Thread: open mic?

any thoughts on them?

I'm thinking of trying to resurrect one at the local coffee shop, just to get some gigs under my belt (haha), though it would only be a few times, as I move in two months or so

anyone do them? thoughts on doing them for free? good exposure?

It can be fun. Don't expect to get any gigs from it. But do expect to get some experience interacting with groups.

And as long as everyone else is doing iit for free, why not/

{{{HUGS}}}

First of all, I think it's great that you want to get some experience dancing! In this very difficult life, any chance we have to do something that makes us happy (and is harmless) we should do it!
Given that, I don't see anything wrong with dancing for free if you don't truly mind, especially an open mic. In fact, that's what I thought open mic was; a chance to try your wings in front of a real audience. I'm a writer, and there have been times where I have written for free, just for the great exposure (like a commentary on NPR, let's say), or for the chance to express my thoughts publicly. There are no rules except for what feels right to you.

....... everything Susan said ..... also, tipping is the norm, and with a good crowd you can make more than some restaurants are willing to pay ..... so it's not necessarily dancing for free!

Ha! Dude, we should Open Mic it together. That sounds like fun!

I used to do Open Mic all the time at my neighborhood coffee house, back before I started doing paid gigs. It was such a blast! Ah, those were some fun memories...

Open Mic sounds like a great way to stay on top of your game if you're not gigging weekly at a restaurant, or if you happen to be going through a "dry spell." You're in front of a crowd, interacting, polishing your stagecraft, and pinning down those more elusive dynamics that only come from experience. It's a great "controlled environment" in which to experiment with new techniques and hone your skill.

As for ethics and pay? If everybody else is performing for free, it's not undercutting.

And unrelated, but Najla, your GooglePages site looks great, and thanks for the tip! I am setting up shop there as we speak. It's so easy and I find the lack of annoying pop-up ads and the non-tacky layouts quite refreshing compared to other free webhosting services :)

seriously, come up to New Haven...Saturdays were when they used to have their "coffee house" nights...I'm going to talk to a few musician friends here and then talk to the manager

sounds like it's a good idea, and I'll be glad to have some more non-university related things to put on my dance CV

I'd love to join you! Definitely let me know when you get something going on. I'm missing being in front of an audience.

In the interim, I've got a cute place in my neighborhood that does a weekly thing on Thursdays. They all know and love me from my early days, before I "sold out" and got my first Emans. Judging by how much they all loved seeing BD for the first time, I am sure they'd probably fall over if I brought a friend ..l;,

ps, Satin, just tried to PM you, but your box is full!

I think they're awesome! We would do them periodically up here, but now that I'm trying to get a bit more "serious" about dance and trying to build a community of some sort here before I leave in 2 years, we've created one at a local coffee shop.

It's monthly and the first time we did it (just last month), all the performers danced for free and the tips went to a local tornado relief fund. We raised quite a bit, people loved it, and it was actually the coffee shop themselves who asked if we wanted to make it a regular thing. :)

Problem solved, Najla! Resume PM's as scheduled. ..l;,