Our clients usually don't know all the insights into belly dance life, and regardless of what number you tell them as a quote, at least once in a while you'll still hear this question: "But why is it so expensive?!”

As dancers we all know and understand why our show costs a certain price, and how much work and energy we put into each performance. However, our clients usually don't know all the insights into belly dance life, and regardless of what number you tell them as a quote, at least once in a while you'll still hear this question: "But why is it so expensive?! I need you there just for 15 minutes of dancing!"

Here are some of my typical replies that I would use depending on the context of our conversations, as well as the client's attitude and my willingness to go deep into details...

Amount of actual work: "My job goes far beyond those 15 minutes that you see me performing on stage. Even on the day of the event itself I will have to invest at least 2-3 hours in order to do my make-up and hair, because I believe you want to see a show of that glamorous dancer that you saw on photos and videos, not a girl after a simple shower. And I'm not even mentioning the time spent on my personal rehearsals, music edit, and costume checks prior to your event."

2. Business investments: "Also, I have to invest into high-end professional costumes, that most likely brought your attention to my services, and you probably want me to wear the best outfits for the show. The minimum cost of a decent belly dance costume is 300-400 USD, but that's already considered a great deal. Usually the budget for each professional dress is between 600 and 1200 USD. And since costume is an important visual element of the show, I doubt you want me to perform in my training outfit."

3. Expertise: "We are talking about valuable experience based on a high level of skills. For instance, would you question a surgeon or a lawyer why they charge a certain price? No, probably you understand that their rates depend on the level of their expertise. Here is the same. In order to create such an exciting performance, I had to invest years into my practice, including time, energy and money. You definitely will be able to find someone who would promise to do "the same" for less, but would you really trust someone who is inexperienced with one of the highlights of your event?.."

4. My health: "Dance performance is physical work. Each show is not only my energy, but also my health, and a risk of possible injuries. I value my body enough to charge a reasonable price for its skills.

Usually I don't even need to go through all four of these points. People get the idea that their understanding of belly dance shows was not full, and feel that I do know what I'm talking about, and value my professional skills. However, some clients don't stop here, and still try to bargain, lol. So here are two more scenarios to help you navigate some less pleasant situations.

"Can you perform 10 minutes instead of 15, and charge less?" - "I do not charge per minute of my show. We are talking about an artistic dance performance, not about kilos of meat on the market. And as I've mentioned before, my work consists not only of the actual performance time, but far beyond it."

If you want to dig deeper on this topic, I highly recommend to check out my Business Course for Belly Dancer which has a separate section on the art of communication with customers.

And in some rare cases when client may get completely impolite, or even tries to offend me (cos let's be honest, sometimes we deal with those insane people):

"You are crazy, and your services are overpriced.... I'll find some other dancer who charges less" - "Sure, no problem! And I'll find some other client who pays more." :)

Let me know if you found this helpful. I hope that such price negotiations and any other logistics never spoil your joy from dancing. Belly dance life is awesome! And for more template answers on explaining your prices, I highly recommend to check out my Business Course for Belly Dancer which has a separate section on the art of communication with customers.

Keep shimmying, and thank you for staying in touch!

If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to like and share! :)

Author: Iana Komarnytska
Photographer: Pedro Bonatto