Thread: anyone getting less party gigs due to economy?

is anyone suffering from the poor economy and value of the dollar, etc, concerning classes, workshops and performing (private gigs or restaurants)?

How about vendors?

As far as gigs, my holiday season dry spell (which seems to occur every year from November to February) is still going strong. Not sure if it's the economy, or just a fluke, but usually by March bookings start to pick up again and that's not the case this year at all.

My classes are all doing well, though, and I teach all the privates and semi-privates that I can handle.

Classes are full, I'm turning down parties, and my restaurant gigs are all going well. I've been busier than ever the past couple of months!

But then again, I hear that Texas is faring a bit better than the rest of the country economically.

I was just thinking about this last night.
I'm still turning down regular venues. so there seem to be plenty of those still around here...BUT I have been seeing some slow nights at a couple places, so believe they might be being effected.
Still have plenty of parties and party inquiries for future parties. BUT, I'm not referring as many on. So I haven't had so few that it effects me, but I'm not in over abundance and referring a couple a month, that seemed average for a while.

Thankfully, no. I have been busier than ever. ::knocks on wood::

I do worry though, that the economy will catch up with me sooner or later. Most of my money comes from private parties, and I feel like when things really get tough, the bellydancer will be the first thing party planners cut out of their budgets.

Unfortunately, I've noticed that gigs have come to a standstill for me. Nothing since friggin' November. ..cr.:

I know a huge portion of my dry spell is that I've held off this long on getting a website and promoting myself. Not economy-related, so I might not be the best one to judge. Others in my area seem to be having a tough time too, though.

I've had maybe 5 bites from prospective clients since then, but the response is always the same: "Sorry, $250 is a little too much." OR, better yet, "Why do you charge $250 when this other dancer charges $150?"

Not to turn this into an inevitable conversation on undercutting....but it royally stinks, because I'm absolutely sick to death of dancing in my living room, but at the same time, I'm not going to cut my rate to something ridiculous because some undercutter who evidently doesn't seem to have any budget for professional costuming or classes of her own thinks it would be a fun idea to screw us all out of fair pay that covers our professional expenses. It's almost as if Junior Miss Jodette is deliberately lowering her rates to cash in on the economic slump and get more work, while the rest of us might have to turn down low-paying gigs. *golf clap*

Sorry to vent, but I do feel as though the economic situation has almost enabled more undercutting. Some dancers might think it's OK to lower their rates, because how else will they get work? Or maybe it's created a "niche market" for bargain basement dancers to cash in....

Anybody else notice a boom of undercutting accompanying the changing economic situation, or do I just live in the Sacramento of the East Coast?

~Lisa

I am happy to say that I am seeing the best sales year ever so far. A lot of my sales have come from Europe and Canada (due to the low US $) which is fine with me.

One restaurant around here has moved to "on call" dancing. Basically, they call the bellydance mom on Friday and let her know they need 1, 2, or no dancers that night. I do not dance there but I have several friends that do and it has become a little stressful for them.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Unfortunately, I've noticed that gigs have come to a standstill for me. Nothing since friggin' November. ..cr.:

I know a huge portion of my dry spell is that I've held off this long on getting a website and promoting myself. Not economy-related, so I might not be the best one to judge. Others in my area seem to be having a tough time too, though.

I've had maybe 5 bites from prospective clients since then, but the response is always the same: "Sorry, $250 is a little too much." OR, better yet, "Why do you charge $250 when this other dancer charges $150?"

Not to turn this into an inevitable conversation on undercutting....but it royally stinks, because I'm absolutely sick to death of dancing in my living room, but at the same time, I'm not going to cut my rate to something ridiculous because some undercutter who evidently doesn't seem to have any budget for professional costuming or classes of her own thinks it would be a fun idea to screw us all out of fair pay that covers our professional expenses. It's almost as if Junior Miss Jodette is deliberately lowering her rates to cash in on the economic slump and get more work, while the rest of us might have to turn down low-paying gigs. *golf clap*

Sorry to vent, but I do feel as though the economic situation has almost enabled more undercutting. Some dancers might think it's OK to lower their rates, because how else will they get work? Or maybe it's created a "niche market" for bargain basement dancers to cash in....

Anybody else notice a boom of undercutting accompanying the changing economic situation, or do I just live in the Sacramento of the East Coast?

~Lisa

I'm a shameless overcutter, and so far I haven't lost any gigs recently because of it.

I think my prices are some of the highest in the area - I don't do a ton of private parties, but the ones I do pay me what I ask.

I actually surprised that the downturn in the economy hasn't been reflected in class attendance. My classes are exactly the sizes that I want them to be, and more and more students are opting for private lessons. ..g.:

But as far as workshops go, this area is still over-saturated. Attendance is down at my monthly workshops (although some students who have schedule conflicts want to then cover workshop topics in private lessons).

There are soooo many events in the Baltimore-Washington area! The Indigo events are this weekend -- AWESOME show last night!! We'll have a small BDSS event in May (same weekend as BOCA Fest and music & dance camp in PA), and then the bigger Raqs America festival in June. Mohamed Shahin is teaching in April. Raqia will be here in May. Monthly All Seasons haflas in Baltimore, monthly Arabian Nights shows in the DC area.

This is just a fraction of the events in our area, off the top of my head. How can the current economy support all this??

Latifa

I haven't gotten many inquiries (maybe 1 or 2 a month, tops), and I've not gotten the impression that price was why they decided not to hire me.

I know in at least a couple of situations, they spoke to other people and ultimately decided a Belly Dancer was not appropriately family-friendly for their event. In another, the bar where they were having the party would not allow me to perform (I made them call ahead and check, which is my policy after being sent home from a gig). Frankly, I'm a lot more worried about that possible trend, as I rarely ran into it in the past.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

I'm a shameless overcutter, and so far I haven't lost any gigs recently because of it.

I think my prices are some of the highest in the area - I don't do a ton of private parties, but the ones I do pay me what I ask.

I think that's a great idea and will implement my exorbitant rates when I get a website up and running and commence the self-promoting blitzkreig. I know a lot of dancers who have had success with blatant overcutting. And I'd be much more satisfied to perform only once a month, but get compensated handsomly, than to perform once a week and be out one Saturday a week and still hardly break even.

Honestly, I've had enough of clients who don't even respect our art enough to pay the local going rate without giving me a guilt trip....high end marketing and pricing, here I come. If I hire the best photographer and web designer that money can buy, and charge premium rates, you'd better believe that people will notice a difference between me and....well, them.

Go overcutters, go!

Originally Posted by laura 2

In another, the bar where they were having the party would not allow me to perform (I made them call ahead and check, which is my policy after being sent home from a gig). Frankly, I'm a lot more worried about that possible trend, as I rarely ran into it in the past.

Sorry for the semi-hijack...Laura, you know, with the weird conservative swing our society has taken, I've run into a few funky venue things too. I've been feeling out whether the venue knows what client has planned right away, and doing what I can to smooth the way if they haven't. Most I find have actually worked it out (or at least warned) with the bar/restaurant *before* they called me, but those who haven't I try to guide. I tell them to check with the venue, but I try to (subtlely) arm them with the information they'll need to present it well and in terms that address what the restaurant may care about. I also offer to follow up or be available to talk with the venue/location if there are any questions or issues. I've found that, whether through me or the client, it helps if the venue understands that I'm a pretty self-contained unit (so no big hassle to their staff) and that I'm not going to disrupt their dining room for a long time and that I won't do something embarrassing for them/their business. In a case or two I've been able to avoid having a squinky venue pull the plug through a quick conversation with a manager. Some places hear the word "belly dancer" and they get the image of a "belly gram" (in the worst and cheesiest sense of the word) delivered by jiggley 18 year old in a costume gyrating wildly and making a scene...but when they get a mature, well-spoken and respectful sounding 30-something on the phone (and/or see a picture)...well, they begin to understand the situation a little differently.

Then again, in the bar category anyway, there are also venues on the other extreme--they kind of don't want a belly dancer because they fear their *own* clientele might not be well-behaved enough to handle having a belly dancer around without special security. .w.:
.

As far as the original question...you know, I don't know that I can actually say because I don't know that I've seen anything I can call a trend one way or another yet. School enrollment was *slightly* down for winter, but overall not really *down*--just no growth--and looking back historically over the last few years, we usually are a little off for either the winter or the spring session, depending on the start dates. Spring starts this week, but it is looking like it may be more normal so far. Parties always fluctuate a little month to month. Like Samira, I'm still booking well, but I'm not referring out to other dancers as much as I was a few months ago. I don't know whether that's actually a change/trend in overall volume, though. It may just be a combination of the normal fluctuation and better timing with my own schedule of those gigs that do come up.