Thread: Professional Associations

Anybody a member? Anybody start one? Thinking of it? Heard about it? Think it's a good idea? Think it's a bad idea? Have experiences to share?

I'm a decade away from going pro, but I think having some kind of dancers' union or association could be a good idea (to set standard rates, requirements for professional conduct, outline contracts, etc.).

Every time I see this topic brought up it seems to be met with a bunch of negative responses. Personally, I don't know how I feel. I think there is a lot of improvement that could be made to the belly dance world in terms of business saavy and marketing, but nobody has seemed to garner enough support to truly pull off anything that might make a difference.

There are 2 national Arabic dance assocaitions in the UK. I would call these networks as members are amateurs and followers as well as professional but they do promote the kind of issues for discussion you mention but they are in no way a trades union/professional association. They do provide professional with access to PLI and legal requirements.
It's a very valuable way to keep dancers informed and in touch and in an ideal situation maybe enabling them to get togther to cooperate .
I think a network of dancers who keep in touch and meet might be a way forward in any situation. Of course numbers and distances are much greater in the USA but regionally it should be possible. What function does MEDCA(?) fulfill?

We have one and it is great!!! We just had our first show last night and it was awesome. Here is our Web site. accmedNC.org