and spend cells. If someone is unable or unwilling to host, they can purchase cells. This is the only instance where someone would need to pay to use the platform.
Cells are at a fixed price, which means it will be just as expensive to stay in London, or in any other smaller town. Dancers are not paying for a B&B, they are rewarding the hospitality, and everyone makes the same effort when hosting, no matter where they live. At the beginning of the platform's development, we will be making adjustments to keep costs low and avoid investing all the money immediately. We plan to pivot a little bit as we continue to program the platform. Initially, the platform will not allow direct purchases, but users can gain Cells by inviting their dance friends to use the platform.
We have launched our landing page to gather consent from dancers. We were fortunate to have people sign up from 50 countries worldwide. We now plan to find one ambassador per country to represent their country and support dancers through this platform.
Lidia & Luca: Yes, we are now choosing ambassadors; we are selecting them and offering this opportunity. Our ambassadors were kind enough to support the programming expenses of the platform, by making a donation to our crowdfunding. Thanks to their donation, as well as many others, we were able to gather over 8,000 EUR, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to fulfill the campaign goal. In the end, all the funds gathered went back to the donors. We have now started programming the platform thanks to our savings, and are in the meantime exploring new ways of getting funding. Luckily, Ambassadors have shown their dedication to keep supporting DanceHive, despite this inconvenience. In exchange, they will be able to offer free accommodation to dancers who join their events.
We believe this is something big: they are in some type of way investing in the dance community, supporting those who are eager to learn, but sometimes cannot afford to just pay for it all. We appreciate the ambassadors who have trusted us and decided to support the project, especially since we are new and it's hard to give trust to something with an unknown outcome. They are leading the way towards a more sustainable way of traveling and networking.
We will do our best to promote the opportunities that they offer, and this is also the reason why we only picked one ambassador per country. We don't want our platform or Instagram to be crowded. We will stick to informing the community about the opportunities that they offer and be honest about the benefits of attending. By attending these events, dancers will be able to get free accommodation through DanceHive, since the event already paid for it in advance.
Lidia & Luca: This is something we absolutely want to invest in. First of all, we wouldn't allow individuals under 18 years old to use the platform, due to the delicate nature of hosting strangers. Other than that, once the platform is established and we have more funds to invest, we will implement security systems to verify the identities of all dancers on the platform.
The community itself can also report individuals who do not appear to be dancers. We believe non-dancers would not want to use a platform like this, as there are already platforms designed for home sharing, but you must take into account all risks. We will do our best to ensure safety by implementing safety tools within the platform and relying on feedback from the community. This includes reviews of hosts/guests and the ability to use filters to find hosts/guests based on gender, age, dance style, etc.
Additionally, we encourage users to provide detailed information about themselves and upload multiple pictures to help build credibility. While we cannot guarantee complete safety, we will strive to make the platform as safe as possible. Ultimately, it is up to individuals to decide whether the cost savings of using our platform outweigh the risks associated with staying with someone they meet for the first time.
We will also implement tools that allow them to see how many friends they have in common, which we believe can also help in the choice-making. The dance world is big, but also very small!
Lidia & Luca: As we've mentioned, our experience has shown us the importance of investing in auditions, workshops, and intensives to keep ourselves up-to-date as smart dancers. There's always more to learn.
We believe our platform can support artists in any way they need, whether it's auditioning, training sessions, or even just finding a cheap flight to Barcelona for the weekend. It's not just about dancing; it's about connecting with others and building relationships. From our experience, getting to know other dancers can lead to job opportunities and new experiences. Our platform is designed to support any type of dancer, from students to freelancers to teachers. We hope to create a community that fosters growth and development for all dancers.
Top Image: Photo Courtesy of DanceHive
