Thread: What if the customers just dont want to dance????

Hey Guys and Gals!

I have done a few restaurant gigs now and have had some great experiences and I now know who to dance to, who looks interested, who is not remotely interested etc etc and every gig i have done i have had at least one person dance! Usually just the one or a man who thinks he is funny.

Anyway I have two gigs this weekend as part of the festive season and two on NYE. I am assuming people will probably be slightly more merry and drunk etc because its Christmas and everyone is usually game for anything but I keep thinking 'what if no one wants to get up' It will look awful to the restaurant owners and one venue in particular is so small that there is not many people dining so it is not like I have tons of people to try and rally up.

All my gigs are 20 min sets. Only one set

Advice pleaseeeeeeee

unlikely on a holiday weekend, but I'd say relax and enjoy it. When nobody wants to get up and dance with you, that gives you an opportunity to really perform and show off. Every crowd is different and the pro rolls with it.

What are you using for your get-up-and-dance music? Some songs are more likely to get a crowd going than others, and I'd be looking for a catchy pop song with a strong beat that is/was a big hit from a top-name singer.

i have some high energy music but dont tend to use a lot of pop songs as I once got told at a gig that 'customers dont like music with singing when eating if they dont know the words'. I think most restaurants expect traditional belly dance music to be played not an amr diab hit. In my experience so far which is not much I may add!

Maybe karaoke versions of pop songs? It depends on the crowd, but I'm not picturing the average non-Middle Easterner feeling much of a groove off instrumental belly dance music. Music that makes sense for a performer (lots of breaks/accents/sections that change mood or tempo) can be confusing to people who aren't familiar with the song. When a dancer pulls someone out of the audience to dance with her, she's essentially asking that person to improv on the spot (even if she's leading them), and it's a lot easier for someone in that position to latch onto a simple, repetitive 4/4 or 2/4 with an obvious beat and no musical surprises than a more complex song where they're just starting to get the hang of things when the music changes on them. How about some of those vintage, up-tempo Eddie Kochak songs like old-school teachers use for beginner choreographies?

A couple of suggestions: Can you invite some friends who you know will get up and dance? Alot of time people don't want to be the first up to dance but will be the second or third.

And another suggestion for music, a rousing 9/8 like Rompi Rompi just about launches me out of my chair and it doesn't matter if anyone knows how to dance to Turkish music, it is fast and lively enough to just make people bounce in their chairs.

Marya

Don't stress on it Emma. My (quite a lot of) experience in restaurants is that you can stress about these things and then they just don't happen - but something else completely unexpected will! If no-one can be encouraged to dance, try bopping around with a staff member or two (even for just 5 seconds). This usually goes down well as long as the staff are ok with it. Sometimes folk just want to be entertained, but not join in themselves, it doesn't mean they don't like your dancing or aren't enjoying themselves.

I tend to use quite a lot of Arabic pop for sets, with a bit of more traditional stuff thrown in, perhaps as an entrance or second number. e.g. El Leyla Helwa or similar is lively, traditional and very danceable with enough changes in it to encourage audience member to copy your moves, if this encourages them to dance, particularly if it's a very small restaurant.

What everyone else has said. When you've been performing for awhile, you start to get a really good Spidey Sense for what songs will motivate different crowds of different ages and ethnicities. It takes time. I've been performing for 4 years and finally really nailed that skill this year! Many times, simply using the right music will get the party started naturally, with less intervention on your part

Of course, you can't anticipate the nature of every crowd and some crowds will be livelier than others. Some crowds will want to be right next to you dancing their butts off, through your entrance, your drum solo AND the audience participation segment. Others will be more content to sit back, hang out and enjoy the show. And once you can get past the expectation that every crowd will want to get up and boogie, a quiet-yet-appreciative crowd once in awhile can be really nice because you can pull out all the stops for them :)

Don't stress!

Hi, Ladies!

On the subject of choosing music that will motivate the crowd to get up and dance: I believe it all comes down to knowing your audience. So, who are you dancing for? If it was a Lebanese restaurant, I'd bust out some Arabic classics like Najwa Karam or any of a thousand versions of Habibi Ya Eini. If it was a Persian restaurant I'd put some Bandari at the end of my set. If it was a Turkish restaurant, then maybe some Tarkan or Ibrahim Tatlises. El Salaam is a favorite with Arabs--especially Egyptians since Hakim is an Egyptian boy. You get the picture.

The more you know about your customers (and the owner of the restaurant), the better you can get at picking tunes that are going to resonate with the customers and make them get up to dance. I think when you can demonstrate authentic sensitivity to/knowledge of the customers, then they appreciate you more and get more excited about your dancing.

If you can spot 2 lady friends sitting together, reach out to both at the same time.

Originally Posted by emma_williams

.... but I keep thinking 'what if no one wants to get up' It will look awful to the restaurant owners and one venue in particular is so small that there is not many people dining so it is not like I have tons of people to try and rally up.....

i rarely have people willing to get up, i can usually find one person a night, but they don't want to stay up long. (last set is different, since it's less a show and more of a party-kick off. the first 2 sets... central NYers are not drunk enough to be willing to dance in public.)
anyway, i think the owners will be happy if you let their customers do what they want, that is not pushing people who would be happier watching. u can't tell how much they're enjoying the show by whether they participate.
the participation music i still struggle with (only been performing 1 year) a song that one audience jumps up at the first note zooms past another, since the patrons don't call me ahead of time to let me know "hey, the entire Lebanese community will be there tonight" or "ms. Smith and her bridge club will be taking up half the restaurant" i tend to mix things up and hope for the best.
maybe not much help, but it might make you feel better...... last time i danced the audience was DEAD but i made more in tips that night than any other. i've had nights where people seemed happy, they could clap and get up, but no one tipped. eveyone will show their appreciation differently, and i think the owners understand that (after all, i still have a job ^_~).

first off..relax...go with whatever the night presents you with...
next...know your audience...in this case, sometimes ethnicity matters
choose music you would want to dance to...that way if nobody comes up, at least you will have fun.
structure your show in a way that is conducive to both solo work and audience participation. what i mean is...intro with veil, then sword or candles (slow and impressive so the audience will oooh and aaahhh), drum solo (show off your skillzzz), then a song that can be used for audience or for yourself and one last one that you can maybe use fan veils for...a prop but at least you vary it up somewhat...

music suggestions...no matter what nationality your audience is two surefire songs that work...nourhanne's habibi ya eini and the never fail....shik shak shok...(which just between us girls if i have to dance to one more time i'm going to make a noose out of my veil)

but most of all...relax...the more comfortable you feel, the more comfortable your audience will be...good luck!!!

Originally Posted by MoonlightBellydance

Hi, Ladies!

On the subject of choosing music that will motivate the crowd to get up and dance: I believe it all comes down to knowing your audience. So, who are you dancing for? If it was a Lebanese restaurant, I'd bust out some Arabic classics like Najwa Karam or any of a thousand versions of Habibi Ya Eini. If it was a Persian restaurant I'd put some Bandari at the end of my set. If it was a Turkish restaurant, then maybe some Tarkan or Ibrahim Tatlises. El Salaam is a favorite with Arabs--especially Egyptians since Hakim is an Egyptian boy. You get the picture.

The more you know about your customers (and the owner of the restaurant), the better you can get at picking tunes that are going to resonate with the customers and make them get up to dance. I think when you can demonstrate authentic sensitivity to/knowledge of the customers, then they appreciate you more and get more excited about your dancing.

WORD.Well said-GOOD examples:)

Don´t stress it...what style of dancer are you?