The Industry of Belly Dance


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The “Industry of Belly Dance” – A Consideration of Growth and Sustainability

In the past 10 years we have experienced an explosive growth of Belly dance throughout the entire world. Although growth is traditionally regarded as beneficial and often crucial to development and improvement, uncontrolled and unsustainable growth is NOT.

As an eternal idealist and artist, I strive to make artistic and cultural integrity the focal point of my energies and development in whatever form of dance that I practice. I would LOVE to have Art be appreciated and supported for Art’s sake i.e. purely for the joy and uplifting, transcendental role that it plays in the health and enrichment of the human psyche and soul! On the other hand, I am also a practical woman who realizes the crucially important role that Business plays in the world of Belly Dance. A HEALTHY BALANCE BETWEEN ARTISTRY AND BUSINESS should be established and maintained in order to ensure a healthy and long-lasting future for any art form.

From my perspective as a 40-year veteran and world-renowned master instructor who occasionally visits home between my tours and bookings, I have the advantage of witnessing trends and developments all over the globe. There has been a remarkable shift in focus from the artistry towards the business aspect of our dance – so much so that it is now regularly referred to as “The Industry”!

When I hear the term Industry, I think of Factories, Franchises, Fast Food, (i.e. Belly McSnacks), Mass Production, with the resultant homogeneity of product. Then I think of Art, and then I look at the current climate of Belly Dance throughout the planet. Then I wonder what ARE they thinking and where ARE we going?

Although I do not think of, let alone refer to Dance as an Industry, AS AN INDUSTRY we are currently experiencing major imbalance. Of primary concern, is the exponential expansion of the product; one that has far outpaced it market. The Golden Rule of Supply and Demand determines Market Value. If something is rare and difficult to find, it becomes very desirable and valuable (diamonds, gold, vintage wine). However, no matter how desirable a product may be, the Price of a Product is also relative to the Purchasing Power i.e. disposable income, of its customers. Specific to the Belly Dance Industry, we have several major problems at this time:

1. Super saturation of the existing market by the product i.e. performers, teachers and their related product such as CDs, DVDs, costumes, exercise wear. 15 – 20 years ago we had much more disposable income, thus, a wealth of venues and opportunities for live performance. We also had a very small number of dancers available for performing. As a result of economic decline, we have far fewer live performance venues and opportunities. This has been accompanied by a startling increase in the number of performers competing for these. Thus the dancers are not valued, are easily replaceable, are often selected for financial reasons – which encourage undercutting and undercharging, especially by the dancers who do not value themselves, or their art form. The same can be said for the associated products, such as CDs, DVDs, costumes, etc. Where once they were few, far between and difficult to acquire, now they are everywhere, with no increased demand for quality of content. When something is readily available on every street corner it looses its value and thus super saturation is not the way to increase or even ensure the value of the product?

2. We also have a much slower growth of the market (i.e. audience) relative to the product. We have no established standards to determine what is and is not stage worthy. As a result, we rarely attract and even l more rarely keep an audience outside of our own participants. Unlike most other forms of dance, which do depend upon the general public to attend and support their performances, we have become own audience. This fact intrinsically limits both market and income. Perhaps we could seriously consider raising our standards if we would like to attract and maintain a general audience. Honest, unbiased and constructive criticism in the form of real reviews would also be an extremely valuable aid to help us improve performance content and quality, although these are difficult to attain due to vested interests.

3. Because of the fact that we have no guidelines or regulations in place that might control the quality of performers, students often very quickly become performers; customers transform into competitors, further decreasing market and increasing product. These new competitors more often than not undercharge and undercut to secure these limited opportunities, thereby securing less money for the product. As performing opportunities and remuneration continue to decline, performers often turn to teaching for their income. Once again, as an INDUSTRY we have absolutely no guidelines or requirements established for belly dance instructors. Anyone, including new students and even those who have never even taken a class, can and does teach. The INDUSTRY of belly dance also encourages this phenomenon, as the only qualification required to teach is hard edge and competitive marketing. Learning from a DVD or from instructors who lack sufficient skills and knowledge to accurately and acceptably guide their students, results in an unchecked decadence and ultimate decline of the product. Industrialization of learning also fosters the concept that students are numbers and sources of income as opposed to future artists. So, let’s talk numbers. Generation A teacher has 50 students. If only 10 % become Generation B teachers, we now have 6 teachers, each of whom have 50 students for a total of 300. If only 10% of these become Generation C teachers and have 50 students each, we now have 36 teachers, who in turn have 50 students each for a total of 1,800 students – 10 % of these now make 216 teachers with 10,800 students. Where will all these students come from and what will they do, dance, teach? For whom? Rather disturbing math, even by rather conservative estimates? More often than not, these new, inexperienced, unqualified instructors undercharge for their classes in an attempt to attract students. Further self-generated devaluation of the “art form” is the result. So with this potentially rampant competition, and exponential oversaturation, new controlling factors come in to play. Information is often withheld by instructors to prevent potential competition and keep the student coming to class for a longer period of time. Also, correction and guidance are often withheld in order to avoid potential loss of students, as these can be perceived as criticism, rather than THE DUTY of an instructor. In such cases, a DVD would be more valuable to the student, as the material can be continually reviewed.

4. Considering the previously mentioned oversaturation of local teaching markets, instructors seek out new and unexploited frontiers (markets) and sources of income through workshop instruction. In the past, seasoned instructors with extensive careers, long term experience and great knowledge were invited for workshops because people were sincerely interested in the knowledge and information that they could share with the community. Now we have thousands of “master instructors” all over the planet, many of whom have no training or very few years of training and experience but who are paying very large sums of money for high profile publicity, including CD covers, calendars, magazines and top spots on web search engines. In the past, workshop instructors had all expenses including transportation, accommodation, and food) paid for by the sponsors, as well as their teaching and performing fees. Now I am seeing more and more of this new generation of “masters” (many of them very high profile) paying for their own airfare and even their accommodation and/or expenses. Many demand no established minimum payment or cancellation reimbursement. This not only makes things very difficult for the legitimate instructors who demand this minimum of respect and acknowledgment, but this new trend also completely devalues EVERY workshop instructor. If we give ourselves away for free, we will not be valued. If WE do not demand adequate remuneration, it is highly unlikely that sponsors will insist on paying our expenses. At the same time, this Industrial approach has shifted choice of instructors away from skill and knowledge in favor of aggressive promotion with guarantee high attendance and no risk demands. This has taken Professional undercutting into the realm of professional demolition and does not bode well for any of us. If this trend continues, will we have to pay workshop sponsors to bring us to teach?

5. Another important consideration is the very serious issue of overbooking these workshops. In the past, a medium to large city would hold 4 to 5 workshops per year (we actually used to prepare for and practice what we learned in these). Now we often find 5 to 10 workshops every month. No one is particularly concerned if they miss a workshop because there will be another one or two or three the following weekend! Where are all the students going to come from to support all of these workshops? Where will they get the money to pay for these workshops? And for the few who could pay for and have the time to attend them all, how could they possibly absorb all the material being taught? Why are the SPONSORS of the workshops booking so many, one on top of the other, with complete disrespect for the instructors and previous arrangements involved? The current and shortsighted answer to that question is a smile and a sigh and the convenient phrase “there is enough for everyone- if you think abundance, there will be abundance”. Perhaps they should tell that to a buffalo (if they can find one)!

6. Now let us add the current excess of Festivals into the market equation. These are very popular events for the consumer who wants to get more value for their money, by having access to many instructors in one place at one time. To accommodate such a plan, organizers have opted for the 2-hour (McBelly Snack) workshop formula. Like their namesake, are we getting much nutrition and therefore real value for our money? What of any value can an instructor possibly teach in 2 hours? In this frenzy of consumption, the student finishes one workshop, and then runs to the next, where the new one erases all memory of the previous one. What value do we now give to these workshops? 7. Finally, the general Global Economic Climate has resulted in decreased disposable income for an overwhelming excess of product.

So, as an industry – how can we restore balance to this equation gone wild? I will put on my thinking cap and would also love to hear from any of you who might have a great idea to share with our readers.

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