Money to be in a dance performance?

[KuteNurse]

I was chatting with another dancer after class last week. She said something that confirmed what I had already heard and had known. The instructor that I have been dancing with, in addition to charging the monthly fee's for dance class, charges her students $150.00 per dance to be in her performances. The student also purchases her costume. In addition, my instructor charges $15 dollars a ticket for the performance. Approximately 600 tickets were sold. She must be making a bundle. Is this common? To charge the student $150.00 per dance to be in a performance on top of all the other expenses he/she is already paying? It sounds insane to me. I am obviously changing instructors for good reasons not including her ridiculous fees. She does not teach proper posture for starters, she is mean to people in class if they are not catching onto a move, she yelled at my friend for something that was inappropriate, she is not organized and she jumps from move to move, without us even learning the move correctly in the first place. These are just a FEW complaints I have against her. I could go on and on....Ohhh! Her partner is an excellent dancer and teacher and she teaches a majority of her classes. She danced in the performance and she was clearly the best dancer there, but my instructor made a big deal about her daughter's dancing and she did not even recognize the other dancer for helping her out with her classes. Unbelieveable!

[Maria_Aya]

Unbelievable YEP it is !!!
Well if there are people willing to pay, there will be always the foxes to take the money from them.
Dont know the teacher, dont know anything for the place you are, but it is ridicullus.

Maria Aya

[Suheir]

That's terrible - this teacher is obviously out to rip people off and make money by whatever means possible.

[Lydia]

heeeee wait a minute that is crazy!!! i pay my students to perform next to me!!! so they are able to pay for the first costume they have purchased...and believe me it is not just a little bit i pay them...it is ashame realy ...not good!!! how far can you go,i know we al have to work and make money ,but you supose to love and help your students,not to rip them off...yak yak yak.....Lydia

[Eshta]

Wow, that's outrageous!

Do many students cough up?! I guess they must do, otherwise she wouldn't get away with it.

Pity really. Is this the norm in the area? I've never heard of anything like this before. What do other local teachers do? Or are there no other local teachers, and this is how she gets away with it?

[KuteNurse]

There are two teachers in this area and unfortunately, I picked the bad one. I am changing over as soon as new classes begin in mid June. As far as I know, it is not the norm to charge dancers to perform. I think it is terrible how she treats her students. Actually, many students have left her studio and have started dancing with the other instructor who is supposed to be a total sweetheart, teaching BD the way it should be taught with proper posture etc...

The first class with the bad instructor, as soon as she checks everyone's name, she starts trying to sell her dvd with four basic moves on it for $15 dollars. The filming is awful, some students found that the dvd did not work on their dvd players. Mine works, however, it cuts out in parts of the video, so part of the moves are missing. Overall, the video does teach a few moves, but they are not basic for beginners. 1. Hip circle with right knee bent, circling the hands, one up above head, one down by your hip, while your toes on your foot are doing a circlular motion to keep the hip circle going. 2. Figure eight (backwards) where your hands are going from side to side. This move is probably the most basic for a beginner. 3. Hip up, one hip up on right with left hand by left ear and right hand extended up to the side. Opposite: Left hip up. 4. Four hip bumps, then moving into a tiny shimmy, with arms going up then down in front of your body all the while shimmying.

Then, we were expected to perform in front of the entire class the four basic moves. The teacher said, we want to judge! The four brand newbies, refused to do it unless we could do it in a group of four.

Ok, then she told us to buy her music cd which had two songs on it for $5. One song with words, the other a drum solo.

Next, she wanted us to buy $80 hip scarfs from her. (Luckily, I had already bought my hip scarf online.)

Need I go on with the complaints from her class??? lol

[KuteNurse]

Wow, that's outrageous!

Do many students cough up?! I guess they must do, otherwise she wouldn't get away with it.

Pity really. Is this the norm in the area? I've never heard of anything like this before. What do other local teachers do? Or are there no other local teachers, and this is how she gets away with it?

From what I have heard, yes her students do pay her 150.00 per dance they want to perform in.

[chryssanthi sahar]

The instructor that I have been dancing with, in addition to charging the monthly fee's for dance class, charges her students $150.00 per dance to be in her performances. The student also purchases her costume. In addition, my instructor charges $15 dollars a ticket for the performance.

WHAT ??? This is absolutely ridiculous! She rips you off! I never charge money from my students for the performances and I even borrow them costumes, if possible. Well, I cannot pay them for them performances I organize, because the theatre is small (there fit only around 100 people), so I cannot afford to pay them, but I never charge anything extra and I even give extra training for free, because I want the performance to become as good as possible. But if we get hired as a group for a performance by some other organiser, I always make out fees for the students, so in this case, I pay them.
KuteNurse, I think it is better to look for another instructor
By the way, different subject: unfortunately I'm not going to visit the US this year, because I plan to visit quite some other countries, but I will surely come some time next year. I'll let you know, as soon as I have concrete plans

[KuteNurse]

WHAT ??? This is absolutely ridiculous! She rips you off! I never charge money from my students for the performances and I even borrow them costumes, if possible. Well, I cannot pay them for them performances I organize, because the theatre is small (there fit only around 100 people), so I cannot afford to pay them, but I never charge anything extra and I even give extra training for free, because I want the performance to become as good as possible. But if we get hired as a group for a performance by some other organiser, I always make out fees for the students, so in this case, I pay them.
KuteNurse, I think it is better to look for another instructor
By the way, different subject: unfortunately I'm not going to visit the US this year, because I plan to visit quite some other countries, but I will surely come some time next year. I'll let you know, as soon as I have concrete plans

Awww...That is a bummer, but I will look forward to your visit next year. It will give me more time to help plan a workshop for you. My son cycles and he will be racing in Milwaukee the last week in July anyways, so chances are that I would not have even been around that week

[janaki]

Unbelievable!!! I did get charged for rehearsals when I was starting out to perform. I thought it was strange. Since I live in a money minded society, Hong Kong, I thought, may be that is how things work here. I protested against this. Things are different now!!!!! Rules have been changed!!!

I handle my students differently. We provide costumes, music, props, free studio time, if they like to rehearse on their own etc., If they are new to performances, we may not pay them all the time. We recruit them as understudies and we cover all their expenses. If the client sets aside budget for them we will pay them. If we do a charity perfromance, we will give them few bellydance classes for free or we reward them with music cds or zills or veils. Never never never take from the students!!!h

Kutenurse, this instructor sounds like she is from another planet!!! I can't believe that she is getting away with it. I am glad you are switching soon!!!!