Thread: Does this seem low or about right?

The nitty-gritty results of my meeting w/club manager tonight:

Starting Oct. 1, they want 2 dancers every Thurs to do two 15min sets at the same time in diff areas of the club with a 30min break between sets, & once a month a floor show (or something w/Wow factor - wings, candle tray, etc.) as part of 1st set. Firm start time of midnight for the first set, 12:45 for 2nd set. Paying $125 per dancer. I know most give discounted rates to venues with regular bookings, but does $125 seem too low or is that about right for a weekly 2 set gig (plus monthly 'show' - choreo'd song - as part of the first set).

Thoughts?

Is that $125 apiece? If so, that's not bad for Texas, although the showtime is a bit later than usual.

Thanks for replying Tamra. Yup, $125 for each dancer, each week. Just curious, because initially it was presented as a possible one off floorshow for an event, so I quoted a one off price & they balked at it, but guess I shouldn't be surprised - money is always the issue, right? ,r:;

Yeah..start time sucks & especially on a thursday night. weekends i wouldn't care so much, but i've got a day job. that's what's really got me going Meh. weekends they're packed, but thursday is their slow night. so they want a draw.

Latin club wanting to start up a 'world music' night - reaching out to try & draw in the Indian & ME communities here (didn't know we had a big ME community here, which is interesting). Got excited to find out there's Latin/Arabic music & asked if I'd send a few album/song titles so they could hear & see if it'd really work for the club (duh, I know it will, otherwise I wouldn't have said it).

Carrara, if you're out there lurking while on vacay - you saved me girl. They did just about everything you said they would - or the DJ/"booking person" tried to, anyway. Manager was much more professional, tho he asked if I brought a resume. Felt like saying no, but if you know who Karen Barbee, Bahaia, Aziza, Drakon, Z-Helene & Suhaila Salimpour are, for starters, then I'll be glad to send you one showing who I study/have studied with & taken workshops from. ..l;, Instead I said no, I brought you a contract ..l;,.

Think the contract will need to spell EVERYTHING out VERY clearly and cover as much as possible so they don't get a loophole. Otherwise might be fun. The start time tho...owch.

Ruya! Glad I could help, girl. Between dance and my previous job in advertising sales, I know the behavioral psychology of club owners (and "nightlife promoters") ALL too well

I might have charged more for 2 sets, but each region is different. Just make sure "waiting around for stupid amounts of time" is not part of the owner's definition of 2 sets A clause in your contract about the importance of being on time should help. PLEASE feel free to review my contract if you need help, it's available for download on my Booking page.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Ruya! Glad I could help, girl. Between dance and my previous job in advertising sales, I know the behavioral psychology of club owners (and "nightlife promoters") ALL too well

I might have charged more for 2 sets, but each region is different. Just make sure "waiting around for stupid amounts of time" is not part of the owner's definition of 2 sets A clause in your contract about the importance of being on time should help. PLEASE feel free to review my contract if you need help, it's available for download on my Booking page.

actually....w.: i took a modified version of yours last night. and i'll tell you, they barely looked at it. gave it back to me to "hang on to" ,r:; seemed very surprised and concerned(?) that i work by contract only. told this it was an example of most basic contract & whatever we do would be tailored to spell out whatever we do, etc. - because i even at that point i got the vibe everything would prob need to be spelled out...even down to music & costume are in my control, not theirs.

btw, if you dont mind looking in The Rest forum, two painful vids i have there, since they did ask if i have any video so they can see me - i just said no i don't have anything up yet. the first vid haunts me from baby belly days, but it's with a latin artist so i might (??ha??) could spin it into something good for them. second is more recent. question is do i show either/both to them.

Yup, that sounds about right. Back when I worked in ad sales, my bar clients would flip straight to the price and glaze over through the duration of my 10-minute presentation about the great multi-platform ad campaigns I wanted to put together for them. I swear to God, I could have pitched a Dress Like Your Favorite Elementary School Lunch Lady Night, with a schedule of :60 spots narrated in an Arnold Schwarzanegger voice, and they wouldn't have blinked ,r:;

As for your client, remember the magic words: "I work by contract to make things easier for you." Contracts ensure that you'll show up on time and all of their needs are met. Typically, business owners appreciate when their vendors and subs manage expectations. And if this is a weekly thing, I wouldn't do a contract every week. Just one before you roll up your sleeves and get to work!

That midnight show seems a bit late. Are the folks in Texas night owls? Of course, I'm old and set in my ways, so midnight is really late for me, especially when you have a day job. I remember the nightclubs in Cairo would start their main show at 3 am, but that was Cairo.

Kathy, it's not just you. The latest show I've recently performed in CT was 11:00. Most restaurant and club gigs I do are around 9:00ish, 10 at the latest. Then again, my entire town closes shop by 9 p.m. ,r:;

A lot of club owners like to "wait until it gets busy," which sometimes results in a grueling test of how long you can stay locked up in a small bathroom or coat closet without losing valuable brain cells. To some, 9:00 really means 11:30. I'll gladly wait 15-20 minutes, max, if that's what they request. Anything longer than that is just ridiculous, if you ask me. This is why I have the most bad-ass contract in town, and stress from the get-go that I'm usually on my way from one gig to another. Time = moola if you've got multiple gigs in one evening. Even if you don't, the human body is a precious instrument. You need to be alert to go to work the next day and to have energy for your weekend gigs.

So make sure they don't pull any funny business making you wait between or after your sets!

i do agree re: midnight start time. 1st set midnight-12:15am, 2nd set 12:45-1am. tried to push for earlier but they're firm on that late time. initially wanted an hour between sets until i told them the longer we have to wait, the more it will cost them. then they wanted 45min between sets (said with a ridic smirky smile - like i don't know they'd try to work that into an hour wait) & i said no, 30mins max.

talked w/another dancer here about working it w/me (hey sariah ..g.:) because they're set on having two dancers. like i told her, i think we'll need to spell every single thing out clearly in a contract and stick with it, because i can already tell they're going to try & be slick & push the boundaries. i think we'll have to be prepared to walk if they don't agree to a contract.

eta: carrara, yah, Mr. DJ already tried the suggestion of do our sets then dance among the crowd "mingle" (HA!) until the next set. I said No. DJ seems to think he's pretty Rico Suave, but I got news for him, lol.

Originally Posted by TexasRuya

eta: carrara, yah, Mr. DJ already tried the suggestion of do our sets then dance among the crowd "mingle" (HA!) until the next set. I said No. DJ seems to think he's pretty Rico Suave, but I got news for him, lol.

I'm pretty sure they might be referring to some form of audience participation - in nightclub promoter-speak, of course

You can satisfy this request by making sure you throw in one song at the end of your set where you pull girls from the crowd up to dance with you. (You should theoretically do this, anyway!)

If, by mingling, they actually mean galavanting around in your costume and talking to people in between sets....uhhhhh, NO. LOL. You can always use the tried-and-true explanation that too much mingling will kill the exotic vibe. Again, I'm sure you already know this. But the more you rehearse the "scripts," the more comfortable these meetings will become!

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I'm pretty sure they might be referring to some form of audience participation - in nightclub promoter-speak, of course

You can satisfy this request by making sure you throw in one song at the end of your set where you pull girls from the crowd up to dance with you. (You should theoretically do this, anyway!)

If, by mingling, they actually mean galavanting around in your costume and talking to people in between sets....uhhhhh, NO. LOL. You can always use the tried-and-true explanation that too much mingling will kill the exotic vibe. Again, I'm sure you already know this. But the more you rehearse the "scripts," the more comfortable these meetings will become!

Well, he actually said, "And you know, while you're waiting between sets you can walk around & mingle with people and stuff instead of just sitting in the back". And this 'mingling' was indicated as to take place at the bar. Suddenly felt like he was talking to me like a stripper - the whole go mingle w/customers between sets & get them to buy overpriced drinks type of stuff. I was glad when his dopey butt left. The manager's slick too, but at least doesn't act like that guy.

Originally Posted by TexasRuya

Well, he actually said, "And you know, while you're waiting between sets you can walk around & mingle with people and stuff instead of just sitting in the back". And this 'mingling' was indicated as to take place at the bar. Suddenly felt like he was talking to me like a stripper - the whole go mingle w/customers between sets & get them to buy overpriced drinks type of stuff. I was glad when his dopey butt left. The manager's slick too, but at least doesn't act like that guy.

It would have been very difficult for me not to sit there like this: ,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,s::

Tell him you'd love to mingle, but your pet unicorn's tied to a bicycle rack and you've gotta go check on him.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

It would have been very difficult for me not to sit there like this: ,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,r:;,s::

Tell him you'd love to mingle, but your pet unicorn's tied to a bicycle rack and you've gotta go check on him.

omg. i just had to stifle a big HA! of laughter at my desk. that one's getting filed away in my head next to Fotia's answer to the Where are you from? question ("I popped out of a bottle").

And if he asks why your unicorn is so important to you, tell him that your uni poops Swarovski crystals. (Meanwhile, gesturing toward the gems on your bedlah). ..l;,

Um, just to e clear, it's $125 per weekend per dancer, so that is $125 for 4 sets? Or $62.50 per night per dancer? Does this seem right?

{{{HUGS}}}

tahira, there's $250 in play. they're offering $125 each for us to do two 15min sets, danced at the exact same time just one dancer at one end of the club & one at the other end of the club. And they want a floorshow (which of course will require choreography) once a month & it'd lead off the first set.

actually I just asked tamrahenna this, but i'll ask here too: the owner emailed me last night & said tentative start date of october 1st. With a floorshow to lead off, of course. We haven't even agreed to anything, i just met w/him & told him the other dancer expressed some interest but we were going to talk it over. So it seems he's pushing (I know, manipulative tactic) for us to start in 2 1/2 wks, at midnight, & pull out a fantabulous choreo'd floorshow? In 2 1/2 weeks? With no contract signed? I'm not even going to consider thinking about music for a choreo'd 2 dancer floorshow until I have a signed contract in hand. And I really want an earlier start time. As it stands, I wouldn't get to bed before 2am, then have to be up at 0730 to get to work by 0830. Then be dog tired all Friday? The potential for undereye circles/bags are great - the body is indeed a precious instrument. If I look like crap or am obviously really tired, why would anyone else want to hire me for their gig? If I agree to weekly midnight shows, I won't even last a month, I know it.

So the question is, do I/we just tell the owner flat out we're not doing midnight shows but offer an alternative time that we would do it? Or is there any nicer way to get them to change the time on their own? They want to keep people there until 1am (drinking) and seemed pretty adamant about it - in fact I got smirked at ,m:: when I said midnight was pretty late to start during the week & mentioned we have day jobs to get to in the morning.

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

Um, just to e clear, it's $125 per weekend per dancer, so that is $125 for 4 sets? Or $62.50 per night per dancer? Does this seem right?

{{{HUGS}}}

This is what I got from it too.... .w.:

2 sets for me, 2 sets for the other dancer.

Although it may be moot now, the owner's being...well, a club owner ..l;,

We talked about it & are walking since it doesn't seem he wants to budge on start time (midnight, during the week - anything else is "too early for what we're trying to accomplish" *roll eyes*). He'll be getting an email from me tonight saying how sorry we are that we won't be able to work together on this, but wishing him success in it & if he should change his mind please let us know.