PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

Dear Bewildered,

It's no wonder you're confused! The whole issue of collecting tips is one that professional dancers simply don't agree on.

I'm actually a bit surprised by your question, because the way you worded it suggests that you haven't been going to the local restaurants and shisha bars to see the established professional dancers perform. If you'd been going, then you would have already have seen with your own eyes which dancers accept tips, whether they allow the tips to be tucked into their costumes, what kind of respect they garner from audiences (or not), whether there is a generally creepy attitude or not toward the dancers, and how much money these dancers are receiving.

If you aspire to performing professionally yourself, then you absolutely should be visiting places with professional dancers at least once a week as part of your education. How else can you learn what kind of dancing is expected in these places? How else can you learn how the pros deal with general-public audiences who often behave quite differently from the safe environment of student haflas?

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

There's more than one way to accept tips. Letting audience members tuck them in your costume is not the only option.

Arab audiences have a couple of very appealing tipping customs. One is to make a necklace by taping a series of $1 bills together, then coming up to the stage and hanging that around the dancer's neck. Another, which I have seen done in Egypt as well as in the U.S., is for the tipper to come onto the stage and shower the dancer with a handful of banknotes — usually ten or more — holding them above her head and then letting them fall in a shower over her to the floor. Usually, the reason someone does a money shower is to show off his wealth at the same time he shows his appreciation for the dancer.

Some dancers are not comfortable with the idea of accepting tips tucked into their costumes. So they will take a tambourine, basket, or hat around with them when they visit the audience, and direct people to place the tips in that. This is generally quite acceptable in Renaissance Faire environments.

However, for other types of performances such as weddings or parties in private homes, it could be viewed as very low class to hold out a basket and openly ask for tips. Think about it — would you want a stranger coming to your family's party and openly asking your guests to give him/her money above and beyond what you have already agreed to pay? This would be quite embarrassing to most hosts, and probably many of the guests as well. Middle Eastern clients would find such a situation extremely awkward and damage your chances of building word-of-mouth business in the community. It would still be reasonable to accept tips, but not to behave as though you are trying to milk the guests for money.

Another option is to hold out your hand to accept the tip, and then you can unobtrusively tuck it into your belt to keep it safe. If you choose to do this, you could sew little pockets to the inside of your belt to hold the money. Some dancers will attach a small pouch to their belts for purposes of receiving their tip money.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Michael Baxter, Santa Clara, California.

It's also possible to place a basket on the stage with a sign indicating its purpose is gratuities for you. Many Renaissance Faire performers and buskers find this successful, but it's less effective in indoor environments.

Sometimes customers will put a tip for the entertainment on the credit card payment. This approach may work for you if the restaurant owner and serving staff are absolutely trustworthy, but there's also the risk they'll keep the money for themselves. If you use this approach, the restaurant owner may want to deduct the credit card company's fee from the tip before paying it to you, which is a reasonable thing to do.

For many years, I lived in a community where it was customary for audience members to tuck the tip into the dancer's costume. This practice was especially common in the 1980's and 1990's. However, many dancers today no longer do it, because:

• Many performers believe that in-costume tipping is bad for our public image. They feel that such tipping causes audience members to disrespect our dance, and for that reason they feel it's best to not do it. I can see their point.
• Many dancers feel uncomfortable with the idea of letting strangers get that close to them. They also prefer to avoid dealing at close range with possible drunks and hecklers. Some people have a need for more personal space than others, and those who have such a need prefer to avoid in-costume tipping.
• Non-Arab audiences often don't offer much in tips, so there's not much money to be made from going around for tips at such gigs. Consequently, some performers feel there's not enough money involved to continue a practice that (in their opinion) damages the reputation of our dance.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

For all these reasons, the in-costume tipping practice is becoming increasingly rare. I personally don't encourage in-costume tipping myself any more. Instead, I usually hold out my hand to accept the tips and tuck them in my belt myself. But if someone should respectfully reach to tuck a tip in an acceptable part of my costume, I'll usually allow it because I prefer not to embarrass the person. I also often permit young children to do it, because their parents often appreciate it when performers make the youngsters feel included in the fun.

When to Collect Tips

In the United States, the typical full American-style nightclub performance consists of 3, 5, or 7 parts:

1. A fast/medium entrance song
2. A slow rhumba for veil work or dreamy undulations
3. Another fast/medium song
4. A chiftetelli or rhythmnless improvised solo for either floor work, standing undulations, or balancing
5. Another fast/medium song
6. A drum solo
7. A fast finale

If you are doing all 7 parts, the best time to go around for tips is right after the slow 4th part, using the following fast/medium song that makes up part 5 to visit the tables. Return to the stage for your drum solo and finale. If you're doing only 3 parts (entrance, slow, fast finale), use the first part of your fast finale to go around, then return to the stage to end your show.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by William M. Smith, Iowa City, Iowa.

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