Andrea Deagon
New member
A historical note -- tipping by pressing light gold coins to a dancer's skin (mostly face) is attested in countries from Turkey to Algeria, beginning in the 16th century. I am sure there were local variations but the custom was quite widespread. Several authors refer to it as a "Golden Mask," which is the title of an academic article I am working on now on the topic. When paper money came in, my guess is the costume became the receptacle -- though you do have people sticking bills onto your body sometimes. I wonder about the showering of money, which I have not read about in earlier times. My guess is that it is more recent, as the prospect of being showered with coins is not pleasant. (BTW I once saw a group of men out in the sticks in Greece doing Zembekiko on payday, and they were flinging down bills for each other as well.) I also wonder if the Egyptian morality legislation of the 1950's didn't have something to do with it -- no touching the dancer? Fath was also discouraged, so the ways in which dancers solicited money from the customer were toned down.
The real dilemma comes with the culture clash. For the Arab audience, the tipping is part of the culture, and it is also not all about the dancer, but about the community and people's relationships within it, the dancer is the catalyst and the symbol of public generosity (which is not to say tips aren't also showing appreciation for a good dancer). With non-Arab audiences, there is not the same tradition, and there is not the same sense of community at the typical restaurant gig among the couples and families of various ethnic backgrounds who don't know each other. So all kinds of awkwardness results. Also, the dancer's openness to tipping esp. by putting money in her costume fits pretty well with the Arab notion of the dancer as disreputable, while most non-Arab belly dancers do not think of themselves as being disreputable. Middle class Western dancers often have ideas about not being touched that clash directly with typical tipping practices. Some don't mind, others make up their minds to grin and bear it. I took tips in the costume for years until I finally noticed that I didn't like most of it and stopped.
If my only tipping experiences had been with Middle Eastern audiences, I might not have developed a problem with it. But for my largely European-American audiences, tipping did seem stripperish and it was hard to create the celebratory sense that tipping has in an Arab audience or among people familiar with the practice. Luckily I was able to get decent wages for my performances, so I didn't need people's fingers in my costume to get paid. It really could be an extra for me if people handed me a tip, put one in a jar, or tossed it over my head.
The real dilemma comes with the culture clash. For the Arab audience, the tipping is part of the culture, and it is also not all about the dancer, but about the community and people's relationships within it, the dancer is the catalyst and the symbol of public generosity (which is not to say tips aren't also showing appreciation for a good dancer). With non-Arab audiences, there is not the same tradition, and there is not the same sense of community at the typical restaurant gig among the couples and families of various ethnic backgrounds who don't know each other. So all kinds of awkwardness results. Also, the dancer's openness to tipping esp. by putting money in her costume fits pretty well with the Arab notion of the dancer as disreputable, while most non-Arab belly dancers do not think of themselves as being disreputable. Middle class Western dancers often have ideas about not being touched that clash directly with typical tipping practices. Some don't mind, others make up their minds to grin and bear it. I took tips in the costume for years until I finally noticed that I didn't like most of it and stopped.
If my only tipping experiences had been with Middle Eastern audiences, I might not have developed a problem with it. But for my largely European-American audiences, tipping did seem stripperish and it was hard to create the celebratory sense that tipping has in an Arab audience or among people familiar with the practice. Luckily I was able to get decent wages for my performances, so I didn't need people's fingers in my costume to get paid. It really could be an extra for me if people handed me a tip, put one in a jar, or tossed it over my head.
