When it comes to students who are ready to be sent out on a performance, I often sit with them and give them advice, tips and tricks on what should be done, what to expect in a performance in terms of audience, music, space etc and what to do in situations which would arise if a something were to go wrong.

I not only tell them this once, but reiterate it quite often to them to drill into their minds what a professional dancer should be and what I expect of them when I send them out to our clients.

I do this so that they are prepared for anything when they go out there and are professional.

After all first impressions are lasting impressions. I certainly would not want to be an audience member watching a poor performance where the belly dancer is very limited in her technique, cannot dance to the tempo and rhythms within a song and looks tacky in her appearance. Unfortunately it can take 1 belly dancer to give a stereotypical view about all belly dancers.

When the client phones
What you should have in your bag before leaving the house
What to do when you get to the venue
What is a professional belly dancer?