Being a professional bellydancer is not without risks and anyone seriously thinking of performing regularly should consider the pros and cons of the profession. By simply being aware of the multiple dangers, you might be able to recognise a dodgy situation and make a quick escape.
90% of the time you’ll be performing at night between 7pm and 1am. 60% of the time you’ll have to travel outside central London and walk down a dark alley from the car or the station to the venue where you’ll be performing. 60% of the time people don’t instictively see any difference between a belly dancer and a pole dancer. You are both dancing for money. 20% of your audience either won’t approve bellydancing or will see you as a prostitute and might think it worth following you.
Right, all of these figures are only based on my personal experience and are not meant to scare you all. I just want you to know that it’ll happen so you better find a safe way round it!
Working at night and walking down dark alleys.
2 things you can and should do: buy a car and buy a rape alarm.
A car is not cheap but your life is worth more. Plus, there is no way you’ll be able to cumulate 3 or 4 gigs a night with public transport so a vehicle is definitely a worthwhile investment.
A rape alarm only costs about £2 to £4 and can save your life. Check them out here. You simply need to make sure it’s accessible in your pocket at all times when walking outside the venue to your car or the station.
The fact that people don’t see the difference between a pole dancer and a belly dancer…well there is nothing you can do about that, apart from telling them that it isn’t the same at all and trying to change cliches little by little.
Other tips: I would highly recommend you always ask for payment in advance. I know people can be a bit fussy about that and you’ll loose clients just because they don’t trust you and believe you won’t turn up. Try and make yourself look more official, get a good website, send them contracts/invoices… You won’t necessarily be doing that with your regular restaurants but for one-off private party bookings you really should.
The main reason why I personally only take payments in advance is because people do cancel last minute and I was fed up of ending up with an almost empty Saturday night because I had turned down offers for other gigs to be able to do the one that eventually got canceled. Another plus is that when you agree a time and a price, if the event is running late and you can’t wait well they have paid you. It’s not your fault if they are late and you can’t stay because you have got other gigs to do on the same night. It’s their lack of organisation that is at fault so your wallet shouldn’t have to suffer from it.
My worst gig ever was a Somalian wedding where the bride turned up at 11pm and I was due to perform at 7pm. All the guests were there except the bride and groom. I used to take payment on the day at that time so I had to cancel my regular restaurant and hang around for 4h30 to dance and get my payment.
And finally I would say, only accept work you are comfortable with. Make sure you check whether it’s a mixed crowd or not. I have done stag dos before but would always insist that the organiser would be 100% responsible of my safety and that I would stop if anything rude occurred. Again it’s better to have been paid in advance in these situations.
In the same way, if you feel the restaurant owner is dodgy on the phone I would say leave it. If the client is harrassing you to get a cheaper quote or refuses to pay in advance, don’t bother! Also, make sure you don’t accept ridiculous prices. If they are looking for quality they should pay the price. If they are just looking for a cheap night worker type of performance then they can go somewhere else. You are an artist not a prostitute!