Thread: my first bellygram!!!

i did my very first bellygram on saturday night! woo hoo!

now that the nerves have settled, i'm thinking back on the experience and have some questions for the pros out there.

this was a surprise for everyone at the party, except the woman who hired me. when i was entering, some people didn't even realize i was there. i did not bring finger cymbals, and i think they would have helped 'start' the show better. are there other ways to get the audience's attention other than finger cymbals or yelling 'hey i'm a bellydancer'?

i had a 14 minute CD, but the audience was restless and moving on (and intoxicated) after about 10 minutes. in that situation, would you simply turn off your music, bow and leave? would you stick it out to the end of the CD (thats what i did)? i'd hate to be thought of as the dancer who over stayed her welcome...

i found myself being 'chatty' with the audience, asking other women to dance with me, instructing the birthday boy to sit, stand, dance, etc. do the pros try to limit the amount of talking with audience in order to maintain an air of mystery?

the birthday boy, though intoxicated, was very shy and most of the time did not even look at me. how do you deal with very shy GoH's who look like they want to crawl under a rock?

do you all send thank you cards to people who hire you after the event? what if you hired through an agency or an instructor? my instructor paid me to do the gig, so she was paid by the client. is it inappropriate for me to send a thank you card to the client directly?

thanks a bunch for any insights. i really want to be as professional as possible.

em

Yay, so glad you had fun! Sounds like you did just great.

For a bellygram, I usually limit my set to about 10 minutes. The guests usually see it rather like a singing telegram, a quick fun surprise. They don't really want to sit down and watch a show. I dance a little intro, then do a LOT of clowning around, audience participation, and posing for pictures.

I don't talk much, I tend to pantomime, but that's a personal preference.

If the birthday boy seems very shy and doesn't want to get up and dance with me, I'll usually try to get him to pick 'victims' from the audience to dance in his place. That's always a hoot.

I also try to draw at least a little attention to the person who hired me. They spent the money for this, they deserve to be acknowledged. I'll often get her (isn't it always a woman?) up to dance, balance my sword on her head, etc.

I wouldn't send a card directly to the client if I was booked by an agent of any kind. It would seem like you're trying to get another gig and bypass the agent. A thank-you to the agent would be a very nice touch, though.

are there other ways to get the audience's attention other than finger cymbals or yelling 'hey i'm a bellydancer'?

Was your music loud enough? If the music you danced to was significantly different from the music they were listening too, and it was LOUD, that should get their attention. I usually enter with my isis wings, which are enough to grab everyone's attention most of the time, but sometimes I'll use my zills with the wings (takes a little practice) to make a noticeable entrance. I do think that zills are a must, though, for keeping everyone paying attention. Play 'em in their ear if you have to!

i had a 14 minute CD, but the audience was restless and moving on (and intoxicated) after about 10 minutes. in that situation, would you simply turn off your music, bow and leave? would you stick it out to the end of the CD (thats what i did)?


Exit during your last song - don't wait till the end. I never give an exact time for my shows - I say they are "10-12 minutes", "20-23 minutes" or "27-30 minutes". That's because I want to give myself the option of booking it out of there if the audience is restless and/or not paying attention, or staying till the bitter end if they are all up and dancing and having a blast.

do the pros try to limit the amount of talking with audience in order to maintain an air of mystery?

No, if they are talkative, talk back. But don't stop dancing while you talk - standing still and talking will be boring for the people your aren't talking to!

the birthday boy, though intoxicated, was very shy and most of the time did not even look at me. how do you deal with very shy GoH's who look like they want to crawl under a rock?

Try to pull them up to dance, and if they won't - move on! Nothing kills the flow of a show more than spending half your time trying to force someone to dance with you. Look for kids - they are usually always game to dance. Or the wife of the GOH - sometimes she'll be able to convince her hubby to dance even though you couldn't.

do you all send thank you cards to people who hire you after the event? what if you hired through an agency or an instructor? my instructor paid me to do the gig, so she was paid by the client. is it inappropriate for me to send a thank you card to the client directly?

No, I don't send thank yous. You are a vendor, vendors don't usually thank the people who hire them other than a thank you after they get paid. I'm thinking back to my wedding and no - I didn't get a thank you from any of my vendors! I used to send a quick thank you email to the people who booked me, but that was when my jobs were few and far between. Now that would be way to hard to keep up with, and honestly, I don't think it's necessary.

Congratulations! I love belly grams -- cuz they're short and you still can make a lot of $$$!!!


are there other ways to get the audience's attention other than finger cymbals or yelling 'hey i'm a bellydancer'?

If you don't use cymbals, try a zaghareet -- that will definitely get their attention!


i had a 14 minute CD, but the audience was restless and moving on . . .

I do 10-minute belly grams. (I actually think this short format might be one of the better ones overall for virtually any party.) In future, see if you can get a feel for the potential atmosphere of the party. For example, ask about age group (all adults or families?), time the party starts [compare to time you're asked to dance -- I try to get in within two hours of the start of the party and I'm not shy about saying it, either! Of course, I couch it in terms of, "In my experience, I find this type of entertainment works better earlier in the party rather than later, how about we plan for (time)?" No one has ever disagreed with me. I'm the professional, right? So I know ]

In this circumstance, I'd wait it out a bit, then cut short if it really looks necessary. Like danielabellydance wrote, you can define time ranges in your advertising materials. Also, if you do end up cutting out early, just turn, pose, and dance your way out with the music still playing.

One thing to keep in mind if cutting a show short, is that some hirers will have a stop watch to be sure you perform for every second for which you're paid. I have cut a few shows short over the years, but I was always able to okay it with the hirer by just dancing over and having a brief, friendly chat.


i found myself being 'chatty' with the audience . . .

I used to be much more "silent and mysterious," but I've been very open and gregarious the last 25 years or so. You have to gauge each situation, tho. Even though I always speak to people, sometimes I do it in a very informal, "come on down" kind of way and other times, I'm a bit more "conspiratorial" in tone and volume.


how do you deal with very shy GoH's who look like they want to crawl under a rock?

What Lauren and danielabellydance said!


do you all send thank you cards to people who hire you after the event?

No. The caveat is if you were hired by, say, a senior citizen group, corporation, trade show, where there is opportunity to be hired again in the future -- then I'd send a note if I got the gig myself or an agency (mention to contact the agency again), but not if it came through another dancer/teacher.

thank you thank you thank you for the responses! this is exactly the info i was looking for.

just to clarify, the GoH did get up and dance, he was actually a great sport, but most of the time he was looking at the floor! ..l;, guess i was too stunning.....g.:

the bellygram was at a residence on their tiny patio with hanging lanterns all over the place, so space would have limited the use of sword, wings or veil, but i like the idea of zaghareeting to get attention.

i'm naturally a smiley open person when in performance mode, so it feels natural for me to say 'come dance with me' rather than mime. i guess i will keep doing that since its more natural for me. oh, i never stopped dancing to chat! how boring would that be!?!

i thought i read somewhere (maybe shira's website?) that its nice to send a thankyou note. but i don't want to look like i'm trying to take gigs away from my teacher. its just that the hostess was really sweet, gave me a $20 tip, offered to have someone escort me to my car etc. i thanked her in person so i suppose thats sufficient.

thanks again for the advice,
em

Sounds like a great experience! Most of my gigs are BellyGrams, and I really enjoy doing them.

are there other ways to get the audience's attention other than finger cymbals or yelling 'hey i'm a bellydancer'?

I'm with danielabellydance is wondering if you music was loud enough. Whoever is in charge of setting up my music, I tell them to crank it really loud, and if it's not I'll signal them to turn it up more before I make my entrance.


i had a 14 minute CD, but the audience was restless and moving on (and intoxicated) after about 10 minutes. in that situation, would you simply turn off your music, bow and leave? would you stick it out to the end of the CD (thats what i did)?

Another vote here for the 10 minute BellyGram. I do two upbeat songs and then I'm outta there. For a birthday party surprise like you're describing, I'll talk people out of a longer set even though it makes me more money, because I know the guests will lose interest.

do the pros try to limit the amount of talking with audience in order to maintain an air of mystery?


I don't talk while I'm dancing - I'm usually too winded for much of a conversation. I use more facial expression and hand gestures to communicate during the performance. After I've taken my bow, I'll turn to the GOH and say (loud enough so everyone can hear) "I'm Galatea, a professional belly dancer here in the Milwaukee area, and I was hired by [insert name of client] for your birthday!" Then I give them a custom made greeting card with my business card in it (which I wouldn't do if I was booked by an agent), and thank the audience for being so wonderful. Sometimes at that point, people will ask questions (like if I teach), and I'll answer them, but keep it short and sweet. If it looks like there's actual interest in classes or performances, I'll tell them that I'll leave some extra cards with the person who hired me.

how do you deal with very shy GoH's who look like they want to crawl under a rock?

What daniela said - "Try to pull them up to dance, and if they won't - move on!"

do you all send thank you cards to people who hire you after the event? what if you hired through an agency or an instructor? my instructor paid me to do the gig, so she was paid by the client. is it inappropriate for me to send a thank you card to the client directly?


I send a follow up thank you email to whoever hired me, but it's really short. Something like "Thank you once again for hiring me to perform at [GOH's name] birthday party. I seemed like everyone really enjoyed themselves, and I hope that you're happy with the performance as well. Please let me know if I can be or service in the future." I don't have a bazillion gigs though, so this isn't too hard for me to do.