Thread: "I've come to the end of my budget, so I'd be glad if you'd volunteer."

Groom sees pro-dancers perform at restaurant. Head dancer gives appropriate quote of 200 pounds for 30 minutes for a wedding (hopefully my conversion is right!). He thinks it's too much, heads to a dance school to ask for volunteers and somehow ends up with the entire class and a band. <headdesk>. At least the GP got to hear a real quote



***decided to blog about this.... http://bellydancenajla.wordpress.com...ell-the-bride/

RAGE!

1. Where was the class teacher and why didn't she say no to the guys coming in to ask that question in the first place?

2. Who the f*** wears a full costume to class (looked like a regular beginner class not a rehearsal)? Really?

3. ARGH!

But it was great publicity!1! Now EVERYONE knows where to find a group of amateurs willing to perform for free!

I bet they didn't ask the musicians to volunteer.

London dancers, do you recognise anyone? Willing to name and shame?

Originally Posted by Emma

Willing to name and shame?

The name of the dance school is in the description on Youtube.

BARF!
Congrats Groom you managed to turn what could have been a classy memorable wedding into a cheap tacky mess!

I'm not really surprised^^

People get mad when TV's coming! A lot of people would PAY to show their face on TV... so why not be volunteers???


Another reason why I'm proud of having got rid of my television!

uff. terrible. tacky.

lol of course they would its for mainstream tv!

Originally Posted by diyung

The name of the dance school is in the description on Youtube.

Thanks. I am not at all surprised.

Originally Posted by Lesedi

RAGE!

1. Where was the class teacher and why didn't she say no to the guys coming in to ask that question in the first place?

2. Who the f*** wears a full costume to class (looked like a regular beginner class not a rehearsal)? Really?

3. ARGH!

Answers:

1. The teacher was there in the first shot of the class, but I didn't see her at the wedding...and I guess she thought it would be good publicity...

2. Full costume, but mostly cheap tacky ones that they then wore for the gig...

3. Double ARGH!!!

Originally Posted by Lesedi

RAGE!



2. Who the f*** wears a full costume to class (looked like a regular beginner class not a rehearsal)? Really?
!

someone who knows the tv crew is coming -.-

Originally Posted by Callistaangel

someone who knows the tv crew is coming -.-

Yeah, not like reality tv is really reality. My brother's office is getting taped for a new show right now, so I get to hear all about the re-creation of past events, staging of events, and how everything really is out of sequins.

Too many people do things just to be on TV. But you also wonder if the show really did pay them something.

I would about guarantee the dancers were specifically asked to wear costumes for the class and I would also about guarantee that a deal of some kind was struck between the school and the production company. It's extremely likely that they said "do this and you will get FREE PUBLICITY for your classes!" and the school may or may not have said "cool OK" or "nup, you need to pay us".

We had a reality show where couples compete to do up two old houses, and the winners get to KEEP their house. The losers... get to bid on their house at auction with a big fat cheque miraculously donated to them at the last minute, so they either get it, or they get a really good deposit on a house. Reality shows almost never leave people in the lurch, genuinely, unless they are truly evil. At least not on camera.

Even if the production company did compensate them, not everyone watching might know that and the school is "on the books" for doing a free gig for anyone who comes in and asks

Most weddings aren't going to have that TV-magic budget bailout going on behind the scenes!

how everything really is out of sequins.

*choke*
In this rare case on Bhuz, "sequence" is the correct one!

Best typo ever.

The dancer in green at the club was lovely. He should have paid her what she was worth and had a wonderful dancer for his wedding.

Guilty truth - I love this show.

The groom running out of money and trying to get someone to do something for free is pretty much a regular part of the programme. Last week I saw one where the groom managed to convince the florist to do all the flowers for free, and I've seen people in shops on this show give away props, swathes of fabric, balloons...

Its all part of the condescending attitude the show takes towards the grooms. Oh, they're so selfish, they can't do anything right, they're awful with money, they have to beg for free things, they don't know anything about dresses blah blah blah...

I still don't think a class of students should be performing at a wedding in cheapo costumes, especially not for free. But I don't think anyone seeing the show would assume that's what all belly dancers do, not if they had seen the show before anyway.

Sadly, this does happen.
One of the studios where I used to teach had quite a few people calling looking for bellydance students for their events. They would politely reply with sorry, I cannot help you with that here is the teacher's information.
Apparently, it doesn't just happen with bellydance, they had had requests for their ballet, jazz and ballroom as well.

Ladies, don't fret! ;)

I have worked for many lifestyle/reality program series, and I can tell you that these shows are scripted to the tits. Pardon my expression, but it's true! The ladies and the school who were roped into "volunteering" were essentially the equivalent of actors. They will have received compensation from the production-- I can't say how much, because I'm not familiar with the rates in Great Britain, but rest assured they would have been paid for their work.

However... that still doesn't excuse the idea that John Q. Public now has it in his head that he/she could walk into a dance school somewhere, and walk out with a boatload of free entertainment. *sigh*

But that's the TV biz, folks.

Actually, it quite reminds me of those "design on a dime" type shows where they make over a room for a few hundred or a thousand dollars.

They manage to come up with some "great finds" at local thrift shops or garage sales, and they don't at all figure in the time and cost of the carpenters who create a bunch of custom stuff.

But they still wave to the fabulous new room and say, "And we did it for $500!"

Hahahaha

During my recent trip to Germany, I saw a most interesting thing. Prospective brides and grooms were wandering the streets during street fairs in towns both large and small selling kisses, funny napkins, balloons and sorts of strange kitch to gather up enough money to do a wedding. Much better and more entertaining idea than begging.

Originally Posted by anala

During my recent trip to Germany, I saw a most interesting thing. Prospective brides and grooms were wandering the streets during street fairs in towns both large and small selling kisses, funny napkins, balloons and sorts of strange kitch to gather up enough money to do a wedding. Much better and more entertaining idea than begging.

Usually, this is not actually done to collect money for the wedding itself, but for the hen's night (and whatever the guy's equivalent is). Usually the bride and her friends will dress up in some funny costume, and then they'll roam the streets, sell kisses, and whatever. A friend of mine had to fulfill several tasks, like buy an apple for exactly 0.65 swiss francs at a grocery store, and so on. Those nights are usually done a week or two before the wedding, so people can't really collect the money for the wedding only then

My thought is, is this is a tv show, all of the dancers were in costume before the camera arrived, they were probably paid something... I GUARANTEE IT. but unfortunately now the general public will think it is in good form to waltz into a dance class(everyone will already be in costume) and ask the students to volunteer for their eventt......

The groom had terrible earrings...

...but one of the dancer's earrings were to die for!