Thread: My Undercutter is winning - sorry, rant here

A person I used to be in a troupe with has broken away and formed her own troupe. She was always more interested in vending than dancing, and I was the one dancing to be a good dancer. I had the contacts within the local fairs community, and we danced these venues.

This past summer she has been booking at the same fairs as my troupe (since she made the same contacts while she was with me), or in a couple cases instead of us. She has her troupe dance for free, so she doesn't have to pay vendor fees. She's patterned her troupe to be a clone of mine in terms of costuming and props, so folks are confused as to which group is which.

I charge, because I value my troupe and our art form. In this economy, fairs are jumping at her offer of free dance entertainment. I've always said they get what the pay for, but I've haven't even seen the entertainment directors take the time to watch them. I feel that I may give up these venues (which was a big part of my even taking the leap to pro dancing) because I'm just tired of the backstabbing. It's pretty much destroyed my joy in dancing. If it wasn't for my troupe I would have bowed out already. It's very disheartening.

Thanks so much for having the patience to read my rant. I don't think there's anything I can really do about this, but it helps to get it out.

Ew, I'm sorry :( I have no advice, I'm afraid, only empathy. Something similar happened between two dancers I was affiliated with to differing degrees, and it was really uncomfortable to find myself stuck in the middle. Definitely soured me toward the world of pro dancing.

Thanks so much for your kind reply. It means a great deal to me.:)

No, she's not winning. She's dancing for free! Sounds like a loss to me... you'll find your own niche and your own venues. That may be losing you gigs right now, but you'll find other gigs, and you'll make your well deserved money while she will never be able to command a good price or a price at all.

I'm sorry this has happened to you. I think this sort of thing happens to just about everybody eventually. The number of dancers who want gigs is very high compared to the number of gigs available, and customers for our services are often unaware of the importance of hiring qualified performers (if not that they're outright cheapskates). When you combine a customer base that is not very discriminating with a bunch of desperate dancers in a system that has no ethical framework for controlling them, it's not surprising that this keeps occurring.

Originally Posted by Mora

She's patterned her troupe to be a clone of mine in terms of costuming and props, so folks are confused as to which group is which.

You'll just have to work harder to define yourself, both in terms of dancing/look and entertainment quality.

I feel that I may give up these venues (which was a big part of my even taking the leap to pro dancing)...

I'm not sure how this fits into the picture. At least where I've lived, faire/festival gigs aren't what I'd call a stepping stone to pro work. They're usually just paid gigs for long-term amateurs and/or students who are so early in their careers that they can't contemplate going solo yet. In other words, they're mostly student gigs with money involved, but then, I've lived in places that can't conceive of putting together a troupe of the quality of Jillina's or Yasmina Ramzy's, much less competition for BDSS--not enough talented, committed, and compatible dancers to make a true professional troupe out of who's in the area. "Pro" work around here usually translates to solo gigs and teaching, not group gigs. And if these customers you're dealing with are so unpicky that the only thing they care about is price, these weren't "professional" gigs, anyway, because real profesional gigs have an expectation of quality, not just random people showing up in costume and moving around.

My feeling is that you're either ready for professional work, or you're not. There's still room for a distinction between "pro" and "seasoned pro who can command top dollar," but part of the reason this kind of undercutting goes on is that too many dancers don't understand that being deserving of a salary is somewhat independent of getting one (just because you get paid, it doesn't prove you're not an amateur), and customers don't understand that they shouldn't encourage mediocrity.

It's pretty much destroyed my joy in dancing. If it wasn't for my troupe I would have bowed out already. It's very disheartening.

Which is why you have to love the dance for the movement and the music as a means to their own end--not the gigs, and not the other people in it.

I understand, it's disheartening. Usually I'd say "forget it and move forward" but in such a case where it sounds like she's actively trying to confuse people on who is who, it might be worthwhile to address any of the entertainment directors whom you have a relationship with. You could just state the facts very simply and describe the benefits of hiring a professional. As long as you keep emotion out of it it might be helpful to the bookers since they are responsible for the quality and dependability of their acts.

Originally Posted by Mora

A person I used to be in a troupe with has broken away and formed her own troupe.

This past summer she has been booking at the same fairs as my troupe (since she made the same contacts while she was with me), or in a couple cases instead of us. She has her troupe dance for free, so she doesn't have to pay vendor fees. She's patterned her troupe to be a clone of mine in terms of costuming and props, so folks are confused as to which group is which.

I charge, because I value my troupe and our art form. In this economy, fairs are jumping at her offer of free dance entertainment. I've always said they get what the pay for, but I've haven't even seen the entertainment directors take the time to watch them. I feel that I may give up these venues (which was a big part of my even taking the leap to pro dancing) because I'm just tired of the backstabbing. It's pretty much destroyed my joy in dancing. If it wasn't for my troupe I would have bowed out already. It's very disheartening.

Thanks so much for having the patience to read my rant. I don't think there's anything I can really do about this, but it helps to get it out.

Thanks so much for the replies - you've all been so kind, and given me much to think about (and maybe I'll pull up my big-girls panties and go on - LOL!). I do like the idea of talking to my contacts and maybe changing our style in order to stand out more from them. We are booking more professional gigs lately (shows and such) to get ourselves out of the fair circuit more - guess I'll just have to go forward without so much looking behind us. When it comes down to it, I'd miss the dance too much if I quit.