How Much to Charge for a Belly Dance Gig Abroad?
Think about these questions:
How much time do you need to book on your schedule to fulfill such a request?
How many gigs do you typically do in one evening/day/weekend in your own city?
What is the total cost of “lost opportunities”, meaning how much money would you make if you decided to stay in your city on that day.
NOW ATTENTION!
Double that sum. Or at least, add 50% on top.
Whether you want to or not, traveling to a different country is much more of a headache than even going to a nearby city 1-2 hours away.
Always price your gigs keeping in mind
HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD BE PAID TO FEEL IT’S WORTH DOING IT
The total number may look big and scary, but that’s for the client to decide. If they requested an international artist, they are ready to have a bigger budget for it. Plus they know it would sound very impressive to say that they flew the performer from abroad specifically for their occasion.
Have you ever been afraid to say the price of your show to a client?
LISTEN TO THE BELLY DANCE LIFE PODCAST:
About Iana
Iana Komarnytska is a professional dancer, teacher, choreographer, and passionate content creator helping dancers navigate their dance lives.
She is a graduate from the professional dance program at York University (Canada), host of the Belly Dance Life podcast, creator of the Iana Dance Club, author of numerous articles, and winner of Star Bellydancer Canada 2014 among other international competitions.
Along with belly dance, Iana performs and teaches Persian Classical and Turkish Romani dancing. She is the first choreographer to start using Triple Isis wings, and since 2012 this is one of her style signatures.
I constantly receive questions about what kind of portfolio a belly dancer needs in order to start working at local gigs.. Here is a checklist of essential portfolio components that are MUST-HAVEs in order to start.