"What Is Community?"

[rosehips]

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2009 issue of Belly Dance New England, and Amy Smith just put it up on their website - so I thought I'd share it here too:

http://bellydancenewengland.com/features/?p=19

[Tourbeau]

It's a shame that the people who need to read her essay and take it to heart will be the ones who won't--won't be out there trying to enrich themselves as dancers to find it, and won't realize it applies to them if they do.

[anthea]

very cool, thanks for sharing -

[rosehips]

It's a shame that the people who need to read her essay and take it to heart will be the ones who won't--won't be out there trying to enrich themselves as dancers to find it, and won't realize it applies to them if they do.

Yes, but that's a given (and even if they ask you for advice, and you tell them point blank, there's a good chance they won't listen). But my target audience for this piece was more aimed to the newer faces in the community. Especially here in New England, there are a lot of new-to-the-scene dancers, or "young" in the sense that they weren't given or open to proper guidance by their teachers for any number of reasons (if there was a teacher at all..). But it also helps to remember that "they" is also "we" and it's up to us to help maintain those standards, if we expect others to do the same.

[SamiraShuruk]

Yes, but that's a given (and even if they ask you for advice, and you tell them point blank, there's a good chance they won't listen). But my target audience for this piece was more aimed to the newer faces in the community....

Agreed on the first part, sadly enough... BUT, thank you for writing this. It is wonderful for newer students and people capable of community.

[KDizzle]

excellent article!

[maurazebra]

Reading about other people's successful belly dance communities is like reading about other people's successful marriages... I've never been in one but it is always nice to hear that they exist. Felicitations!

[rosehips]

Reading about other people's successful belly dance communities is like reading about other people's successful marriages... I've never been in one but it is always nice to hear that they exist. Felicitations!

Good news! Luckily the article is about neither of those things! :)

[LiesaB.]

Very well put and to the point. It's never too late to be the community that you want.

[Lara L]

Thank you! it is nice to be able to forward someone else's words every once in a while so I don't feel like I'm just lecturing! See? other professionals think this way too!
(I meant to say Look- what a great article, so well written & we all need reminders now & again...)

[kemintiri]

Thank you for the article. I've posted it to the Facebook page I've created for our community, where it will be seen, and hopefully read, by all the members of the community.

[SatinWorship19]

I posted this on my Facebook, too, because I know some people who could really use a reminder right now.

These guidelines aren't just for stark-raving nutjobs or clueless newbies. They're for everybody. The recession and the insane supply-demand imbalance have challenged the way a lot of us here do business, including established pro's. We should all be aware of the effects that our actions will have not only right now, but also in the future when the economy improves.

AFAIK, restaurant rates are in the toilet again in my neck of the woods. I've graciously declined a couple of recent offers because the pay seemed "off." $30-50/set might seem like an irresistable deal in troubled times, but is that something we can all live with when the market is ready to spend again? Once a precedent has been set, it can take years to get back on the right track. Getting a foot in the door is nice, but at what cost to your own livelihood and everybody else's?

Not to mention, more and more people depend on their dance income to pay the bills and support their families these days. Maybe I should put on my asbestos panties, but supporting your community is about so much more than being everybody's Facebook friend and making a cameo appearance at all the haflas. It's about making sure that your peers, whether you love 'em or loathe 'em, can make an honest living doing what they love. That, to me, is a far more realistic and benevolent goal than any type of grand ya-ya sisterhood where everybody gets along.

[maurazebra]

OPBM (Other People's Business Models) can certainly cause heartburn. I'm still bewildered over the compensation structure for Jullina's big Evolution show and for the IAMED shows Help-me-understand-bellydance-evolution-fee-structure.html but there were serious Bhuzzers arguing for the other side, too. And I'm willing to accept that.

I don't think restaurant business ever GOT out of the tank in this area. As we've raised our expectations above the local 'standard' there are fewer and fewer restaurant gigs on the schedule. They might be willing to pay a decent fee if family or friends are coming in but otherwise they'll want a DJ or a cheaper dancer. We no longer solicit business from restaurants in the area.. they are not the right customers for us.

One very intermittent restaurant customer recently hired a dancer who is more local to them (and therefore may be able to charge less ). She was a relatively new person to the 'area' (within 100 miles radius) so I was of course curious to know if she was fabulous or terrible or had special knowledge she could teach us or whatever. In the course of checking out the new dancer's Facebook, I found that every entry on her discussion board was from Mohamed Shahin's website, IAMED's website, or Shawshara.com.

Her email back to me was along the lines of she forgot to give credit, she just wanted to share, we should give people the benefit of the doubt, life was too short to be sour, sisters of the dance, etc.

My response was that we have had two teachers in for short workshops who plagiarized significant chunks of their presentation and that it was our STUDENTS who discovered this, after the fact. The students in turn felt CHEATED, despite positive aspects of the experience, and it damaged OUR reputation with our students. This is the reality of the business. As for giving her the benefit of the doubt -- she got an email from me telling her what my issue was, didn't she?

Yes, I have a 'moral objection' to plagiarizing but not everyone does. So I stuck to business.

Something tells me I won't be part of this person's dance community... ever. And I know that. The only dance community I am interested in is the one I can work with, and it includes a lot more than belly dancers, thank goodness. I really wonder if other business genres talk about stuff like 'the Italian-American brothers-in-restaurant-operation community' or 'the sisters-in-office-supply-distribution.'

Whatever. Time to go do something productive.

[indigostars]

Excellent article :). It's the kind of thing that everyone should have to read.

[SatinWorship19]

I don't think restaurant business ever GOT out of the tank in this area. As we've raised our expectations above the local 'standard' there are fewer and fewer restaurant gigs on the schedule. They might be willing to pay a decent fee if family or friends are coming in but otherwise they'll want a DJ or a cheaper dancer. We no longer solicit business from restaurants in the area.. they are not the right customers for us.

It IS sad. On the one hand, you want to see plenty of vibrant, bellydance-friendly venues in your local community. On the other hand, these already scarce opportunities become fewer and further between when you charge a premium for your art and your time. (Not to mention, the endless marketing gruntwork that they inevitably expect you to do for them on your own time). Plus, if you politely-yet-firmly stand your ground on things like wait time, "mingling" with patrons, last-minute cancelations and other issues, there's a good chance you'll get blacklisted as a diva.

I recently swore off restaurant work and I think it was the best thing I've done for my dancing. As you said, most restaurant owners just aren't ideal customers for me.

[rosehips]

My thanks to everyone who read the article :)

[MahiraRaqs]

Thanks for sharing. I will be sharing this with others. :-)

[beafarhana]

Excellent article. I've just shared it on my FB page.

[bnwspots]

Yes, thanks for sharing. I've been looking for an article like that. It's very timely for me right now.

[*Shira*]

I really wonder if other business genres talk about stuff like 'the Italian-American brothers-in-restaurant-operation community' or 'the sisters-in-office-supply-distribution.'

Well, there is a professional association called "Women in Technology International" which is sort of a sisterhood. I've been to one of their conferences and you could feel the estrogen of sisterhood surging around.

Within IBM, there's also a "Super Women's Group" (which I belong to) that focuses on teaching women the skills to advance their careers.

Neither organization excludes men from joining, by the way.

[LiesaB.]

Well, there is a professional association called "Women in Technology International" which is sort of a sisterhood. I've been to one of their conferences and you could feel the estrogen of sisterhood surging around.

Within IBM, there's also a "Super Women's Group" (which I belong to) that focuses on teaching women the skills to advance their careers.

Neither organization excludes men from joining, by the way.

I used to belong to the local chapter of Champlain Vally Business and Professional Women; men were not excluded. One thing I like is that a cash award and scholarship type perks go annually to young women starting out. The ceremony for it was very sisterly and supportive.

[maurazebra]

I used to belong to the local chapter of Champlain Vally Business and Professional Women; men were not excluded. One thing I like is that a cash award and scholarship type perks go annually to young women starting out. The ceremony for it was very sisterly and supportive.

I'm going to guess that these organizations consist mostly of professional or would-be professional or unemployed professionals; no hobbyists, no people who think money transactions degrade the art form as they want it to be, no people who are just plain using the sisterhood concept as a smokescreen for a hungry 'What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine and what is your problem with that?' initiative, and since the sisterhood doesn't seem to have a common vocabulary to describe 'social' transactions that are really theft, this is a PROBLEM. To say nothing of the 'anything any sister does is beautiful' or the 'if we don't want you in our sisterhood, then you are fair game for any kind of unethical behavior on our side because you are the OTHER, which is by definition unethical.

There's all kinds of ways to be the Mysterious Other, when I think about it :P

[rosehips]

FYI: if you actually read past the preface (and perhaps the whole article), you'll find out why I believe the "sisterhood" is a myth.

[SatinWorship19]

FYI: if you actually read past the preface (and perhaps the whole article), you'll find out why I believe the "sisterhood" is a myth.

That's why I liked your article. Because I can tell that you, too, believe that sisterhood is a load of bull-pocky that doesn't make sense in a free market economy

[maurazebra]

FYI: if you actually read past the preface (and perhaps the whole article), you'll find out why I believe the "sisterhood" is a myth.

True, oh queen, but I think we've left the article behind.. Blame Shira, she mentioned a business group that was sort of a sisterhood first. I didn't intend to imply that your article was supportive of sisterhoods-in-dance.

PS It DID wonder me why you state that your article WASN'T about successful dance communities.... my assumption was that because you were writing about the characteristics of one, you were experiencing one. But, in response to my post "Reading about other people's successful belly dance communities is like reading about other people's successful marriages... I've never been in one but it is always nice to hear that they exist. Felicitations!" you responded "Good news! Luckily the article is about neither of those things! :)"

[rosehips]

True, oh queen, but I think we've left the article behind.. Blame Shira, she mentioned a business group that was sort of a sisterhood first. I didn't intend to imply that your article was supportive of sisterhoods-in-dance.

PS It DID wonder me why you state that your article WASN'T about successful dance communities.... my assumption was that because you were writing about the characteristics of one, you were experiencing one. But, in response to my post "Reading about other people's successful belly dance communities is like reading about other people's successful marriages... I've never been in one but it is always nice to hear that they exist. Felicitations!" you responded "Good news! Luckily the article is about neither of those things! :)"

Well ya know what they say about assuming ;)

I would liken a claimed successful dance community to that of finding a unicorn: chances are up close, it's an antelope with a broken antler. I've lived in some very amazing yet dysfunctional communities, and touring the US and working directly with sponsors and communities to make events happen have given me a lot of opportunity to examine what works and what doesn't. I don't think there's such a perfect thing, but there are ways of making it work better so that there is less stress and drama and more financial and educational benefits. And when you have one or more groups, there's always going to be something somebody isn't happy with. But you can either wallow down in the sh!t and b!tch about it or you can use it for fertilizer and make some good stuff grow.

[Khuzama]

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2009 issue of Belly Dance New England, and Amy Smith just put it up on their website - so I thought I'd share it here too:

http://bellydancenewengland.com/features/?p=19

My job blocked this website as Pornography

[rosehips]

My job blocked this website as Pornography

try this URL: Belly Dance New England - Zine

found out that some of those blocked at work things aren't being blocked specifically by someone at the job, but the system the company uses that reads the tags that other people out in the ether have labeled the site :P