How to Explain Prices for Your Belly Dance Show
As dancers we all know and understand why our show costs a certain price. However, our clients usually don't know all the insights into belly dance life, and at least once in a while you'll still hear:
🤷♀️🤯"But why is it so expensive?! I need you there just for 15 minutes of dancing!"🤦♀️
Here are some replies you can use in such situations:⠀
💬 "My job goes far beyond those 15 minutes that you see on stage. Even on the day of the event itself I 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 from the photos and videos, not a girl right after her practice. And I'm not even mentioning the time spent on my personal rehearsals, music edit, and costume checks prior to your event."
💭 "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."
💭 "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?.."
💭 "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.⠀
Save this post for later references. 😉
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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.
As dancers we all know and understand why our show costs a certain price. However, our clients usually don't know all the insights into belly dance life.