Belly Dancer

Shahina
How to Hire a Belly Dancer

by Shahina

Bellydancing is the latest rage, which is very exciting to those of us who have always loved it and want to share our passion with the world, but with this new popularity there are also growing pains.

I often receive phone calls and e-mails about performances and pricing. People want to know, “Why are the prices so different?” One dancer is charging $75 and another is charging $300 for a 15 minute performance. This discrepancy is not unusual. I hear that some of the famous Egyptian dancers get $10,000 to dance at a wedding.

There are a number of reasons for the difference. Here are a few guidelines and precautions to help you navigate the murky waters and get the kind of experience you are looking for.

Before the internet (remember those days?) we had these things called yellow pages. They were written on stone tablets... (okay, I am not really that old), but in all seriousness- If you wanted to advertise in the yellow pages you had to have a business phone, a permanent mailing address of some kind, you had to be around long enough to get into a book that went to print a year before its release, and you had to have a pretty healthy chunk of change to pay for the ad.

This meant that if you hired someone from the yellow pages you could make a reasonable assumption that they were a legitimate business. The other means of advertising was the old fashioned “grass-roots” word of mouth method, which meant that somebody somewhere along the line saw them and saved their business card long enough to give it to you. Another good sign.

Enter the internet and 2006/7. A person can put up a web page advertising their business with less expense than printing 500 business cards, and with about the same turn around time. They can get a cell phone at the grocery store and they can take your money on-line.

Probably you don’t get to see them or hear their voice at all before you hire them. The picture you see might even be of someone else. This is true of any internet business, not just bellydancers. I am not at all opposed to doing business by internet. It is a wonderful tool, but to protect yourself and your pocketbook, you need to know the risks and do what you can to minimize them.

Since I am a bellydancer, I will explore the risks of hiring a bellydancer via internet.

1.    Not a legitimate business- You have heard of the thieves who pose as moving companies and steal all of someone’s possessions right before their eyes? There are websites designed just to take your money with no business behind it at all. In all probability this is not your greatest risk. More likely you will find...

2.    Unprofessional business practices- People who don’t take the time to prepare a contract may be legitimate or not. A contract spells out what you get for your money and is a commitment from the dancer that she will actually show up at the right address, at the right time, in the appropriate costume, for an agreed upon price.

If you don’t have a contract and you give a deposit to book a time slot, you have no recourse if she doesn’t show up or gets the time or place wrong. If she says you are booked but does not take a deposit, you have no assurance that she won’t take another job that pays better or that she won’t just forget you. Make sure you get a signed contract and that it reflects accurately what is expected and agreed upon.

3.    Substandard appearance- It is not overly difficult to pass the first two hurdles. You hire a dancer and she actually shows up. Now, what does she look like? Do her costume reflect and grooming reflect professionalism?

A dancer should be manicured, pedicured, made-up, and costumed in a manner that is appropriate for the venue and should be properly prepared for her performance. A professional bellydance costume costs between $500 and $1000. If your dancer shows up in a costume that looks like it came from Party City or Frederick’s of Hollywood, her hands look like she scrubs floors for her day job and her hair and make-up look like she just got off that day job 15 minutes ago,  you might be better off to pay her to leave before she embarrasses you further by dancing.

On the other hand, she could be dressed perfectly appropriately for the style of dance that she does and it might not be what you had in mind. Costumes can be cabaret style, folkloric, tribal, gypsy, pharonic, themed, and more. One is not better than another, but it should be well-made, it should fit properly, and it should be appropriate for the event and audience.

I dress differently when I perform at an elementary school than I do when I do a bachelorette party. Make sure you know what she looks like and what she is going to wear. Ask for a current photo and clarify what kind of costume you are expecting.

4.    Substandard performance- There are plenty of women who are attracted to bellydancing by the lovely costumes we wear. A professional costume helps a good dancer look better, but it can’t make an inexperienced dancer look professional. With the explosive popularity of bellydance recently, there is a contingent of individuals who are offering to perform for very reasonable prices after taking only a few classes. This may or may not be what you are looking for.

I am all for free enterprise. Everyone has to start somewhere. A novice dancer may be just fine dancing to the one or two songs that her teacher choreographed for her, but a professional will have the stage presence and “know-how” to handle all the little things that could go wrong, to answer questions about the dance and its history if asked, to improvise when required.

You probably have a collection of music on CDs. You bought them because you liked their music. If your favorite show was coming into town and you wanted to see it, would you buy tickets to a different show just because the ticket  price was lower? If you wanted to see a show and you had a choice between several different productions of the same show, would you choose the professional production or the local high school’s production?

The ticket price is lower for the high school show, but maybe the singing is a little off- key, the acting a bit stiff, and you hear feedback form the sound system now and then. If you are okay with that, you’ll save some money. When hiring a bellydancer it could get worse.

Worse than an inexperienced dancer is the “stripper gone bellydancer” who finds it amusing to embarrass and humiliate by doing vulgar things in a bellydance costume or the college student singing telegrammer who doesn’t know any better and thinks that bellydancing is just shaking her bottom. Better hope you don’t hire that one for your daughter’s sweet sixteen party!

Even among professional dancers there are many different styles. One is not necessarily better than another, but if you have one thing in mind and you get another you will be disappointed. Understand that you get what you pay for.

Ask about experience, training and style. Make your expectations clear. Ask for references from past customers and call them. Ask if she has a demo DVD or if there is a public performance that you can attend to see her dance before you sign the contract.

I hope you will find this helpful. Remember too, that there are some really wonderful dancers who do not have web sites at all, and some really wonderful web sites are operated by intelligent bellydance enthusiast computer nerds who are not necessarily (but may be) talented dancers.

Related Links
Belly dance performances by Shahina
Shahina's resume
Shahina's photo album
Shahina's belly dance costumes
More of Shahina's opinions

Copyright © 2007 by Shahina All rights reserved.

Pink Belly Dancer

Dancer

Sword Dancer

Silk Dancer