Thread: Video taping restaurant dancers??

Originally Posted by lotus

I only skimmed this thread, but I remember being quite surprised to find a cd in a zurich music shop with Meissoun's photo on the cover.

Even more surprised was Meissoun herself, who was the one browsing through the salesrack!

Right, but that was a picture stolen from my website.
I am actually on two different CD covers, the other is a Russian CD...

MEISSOUN

In the business we are in, a memory photo is part of the performance. Although the flash is distracting. A fellow dancer called me and stated we are on youtube. I was lost for words. After finding the video on youtube, it was a dark cell phone video. Not very flattering at all so the comments were not nice. My fellow dancer had the same experience. So now I look for video cameras and cell phones and give them my back after stating I will come back after my show for a memory photo.

OMG, who are the two poor souls on the videos?

I don't mind if people video tape my performance when they hire me for private functions, or even at restaurants if they as patrons. I would consider rude if another belly dancer came to watch my show and video taped me without my permission ,m::

I think in a restaurant, most of the time when people are doing video or photos you are just part of their exciting night out, and they want to show off that they saw a belly dancer. I'm reasonably tolerant of photos for that reason--not thrilled about unauthorized video, but as several have said, when you're out in the public eye, not much you can do about it.

Taking photos or videos at haflis has apparently become a hot topic in my area, since one prominent event organizer has banned all cameras due to complaints from dancers about other people using their images/stealing their choreographies/etc. She won't even allow you to have a designated person do photos or video for yourself, because she's afraid that if other dancers see a camera they will flip out. It seems a bit of an excessive overreaction to me...

Out of all the times that I have been "videod" I have only found myself once on youtube and that was just my arm. Guess I haven't arrived yet.

Originally Posted by jilyan

Maybe we need to encourage someone to create some kind of device that can be clipped to the costume that emits white noise or the visual equivalent ??? I think Artemis Fowl has one so surely a real person will soon adapt it from the spy market to the arts market??

Infrared LEDs. Find someone who knows a tiny bit about electronics and have them make you a bunch of little infrared LED lights. Heck, sew them into your costumes. The IR leds will mess with the exposure and the focusing ability of any automatic (IE all consumer level) cameras, still or video. You can get IR leds at Radio Shack.

For an example of this, using your handy video camera, record the business end of your tv remote control while pushing buttons. See the flashes? So does your camera. But people don't.

For some info on what can and can't be photographed, from an actual lawyer, go here: Bert P. Krages Attorney at Law Photographer's Rights Page. Of course, this only applies in the USA.

Videotaping is a whole 'nother matter, mostly because it records sound and sound is controlled differently than images. In general, you can record images without permission, but not sounds.

Note that I am not a lawyer.

Thanks bakhtiyaar, I knew there'd have to be a way ..g.:

Actually in my own mind I have made peace with the video, mostly it's just people getting a moving memory of their night out (like when I went around doing short clips of waterfalls in Tasmania).

I know choreo stealing is an issue but I never choreo in restaurants anyway and luckily I'm not famous enough to need total control over my image. And yes I've had ugly pictures of myself published in print and on the web so I do know how it feels.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Last thing I ever expected to see referenced on Bhuz. ..l;,

I know, huh!!! Bwhahahaha. Now I've seen everything.

Originally Posted by badriya_al_ahmar

Taking photos or videos at haflis has apparently become a hot topic in my area, since one prominent event organizer has banned all cameras due to complaints from dancers about other people using their images/stealing their choreographies/etc. She won't even allow you to have a designated person do photos or video for yourself, because she's afraid that if other dancers see a camera they will flip out. It seems a bit of an excessive overreaction to me...

Sigh. That sounds frustrating...for everyone, including the organizer.

Here is another perspective about taping dancers at restaurants, especially those restaurants where there is no designated stage area , and the dancer is between tables, etc.
What if someone is taping the dancer and also getting all the other dinner guests in their video as well?? Say business man X is in town for a convention, and he picked up a hooker or stripper or just has a girlfriend on the side that his wife doesn't know about, and some tourist, gets him and his "girl" on video in the background where the dancer is performing, it ends up on youtube, and his wife finds out??

If she divorces him, he may go after the restuarant because his privacy was invaded during dinner. People coming in to have dinner should not have to worry about being in someone's video, right? To me public property means walking down the street on the Las Vegas Strip, not in a restuarants, clubs, or whatever.Most places in Vegas forbid camera's including casino's, shows, etc, etc.

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

Sigh. That sounds frustrating...for everyone, including the organizer.

I'm afraid I banned all filming at our local haflas (and I know organisers are JoY did say they didn't want it to happen either).
Why in both cases?
Youtube posting!

In our case we had a DVD of the event to sell for charity.

At local halfa we also asked permission to film dancers ourselves but mostly beginning and amateur dancers do not want to dance under any more pressure nor under the therat of being exposed to the cruelties of Youtube.
Next time we have an event. a theatre show we'll not be filming at all. If people want to see us they get there!
Theatres usually ban both filming and still photography anyway.
Mobile phone cameras are a problem ..you just have to rely and people's good nature.
Youtube may be a wonderful source but look at the number of times items are posted to ridicule individuals and also people who post thinking they have achieved something are blown out of their water by snide comment.

I had the experience several time of a local teacher sending her students to the restaurant to tape the whole damn performance.
They were pretty easy to pick out as they sat and never seemed to order anything more than tea and talked alot and loudly about their belly dance classes and had the same look as their teacher.
Im sure the tape went right back to her for their amusments.
Fun stuff huh?

Did anybody watch the Olympic opening ceremony and notice how many of the athletes during the parade of nations walked out with videocameras and videotaped walking around the stadium? I can't imagine, at such a peak moment, choosing to videotape rather than experience one of the prime moments of my entire life. It would be like whipping out a videocamera in the middle of your own wedding or something.

Anyway, videotaping seems less "intentional" these days and more like what people do by default for entertainment. I don't mind people taping me in public but I think they're missing out on a real live experience. For parties I specify in my contract that pictures and videotaping are allowed for private use, but mass distribution (including on YouTube) is not.

Originally Posted by Aradia

Here is another perspective about taping dancers at restaurants, especially those restaurants where there is no designated stage area , and the dancer is between tables, etc.
What if someone is taping the dancer and also getting all the other dinner guests in their video as well?? Say business man X is in town for a convention, and he picked up a hooker or stripper or just has a girlfriend on the side that his wife doesn't know about, and some tourist, gets him and his "girl" on video in the background where the dancer is performing, it ends up on youtube, and his wife finds out??

If she divorces him, he may go after the restaurant because his privacy was invaded during dinner. People coming in to have dinner should not have to worry about being in someone's video, right? To me public property means walking down the street on the Las Vegas Strip, not in a restaurants, clubs, or whatever.Most places in Vegas forbid camera's including casino's, shows, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, restaurants are considered "public". This is how the paparazzi get away with all their stuff. That is, unless they are bounced from the place.