Thread: am i the only one who thinks this is priced kind of low?

so my friend sent me this audition info for this well known restaurant/dinner & a show place that is lookin for bellydancers who can also flamenco (god, the image i have of flamenco imposters are giving me a headache, just cuz u have a twirly skirt and can stomp around doesn't mean u can dance flamenco, but that's another topic of its own). well i thought great! i do both! :) so i contacted the contact person with some questions and am waiting to hear back but then i thought, hmm isn't this priced a little low? they're asking $75 for a show which consists of bellydancing while the guests are going into the place and then later on doing flamenco for the main show...my friend gets $75 for a 20 min. set just doing belly dance..this gig would include a costume change and it sounds like i would be there the whole night!
i've never been there tho so who knows. what do you guys think?

and i should add, that they used to have belly dancers from one studio dance there but i guess not anymore if they're looking for people..not sure what happened there so it's not something that just happened overnight

$75 is low. Around here the rates are about $100 bucks. And if this is one of those places like they have in orlando where they have lots of "talent" (medieval times comes to mind), then they should pay you a lot more than that!

In our area, this would be considered low. I don't know if there is a difference for how Flamenco dancers are hired to perform, but if you are doing two shows for 75.00, even if they are two different styles of dances, that this involved a costume change, and you would have to stick around for a bit to do a second show then you should be getting much more than 75.00 IMHO. I would think 75.00 or more (I personally think more) per show as they involve different costumes, different looks and hello! different dance styles, especially if you are there getting people to stay for dessert and coffee and drinks--the restaurant should be able to afford your price. AND especially if you are able to do both roles! Not every gal can do flamenco and bellydance!!!

THANK U! gosh i thought i was crazy for a second. now i'm torn about auditioning tho... this would really be the only place that i could dance b/c of my family situation..b/c the actual dancing at the restaurant would be flamenco..but flamenco is so broad of a term..one of my questions was what style?? i mean i could be out there doing a folk dance and the regular Joe Schmoe wouldn't know the difference (which could be good tho lol)

and andalee, it is a medieval type place actually lol

another problem which made me think about the pricing issue: the place is bout 40 min. away from me..that's w/o traffic.
ugh i guess it's not even worth it to audition then :( that and the fact that i'm leaving for a month soon...
blahhh :(

Zana, what's that sound coming from the bushes? Sounds like little birds:

"Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!"

Sounds like a potentially awesome gig, but an awfully low rate for somebody specialized and cool enough to know BD and flamenco ,r:;

Around here, I get anywhere between $100-150 for the occasional restaurant stuff I do. That is, for one set. Florida probably has a different payscale, but that $75 for a whole night amounts to approximately $35 a set. Eep!

If I were you, I'd walk. There's bigger and better out there, my dear

that's what i was thinking. mehhh y do opportunities like this have to come with such sucky details?! errr

now i'm curious to see who they'll actually hire to do flamenco..or what they think is flamenco..the nightmares are starting .w.: ..c::

..l;,

It's not an opportunity if it sucks, young grasshoppa ..l;,

Remember that, OK?

TRUE!

the even funnier thing about this is that eating there is not cheap! so i really don't see y they can't splurge a little bit more to cover the entertainment because their medieval theme or w/e is the main attraction!

And it's not like they don't get enough revenue from all the tourists, either.

Oddly, the best paying restaurant gig I've done in a LONG time was an Italian restaurant. The owner agreed to pay me at the high end of my price scale. AND there were tons of Lebanese folks in the audience there who knew how to tip.

Sometimes, the best gigs are actually the less "obvious" ones!

Why not audition, have them fall in love with your talent & glamour and then say well I can't make this work for $75. My fee is $XYZ aim high and see if they counter offer with a figure you can live with. Say if you want $150, quote them $200 or something. They'll talk you down to $150 and feel like they've gotten a deal. If they won't negotiate, say "it was wonderful to meet with and I'd love to work with you in the future if you find you can increase your pay scale".

You (they) describe it as one show, but it's actually two sets--different music, different costume... "later on"... Add to that the fact that I doubt there are many who are qualified to do both belly and flamenco, I think you have some room to negotiate. Figure out how much you want for the gig and come back with another offer. Sell yourself. They can probably find two different dancers for the shows if they can't find a single person, but explain to them why it's easier and better if you were doing both shows (less scheduling hassles, customers will recognize you and appreciate the show more, etc).

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. See if they will up their price before you walk. (But of course, be prepared to walk if they won't)

Good luck--sounds great!

thanks, i actually thought of doing that but the only issue is that i have no idea who books the dancers so i'm really sure that they wouldn't know flamenco if it was staring at them in the face. especially because the dancers that used to dance there were from a studio that offered bd and flamenco but there was probably only one person (the instructor) who was really qualified to dance flamenco. but maybe it's worth a shot...they're asking for a resume and if available, video clips and whatnot, before hand and then they will narrow it down to the actual auditions which makes me think they might actually look into years of experience..or that could just be experience as far as gigging. and the pay was stated clearly in the ad so not sure how far i'd get if i got into the group of ppl to audition to only tell them later on that i won't do it for less than XYZ

Originally Posted by zfejzic

(snip)
they're asking $75 for a show which consists of bellydancing while the guests are going into the place and then later on doing flamenco for the main show...my friend gets $75 for a 20 min. set just doing belly dance..this gig would include a costume change and it sounds like i would be there the whole night!
I've never been there tho so who knows. what do you guys think?

In my city $75 for a weekly 20-minute belly dance set would be good (definitively on on the higher side of the pay scale, in fact). If the other dancer (one set, one style) is getting the $75, I would expect that you would get at least double for your show (for a costume change and a second set, especially in a different style you are also skilled at, and assuming that the $75 is consistent with restaurant rates in your area).

It never hurts to hone your audition and negotiation skills, and this sounds like a potentially cool gig if it works out and they meet your price.

Good luck and keep us posted!

$75 for restaurants here is the average rate. the lowest of the low is $50 and the highest somewhere around $120 or so i think? so no issue there. but what got me wondering is the 2 sets thing...

re-reading the email now it does say "$75/show"...but idk if they consider the bellydancing a true "show" because this is what is says:

The belly dancing would happen pre-show in our "Great Hall" while the guests are waiting to enter the palace. The flamenco dancing would occur during our Garrocha act.

so the wording is confusing me. or am i just reading too much into it? LOL

You could at least audition (w/out getting your hopes too high) and see what they say. I like the idea of at least trying out and then negotiating a price. I'm sure the establishment posted a price to stop anyone whose minimum rate starts at $200. Try it! Besides, you have twice the talent. What's $25 more? If they get too cheap, you'll understand what potential problems the previous bellydancers had with them.

i think i was just blind and misread (see last post). or maybe it was too early in the morning? LOL

It is confusing. Maybe you should e-mail them back and try to get some clarification on what they consider a "show."

It sounds like two separate shows to me and should be charged as such.

ehh no response yet but i went ahead and submitted a resume. we shall see what happens! thanks everyone for ur advice :)

Let us know how it goes! I would say, "I charge _____ per show for bellydance and ____ for flamenco, which includes ____, and I am available to do both the bellydance show and the flamenco show for ____."

Or, have you suggested that perhaps they hire a bellydancer and a flamenco dancer separately? Do you have a bellydancing friend whom you could confidently recommend for the first part, and do the flamenco yourself as part of a "package" that would include $75 (minimum) for both of you? The venue may be more amenable if you can present them with a solution that would mean less work for them, and a coordinated, professional show with less lag between style changes.

BTW, I'm in North Florida and as of a few years ago, I *think* that dancers were fighting for three fifteen minute sets at 75 bucks, plus tips, plus a meal, with at least one costume change for restaurants. This price went up for private parties and one-off events. Paid stuff has mostly dried up, so I'm not sure what it is now.

Hahaha! I gotta remember this one! ..l;,

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

It's not an opportunity if it sucks, young grasshoppa ..l;,

Remember that, OK?

just as an update, i *finally* heard back from the woman and she said they are only looking for a bellydancer at this time. She asked me to audition next Wednesday but I'll be out of the country by Friday ..c:: I emailed her back with times I could audition before I left if she'd like. So we'll see what happens!

And she explained the price to me. It was PER show. whew! I was about to say!

the other thing to consider are the tips. Plenty of restaurants in LA pay dancers minimum wage but the dancers make tons of tips. So see if you can find how much the tips average per night. It might make quite a difference. I know several dancers that only make about $40 for a night of dancing but come away with several hundred in tips. So it sort of works out and the restaurant is aware of it and don't try to get a cut of the tips.