Thread: house dancer vs scheduler

,r:;this should be fun!
House dancers vs scheduler what is the diff?. Here is my rant for the weekend.
I do not mean to disresrespact any any honest and confidant house or scheduler dancers . I my self could consider that i am one and have been one a differnt points in my dancing carrer.
I belive that it is up to the owner and not a dancer who should work at a resturant.
This is a "job" hobbie fun activity what ever it is to you .
when you dance at a public place you are saying that you are qualified to do so as in looking presentable having knowlege of what you are dancing and entertaining abilitys.
If I wanted a job as a waitress would you ask the the waitress and say I would like a job here and i would like to take some of your hours? hmmmm what would she say?
or would you go to the owner and say i would like to be a waitress ?
that is my analogy for asking to be entertainmet in an estabilishment.
I have experianced more then once where I have been at a resturant where the owners let another dancer do the schedule and those dancers did not put me on when the owner was expecting for them to do so?
So what are the schedulers saying to the owners? lies on avalilibty. i know some people strait out never mentioned another dancer or said she was not avalible.
Sorry I don't have much trust in other dancers" right now"
are they house dancers or are they schedulers. ?
someone claify. the diff!

right know i dance at place every week cause the owner asked me to i do not feel that is mine i feel privleged for the moment. and i feel anyone can come and ask the owner if they can dance there it is up to the owner not me to say yes or no. plus it is better for the owner to pick who he wants. other wise you are probley not going to get anyone more pretty or talented then the one you have!(LOL)
this is coming up beacuse i had a few days a month at a place then some volentered to do the schedule they had been there one month and i a year . They gave them selves a few days and me none or one.i know this was not the owners choice because they wanted me to dance as much as i was avalible . i took a baby break . i told the owner and the scheduler i was ready to come back. the scheduler did not put me on the sched intead put her friends in studnts in . after the owner talked with her i was on. i wish some dancers could have more ethics and be trustworthy.

So house dancer what does it mean?


scheduler what does it mean?

who do you think you should talk to if you would like a job?

I have heard that the entertainment is like a waitress if so is the waitress hired by a fellow waitress or the owner? and who pays you the big bucks!..l;,


xo

Hm well we are having just this problem in my community, interested to see the responses...

yeah i'd like to get some feed back. Cause like i said a few times i went to the schdeulers and they said they did not need me. while later the owners called and asked why i was not dancing and I said the scheduler said they did not need me at this time?..cr.:

Each establishment runs things differently. Having been a house dancer and a scheduler, I can say that at some establishments the house dancer gets to make all dancer hiring decisions, while at others, it is the owner. (I've been in both situations - one where I made all dancer decisions and one where the owner chose dancers and I just arranged the schedule.) In cases where it is the house dancer or scheduler who makes those decisions, it is the same as dealing with the HR department of a company. It really all depends on the specific policy at that restaurant/establishment.

Sadly, no matter how qualified we feel for a specific gig, it is up to the person who makes the hiring decision to determine if they want us on the schedule. In some cases, it may be true that there is no free room in the schedule - or it may be a personal judgment on the part of the hirer. Either way, the final decision isn't ours...all we can do is be as professional as possible and follow the procedures in place.

I am sorry to hear about the issue, but it is something that only the owner of the establishment can choose. If they put the hiring decisions in the hands of the house dancer, then that is the person to deal with about employment options.

Something I have found important - if you are not placed on the schedule, politely ask the person in charge of hiring dancers what you can do to improve your chances of being hired by the establishment. There may be nothing you can do, but there could be good advice for that specific gig.

Originally Posted by mahsati

Each establishment runs things differently. Having been a house dancer and a scheduler, I can say that at some establishments the house dancer gets to make all dancer hiring decisions, while at others, it is the owner. (I've been in both situations - one where I made all dancer decisions and one where the owner chose dancers and I just arranged the schedule.) In cases where it is the house dancer or scheduler who makes those decisions, it is the same as dealing with the HR department of a company. It really all depends on the specific policy at that restaurant/establishment.

Sadly, no matter how qualified we feel for a specific gig, it is up to the person who makes the hiring decision to determine if they want us on the schedule. In some cases, it may be true that there is no free room in the schedule - or it may be a personal judgment on the part of the hirer. Either way, the final decision isn't ours...all we can do is be as professional as possible and follow the procedures in place.

I am sorry to hear about the issue, but it is something that only the owner of the establishment can choose. If they put the hiring decisions in the hands of the house dancer, then that is the person to deal with about employment options.

Something I have found important - if you are not placed on the schedule, politely ask the person in charge of hiring dancers what you can do to improve your chances of being hired by the establishment. There may be nothing you can do, but there could be good advice for that specific gig.

This all makes sense. What is unfortunate is that some house dancers/schedulers are greedy and catty, and they will exclude certain people based on whether or not they get along with or like them as a person. What I mean is, scheduler A hates dancer B, even though dancer B may be the best dancer in town, there's no way she's working there. Depends who got there first I guess-just sucks when the situation moves beyond your dance talent...

This is an interesting thread. I am a house dancer at just about the only restaurant in town to dance at. There are 3 of us who are "house" dancers. We have all been specifically approached by the manager and asked to perform, not the other way around. He has also requested we do the schedule. Conversely, several other dancers in town have gone to him or us and asked if they could dance. In most cases, he directs the question to us in the form of "if you don't want to dance one night, put dancer a, b, or c on the schedule". So, therefore, if we DO fill the schedule ourselves, that means there's no space for someone else to dance. If we don't, we call the other dancers in the order in which they inquired about performing (or, in some cases, in the order in which the manager has asked us to call them--he does have preferences).

Our manager, frankly, does not want to deal with scheduling dancers. He does occasionally request that we do NOT schedule a dancer, either because he does not like their style or appearance, or his customers have complained about them. He rarely requests that we do schedule a dancer. When he does, we accommodate him UNLESS a dancer calls 2 days before hand and tried to oust a dancer who is already scheduled. That is not professional behavior on anyone's part.

It is not easy being in charge of the dancer schedule at all. In our case, we are working around our own schedule, the desires of the manager (who has specified that he wants us on the schedule as often as possible), and the desires and schedules of the other dancers in town.

One other note about this topic...we have had some people ask if they could dance, and we have tried to accommodate them by adding them to the schedule, only to have them either 1) not show up, 2) try to undercut the house dancers, 3) show up, dance for half and hour, and leave, 4) complain after they danced. This has (fortunately) been somewhat rare, but please, if you ask to be added to the schedule at a restaurant in your community, show up looking nice, dance for the allotted time period, charge the appropriate amount, and be nice to the other people who work at the restaurant.

In many of these cases, I've gotten calls (along with the other 2 house dancers) from a very frantic, lovable manager begging us to hurry and get dressed to fill in for the missing dancer. It makes life very awkward. And then, if we oust the dancer from the schedule in the future, we are accused of being "catty" and "greedy" and taking over the restaurant...when really, we are just trying to make sure someone is on the schedule who will actually show up.

I do want to add that most of the experiences we've had with scheduling other dancers has been positive, and that we have been relieved to have other people to call if / when we find ourselves needing a break, or needing a night filled, or sick, etc... So there's definitely nothing wrong with asking to dance somewhere, of course! And, I'll also add that sometimes if someone asks a manager if she can dance he'll act like he's giving an "ok" but then he'll go tell the scheduler "please don't put her on the schedule"... That puts everyone in a weird place, and it's difficult to break that news to an inquiring dancer--it gives the impression that the house dancers have said no, when really they are just carrying out the "orders" they were given... *sigh*...

Good topic, I understand if the owner or manager does not want to deal with the schdule but i don't like the fact that the schduler is another working dancer. What would motivate the schduler to put anyone but her self and her friends on the schdule? Plus i find that the schduler alway gives her self the best days and times ie weekends ect. It is a conflict of interest. I think if there is a group of dancer dancing at a resturant the schduler should split up the days and times evenly.

Originally Posted by Sonja2

I do want to add that most of the experiences we've had with scheduling other dancers has been positive, and that we have been relieved to have other people to call if / when we find ourselves needing a break, or needing a night filled, or sick, etc... So there's definitely nothing wrong with asking to dance somewhere, of course! And, I'll also add that sometimes if someone asks a manager if she can dance he'll act like he's giving an "ok" but then he'll go tell the scheduler "please don't put her on the schedule"... That puts everyone in a weird place, and it's difficult to break that news to an inquiring dancer--it gives the impression that the house dancers have said no, when really they are just carrying out the "orders" they were given... *sigh*...

When I've been the scheduler, I have NOT picked the best days for myself, but frequently ended up doing the worst nights. I would send out an email saying these are the nights, which ones do you want and which ones can you not do. Then I equally spread the nights with all the dancers. I get stuck having to find subs. I get stuck listening to the dancers and the restaurant complain about dumb stuff. If the scheduler picks the best nights for herself, she probably considers it a perk of her job. While I wouldn't act that way, I wouldn't necessarily blame the action, either.

Also, I have had an owner tell me not to schedule a certain dancer only to find out he was nice to her face and told her he missed her. What a nice position that was for me.

Originally Posted by toria_dances

I understand if the owner or manager does not want to deal with the schdule but i don't like the fact that the schduler is another working dancer. What would motivate the schduler to put anyone but her self and her friends on the schdule? Plus i find that the schduler alway gives her self the best days and times ie weekends ect. It is a conflict of interest. I think if there is a group of dancer dancing at a resturant the schduler should split up the days and times evenly.

No, it's called having the privilege because you've worked yourself into the position.

I'm sorry, but I get a little peeved with outside dancers who feel it's their right to dance at a restaurant because other dancers dance there and who feel like the house dancer needs to run it in a way that is equitable to all dancers in the community.

It's a job. I don't let people come into my place of work and do my job because they want to work there, too.

I've worked as a scheduler of two and now three different restaurants, going on about two years now. I manage about a dozen dancers at these three venues.

I can tell you it's not easy to manage the logistics of scheduling at one place, let alone three. I can also tell you that I am pretty open to letting other dancers audition, because I'm at the point where I don't want to be committed to dancing every weekend any more, but at one time dance was my only income, and the restaurant shows were my only stable income, so I was much less inclined to take a night off. I don't care if you feel like I should give up shows for you - it's my job, and I depend on the income. If you're not an established dancer at a place, you may just have to deal with it until such time that you can be worked into the schedule.

I don't hire the dancers, at any of the places I've scheduled. I will suggest dancers and set up auditions, but the final say in who they like to work with and who their customers like, is theirs and theirs alone. If they don't like you for one reason or another, you won't be back on the schedule. The hardest part of this job is having to tell other dancers they've been cut, since most times management doesn't want to deal with it, and some dancers have decided they were cut because the other dancers didn't want them on the schedule, rather than understanding that it was the owner who decided to cut them. That always creates a sticky situation, and I have yet to figure out how to deal with it in a way that causes the least amount of hurt feelings.

But my point is that it's not up to any house dancer to share her gig. She earned the right to dance there by being reliable, easy to work with, and hopefully being an adequate to excellent dancer and hostess. If she depends on dance for part of her income, why should she give up nights that she could work just because someone else thinks that the gigs aren't being shared equally? I really don't understand this mindset.

Isn't there kind of a heirarchy at most restaurants?

Start out as a sub, prove you can dance and present yourself professionally and might fit in.

When an opening becomes available, you get the crappy nights because you're low man on the totem pole, right? You prove yourself reliable on an ongoing basis, demonstrate that you can consistently put together decent shows, show up on time, etc while you wait for a more choice slot to become open.

If you stick around, dance well and prove yourself to be a true pro, you get a weekend slot if/when one becomes available.

I've worked at jobs with shifts, everyone starts out on 3-11s. Only the folks who'd been around for YEARS had day shifts, and you pretty much had to wait for one of them to retire or keel over before you could THINK of competing for their slot. They didn't step aside for you three days a week out of some sense of fairness. The restaurants I've danced at are the same.

And the head dancer/house dancer/whatever usually DOESN'T receive any pay for her supervisory/scheduling work. The only reward for her work is being able to cherry pick the schedule for herself. A privilege she earned when the owner decided to give her that role. A lead dancer who hands out weekend slots based on friendship -- with no regard for professionalism or dance skill -- wouldn't last long in that position, I'd think.

Owners will sometimes tell you they love you, want to see you on the schedule, etc. but from the other corner of their mouth, they're telling the scheduler they DON'T want you in!

If they *really* want you on the schedule, they'll call up the house dancer and say 'I want so-and-so to dance next Friday night.' If they don't do that, they're just blowing smoke and passing the buck by blaming the lead dancer.

Just my experience from my neck of the woods.

I’m not sure why you quote me? I was just giving my 2 cents base on what “I” experienced in restaurants that I have worked at. Not with all the Schedulers in the whole world. One of the situations I’m talking about is a restaurant that I was working at before the scheduler was working there. I by no means was an 'outside' dancer. I like this topic because I personally have experienced this twice, in place where I was already working. I want to discuss the conflict of interest in having a house dancer do the schedule of other house dance, not call out anyone

[QUOTE=tamrahennatx;270081]No, it's called having the privilege because you've worked yourself into the position.

I'm sorry, but I get a little peeved with outside dancers who feel it's their right to dance at a restaurant because other dancers dance there and who feel like the house dancer needs to run it in a way that is equitable to all dancers in shared equally? QUOTE]

very good point tamrahenna

i too, have scheduled venues, and most of the time take the nights that other dancers have conflicts for...........most schedulers schedule themselves LAST......giving dates to the dancers that requested them a best they can...........

there MAY be some less than ethical schedulers, but for the most part, it's a thankless job, but still one that's been earned and shouldn't be begrudged

[quote=toria_dances;270096]I’m not sure why you quote me? I was just giving my 2 cents base on what “I” experienced in restaurants that I have worked at. Not with all the Schedulers in the whole world. One of the situations I’m talking about is a restaurant that I was working at before the scheduler was working there. I by no means was an 'outside' dancer. I like this topic because I personally have experienced this twice, in place where I was already working. I want to discuss the conflict of interest in having a house dancer do the schedule of other house dance, not call out anyone

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

No, it's called having the privilege because you've worked yourself into the position.

I'm sorry, but I get a little peeved with outside dancers who feel it's their right to dance at a restaurant because other dancers dance there and who feel like the house dancer needs to run it in a way that is equitable to all dancers in shared equally? QUOTE]

i doubt it was aimed specifically.....your point is one many feel, and it was likely answered generally...............many from both ends of this topic are watching this thread with interest, so i'll play devil's advocate and assume all questions and answers are worded generally and not aimed at specific people or venues............

Originally Posted by toria_dances

I’m not sure why you quote me? I was just giving my 2 cents base on what “I” experienced in restaurants that I have worked at. Not with all the Schedulers in the whole world. One of the situations I’m talking about is a restaurant that I was working at before the scheduler was working there. I by no means was an 'outside' dancer. I like this topic because I personally have experienced this twice, in place where I was already working. I want to discuss the conflict of interest in having a house dancer do the schedule of other house dance, not call out anyone

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

No, it's called having the privilege because you've worked yourself into the position.

I'm sorry, but I get a little peeved with outside dancers who feel it's their right to dance at a restaurant because other dancers dance there and who feel like the house dancer needs to run it in a way that is equitable to all dancers in shared equally?

I wasn't attacking you, Toria, I just reacted to your post, since you posted last, and to the general feeling of some posters (and this includes personal conversations I've had with several dancers in the past) that somehow a scheduler needs to make the schedule in a way that is "fair". Most often the scheduler has many things to take into consideration - which dancers are most in demand by the management and customers, availability of any and all dancers, her own needs to make money or have time off, etc. I think that some people feel as if all dancers in a restaurant should get scheduled equally, and that's not always the way it works out.

Generally a scheduler is also a "house dancer" a dancer who has seniority, and therefore has earned the right to pick and choose her dance spots (and many times she may be one of the manager/owner/customer's favorite dancers and is in demand to be there as often as possible). Hopefully, she is also fair to the other dancers on the schedule. But she is not under any obligation to provide equal opportunities to outside dancers, or to give up nights if she depends on her income.

I can tell you this, the more dancers there are on a schedule, the harder it is to manage from a logistical standpoint, so opening a venue to every dancer in town has distinct disadvantages from the scheduler's point of view.

THtx is sooooo right. I don't want to repost all of your posts from above....but I agree with everything you stated!
Yeli

I will say this: I don't give myself the leftovers. I schedule myself the nights and times that I want to work; I've earned that right. I don't over schedule myself, and I don't hog all the shows - I really don't want to work all the time, but I don't feel like I must give everyone else consideration above myself.

I HAVE often given myself the shows that no one else has been available for, even when my preference was to have that night off. One of the responsibilities of the scheduler is to make sure that the venue is never lacking for a dancer, and many times, if one of the other dancers suddenly can't make it, it can mean an inconvenient last-minute gig for the scheduler

Nadirah, that analogy of yours with the cashier/job is actually coming from Dondi - we were both in her workshop when she used it to make her point (In March 2008) However I feel that it is flawed.
By you going to a grocery store, applying for a job may not get the other cashiers fired. They may not get fired because you are prettier / a new face / even someone with more skills, etc. That cashier would have to go through disciplinary action to be fired, otherwise laws can protect her. So you will not adversely affect her.

We, dancers are in a different position. Like you said we feel privileged for the moment because you never know it's over.

I'm not trying to argue though, I agree with you and feel your pain, I just wanted to clarify that one thing.

When I was th scheduler/house dancer at Zorba's I always did the schedule according to the owner's wishes. You and a lot of the other dancers don't know this but he always made comments: put her on more often; don't schedule this girl anymore, she needs to take more classes; don't schedule her that often, maybe every other month, etc.
This put me in a difficult situation because I had to be the messenger, and although I tried to handle it diplomatically it was often very hard.
I agree with Lauren: the owner sometimes made it very clear that he didn't want someone dancing but he was sweet and smily to their face (of course, he had me to do the dirty work for him). I'm sure some of the girls were wondering if it was me or the owner, but what could I do?
Also I have never scheduled the dancers more because they were my friends, and some of them who were my friends I had to take off the schedule - luckily they were all cool about it as were able to separate business from friendship.

I thin the scheduler must treat this as a job, keep it business-like and stay objective. However most of the time they don't get extra money for this (but it does take a lot of time), so if she pickes a good night for herself, is the first one to pick the dates, what's the big deal?

A house dancer - correct me if I'm wrong - is one that is usually scheduled at the restaurant. She may not be there every night, but is there quite often and regularly.

I think a scheduler that does not even dance at the restaurant is not a very good idea - usually a they do dance there. I've seen this happen here in our area, the dancer doesn't even dance at the rest. or maybe once out of every 12 times, but she does the schedule - why even bother? Is it just to say you are doing the schedule? Or because you want to send your students to dance there? (this is not you directly, but in general)

this is a complex issue though, and I'm just kind of rambling. I haven't quite read through all the other responses, but definitely agree with Tamra Henna.

Originally Posted by Marianna

When I was th scheduler/house dancer at Zorba's I always did the schedule according to the owner's wishes. You and a lot of the other dancers don't know this but he always made comments: put her on more often; don't schedule this girl anymore, she needs to take more classes; don't schedule her that often, maybe every other month, etc.
This put me in a difficult situation because I had to be the messenger, and although I tried to handle it diplomatically it was often very hard.


A house dancer - correct me if I'm wrong - is one that is usually scheduled at the restaurant. She may not be there every night, but is there quite often and regularly.

.

For that very reason is why I think a house dance should not do the schdule, it should be someone who can be objective.
To me a 'house danceer" means the dancer/s that is regularly schduled to dance there, not a sub. So in my situations there was more the one house dancer, but only one schduler

Originally Posted by toria_dances

For that very reason is why I think a house dance should not do the schdule, it should be someone who can be objective.
To me the housedance means the dancer/s that is reqularly schduled to dance there, not a sub. So in my situation there is more the one house dancer, but only one schduler

If not one of the house dancers, then who?

Just to clarify I believe I was extremely objective. By putting my friends in who may not be as good as some other dancers, the owner would not have been happy with me, so why do it?

If I put the best dancers there the owner will be happy with them and me as the scheduler.
So either the house dancer/scheduler will quickly learn how to be objective or otherwise it may not work out.

Originally Posted by Marianna

Just to clarify I believe I was extremely objective. By putting my friends in who may not be as good as some other dancers, the owner would not have been happy with me, so why do it?

If I put the best dancers there the owner will be happy with them and me as the scheduler.
So either the house dancer/scheduler will quickly learn how to be objective or otherwise it may not work out.

It is a tough job. Sometimes the owner does not favor a dancer, even if she is a good dancer. Sometimes other factors, such as looks and personality (such as how well she interacts with the audience and her co-workers) factor into their preferences. These are the situations that can become potential time bombs, and as the scheduler you have to become adept at tiptoeing through the mine-field.

Well, I think we here in Dallas are pretty lucky because, for the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox together. Of course, there are always a couple that don't but they stick to themselves.

I would expect, if I were new to a schedule, to start out getting the "crap" days while those who had proved themselves got the better days. That's just the way it goes. I didn't start out at my day job on the top of the heap, I had to work up the ladder.

However, in a small town with limited venues, people ARE going to be possessive of their gigs. If there aren't many to have, don't expect them to be willing to hand them out graciously. If you aren't part of their "click" then you most likely won't be on the schedule. You can make your intentions known but going around the head dancer/scheduler will just result in upset feelings.

here is a situation: what if dancers A,B and C have been dancing in a resturant for a year, then dancer D get hired on to help since the resturant is very busy, and the manager wants one more dancer. For a year the manager has been doing the schdule where he equally splits up the weekends and weekdays, it is up to the dancers to trade with each other if they need off or find a sub. Dancer D has just been hired and convences the manager that she can do the schdule and take if off his hands. Now the new dancer is doing the schdule where she makes the schudule and picks her days she wants then sends an email letting us know what days are left. Dancer A is up set because she does this for a living and is stuck with mostly weekdays to pick from she complaind so is now on the sub list. Schduler now has brought in dancer E who is her buddy. What should dancers A,B and C do?
note (dancers D and E are really good dancers, and have a former relationship with manager)

Originally Posted by zahena

Well, I think we here in Dallas are pretty lucky because, for the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox together. Of course, there are always a couple that don't but they stick to themselves.

I would expect, if I were new to a schedule, to start out getting the "crap" days while those who had proved themselves got the better days. That's just the way it goes. I didn't start out at my day job on the top of the heap, I had to work up the ladder.

However, in a small town with limited venues, people ARE going to be possessive of their gigs. If there aren't many to have, don't expect them to be willing to hand them out graciously. If you aren't part of their "click" then you most likely won't be on the schedule. You can make your intentions known but going around the head dancer/scheduler will just result in upset feelings.

Well, that's just bullsh!t! LOL! No, that's really wrong of that dancer. I would say that original dancers need to speak with the scheduling dancer outright and say that it's not a fair distribution of days and see what you can work out together.

If that doens't work well, then perhaps management needs to be approached. However, you have to be pretty careful about this situation with management. Most managers don't really care WHO dances just so long as its a person of their choosing and don't want to be bothered with the dancers that much. If they feel you're just making trouble or being high maintenance then there is an even larger chance of being out altogether! It's a slippery slope that's why my suggestion would be to approach it as a united front to the scheduling dancer in a polite but stern way.

Originally Posted by zahena

Well, that's just bullsh!t! LOL! No, that's really wrong of that dancer. I would say that original dancers need to speak with the scheduling dancer outright and say that it's not a fair distribution of days and see what you can work out together.

If that doens't work well, then perhaps management needs to be approached. However, you have to be pretty careful about this situation with management. Most managers don't really care WHO dances just so long as its a person of their choosing and don't want to be bothered with the dancers that much. If they feel you're just making trouble or being high maintenance then there is an even larger chance of being out altogether! It's a slippery slope that's why my suggestion would be to approach it as a united front to the scheduling dancer in a polite but stern way.

Considering there was a prior relationship, I'm curious if the "interloper" dancer didn't used to dance at the establishment before the dancers who are there currently? That may factor into the situation.

TamraHenna:

I agree with everything you have posted so far! I have been one of two house dancers at one venue - I danced every Saturday night and another dancer worked every Friday. I was the first dancer approached by the owner and recruited the second dancer based on the stellar skill of the other dancer. When either of us needed to take time off, we had a small list of approved subs; the owner wanted quality, not just cute young girls in shiny costumes! There was no schedule, we just let the owner know when a sub would be coming in instead of one of us.

I am the scheduling dancer at another venue (weekend shows only) and scheduling is a lot tougher than it seems. I was asked by the owner to take over the schedule as he was unhappy with the way the former scheduler did the job. I feel that my job as scheduler is to listen to the owner's requests; if he wants dancer A and not dancer B, but I feel that dancer B is the stronger dancer, well, it is his venue and his money and while my opinion does hold some weight, his requests are the final answer (even if I don't agree with them). It can be very tough sometimes. I have had dancers contact me about working there and there are dancers that have contacted the owner directly. Either way, he and I talk and I let him make the final decision.

Dance is my full-time job, so I schedule myself on the days that I would like, but if there is a day that no one else can work, or if someone else only has that day available, I make the needed changes. I don't get paid extra to do the schedule, so I usually schedule myself an extra night each month as my payment, so to speak.

As the scheduler, my main goal is to make the owner and the restaurant patrons happy. I don't play politics; if you are nice to me and the owner does not want you dancing at his restaurant, well, you won't be able to sweet talk your way in. It is not personal, it is business.

Ah yes, it would appear so. While I agree senority should take a precedence it shouldn't mean that one dancer gets all the "good" days while everyone else gets the weekdays.

I guess we're just fairly lucky out here because for the most part, I've never encountered anything but completely fair distribution of dance days when I was working. Of course, now I only dance like once a month if I want to. And some of those schedules I was with THTX so I know she was always more than fair.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

Considering there was a prior relationship, I'm curious if the "interloper" dancer didn't used to dance at the establishment before the dancers who are there currently? That may factor into the situation.

It was posted that dancer D had a former relationship with the manager, so that probably holds weight, depending on what kind of relationship it is. If they have a long-standing working relationship, perhaps he asked her to make the changes she has, and was not comfortable telling that to the other dancers. A lot of owners don't want to hurt dancers' feelings, but maybe he really does only want dancers D and E to work on the weekends. If dancers D and E are really good dancers, that may be the answer in and of itself.

Also, the owner might have wanted some new faces. Nothing personal, nothing wrong with dancers a-c, just d and e are "fresh".