Thread: The ethics of dancing for free – showcases

Originally Posted by lizajuk

One point about the kind of showcases and performance opportunities that occur here n the UK. They may not be paid for participants but in the end, they have been created by the organsier to give a performance opportunity that was not there before.
Some dancers do get the restaurant,party and corporate events that are paid. There are "gigs" in rest homes and for charities that may have a fee involved but for many dancers, even those of some experience the ones. And for some theatre and festival will have little or no remuneration just satisfcation. if you want to platform yourself to your peers,friends,family and the GP, you sometimes have to give your talent. You have a choice - you don't have to do it. More often than not we end up paying to perform at haflas because they are non-profit making or fundraising. So performing for free can seem like a great alternative!
Thos of us who started dancing in our 40s 50s 60s were never going to be commercially viable but we might still think we are entertaining and we'd like to show off a bit so it's great that people make an effort to provide a platform for us. Having said that the troupe I belong to got a paid gig when film makers saw us performing at a festival so there ya go!

Also, why shouldn't the organisers of a show make some earnings from it. I've been organising haflahs for years, and I do make money from it, not a huge amount but enough. It's part of my living. There seems to be almost some culture of resentment if an event organisers dares to make money and not pay those taking part. Nobody has their arm twisted to perform. And as Liz said, most people find the performing side of such events an opportunity they would not normally be able to have. The organisation of such events is a massive undertaking that takes up time, money and energy. And venues are not cheap.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

nor do you ask an artist to paint you a "sample" painting,

What? That is simply not true.
Even as a renowned illustrator with over 12 years professional experience I regularly get asked to provide samples. I don't just mean showing existing samples that I have in my portfolio, I mean painting a picture to that publishers specifications so that they can see how the finished project will look, pitch to clients etc.

You might like to think that bellydance is the only industry where pros get asked to work for nothing but that is simply not the case.
It happens a lot in many other jobs, but more where the job is percieved by the client to be fun and/or creative.

Originally Posted by kharis_UK

Also, why shouldn't the organisers of a show make some earnings from it. I've been organising haflahs for years, and I do make money from it, not a huge amount but enough. It's part of my living. There seems to be almost some culture of resentment if an event organisers dares to make money and not pay those taking part. Nobody has their arm twisted to perform. And as Liz said, most people find the performing side of such events an opportunity they would not normally be able to have. The organisation of such events is a massive undertaking that takes up time, money and energy. And venues are not cheap.

Hi Kharis, I wasn't complaining about not being paid, I was simply checking the great bhuz consensus that it was an OK thing to do. I wanted to do them but I didn't want to accidently make a business/ethical faux pas!

Z

I'm confessed, so does any dancer besides the BDSS get paid for doing multidancer showcases?

Originally Posted by firefly5

What? That is simply not true.
Even as a renowned illustrator with over 12 years professional experience I regularly get asked to provide samples. I don't just mean showing existing samples that I have in my portfolio, I mean painting a picture to that publishers specifications so that they can see how the finished project will look, pitch to clients etc.

You might like to think that bellydance is the only industry where pros get asked to work for nothing but that is simply not the case.
It happens a lot in many other jobs, but more where the job is percieved by the client to be fun and/or creative.

*nods*

I have a friend who does set design and 3D work, and I know when he tenders for work he obviously has to provide drawings etc. That's just normal. Years ago I was working for a company that wanted to produce a series of brochures, and all the applicants provided dummies, some of them absolutely beautiful things. They didn't get paid.

Originally Posted by toria_dances

I'm confessed, so does any dancer besides the BDSS get paid for doing multidancer showcases?

To me, a showcase is a different animal as compared to a show.

That said, I can't imagine not compensating the performers in some manner for a showcase -- even if it's a meal and tips.

I put on an all-pro show last year and everybody got paid. It was a quasi-theatrical situation. Although I wasn't able to pay the big bucks, I was able to pay an honorarium of $100 each. There were 10 dancers, each doing about 10 minutes. You do the math.

I know many of the dancers that participated in my little show have done great big shows (hundreds of people in attendance) gratis, but there is often a DVD produced of the show, which gets the names, faces and potential "star" status of the performers out to the masses.

Deborah

I've been participating in two community shows for about a year now. Neither is paid (although if you count the drinks/meal and tips I've made more at these than I was at a paying gig at the last restaurant I worked at) but they are a great way to foster community and allow people to get some experience without having to dive into the restaurant scene, which can be painful.

For the most part the audience is family/friends of dancers but both venues advertise the shows on Web sites and in the restaurant so there are sometimes actual GP (I just don't count my family as GP anymore). While I'd like to see a little bit more education for the emcee about the types of dance being done, I've almost completely scaled back to the community show. I love to perform but I just don't have the claws to make it at most of the restaurants in my area.

I've made friends, had fun and advanced my dancing. Neither of these places is going to hire a regular belly dancer so I don't feel like I'm undercutting. And I know in both cases that the organizers aren't making money. But they might in the future as they gain experience, so I also want to support that.