The tradition of tipping dancers who perform in public spaces by
tossing coins at their feet is an ancient one, practiced throughout
Europe and the Middle East. Karol Henderson Harding writes that "In
classical Greece, a woman from a poor family tied a sash around her hips
and went to dance for her dowry in the marketplace. Spectators threw
small gold coins at her, money which she then sewed into her bodice and
hip-belt as decoration, since she had no where else quite as safe to
keep them." In some parts of Greece it is still customary that in lieu
of wedding gifts, guests will pin cash on the bride's wedding dress
while she dances during the reception.
How do you feel about being paid for your dance by having a stranger
tuck dollar bills into your costume? Some dancers feel that this form of
tipping degrades belly dancing by equating it with stripping and lap
dancing. Some dancers feel that having a customer place a tip in a bra
strap is OK, but no where else. One local dancer I know considers her
hips to be like her "pockets" so she lets people put money in her
costume, but only when they put the bills in the sides of her hip belt.
In the Plaka in Athens, Greece, where I started my performing career,
customers would tip the dancer by throwing a handful of bills over her
head while she danced. You showed class by NEVER touching this money
with your hands during your show; a waiter would go and pick it up for
you after you left the stage. Every now and then, an enthusiastic
customer might get up to dance with you for a moment or two and then
pull out a large bill, lick it, and stick it to your perspiring
forehead. This practice may seem, well, rather disgusting as well as
unsanitary to the uninitiated, however, it is actually common not just
in Greece, but through out the Middle East and North Africa.
I learned how to "go out for tips" when I began working at the Arabic
clubs that proliferated in and around Athens in the 1980s. Unlike the
simple Greek tavernas, the Arabic clubs were fancy, with plush carpets
and chic decor. They had great bands and real stages with good lighting,
plus they paid well. I wanted to work in one of those places! The
problem was that in order to work there, you had to use part of your
show to dance up to each table to collect tips. I felt that this was
like begging. Then I was told that the dancers had to split their tips 3
ways, 1/3 to the dancer, 1/3 to the band, and 1/3 to the house! I later
learned that this is common practice throughout Europe, but at the time
I was stunned. Since my tips were often more than 3 times what they paid
me, it seemed to me that I was paying them to dance there! However, when
you make your living by dancing seven nights a week, that kind of money
is hard to turn down. Additionally, the music was fabulous, so I made my
peace with tipping. These days, women are as likely to tip as men, and
in some dance circles not accepting a tip is an insult to the tipper, so
take that tip and smile!
TIPS ON HOW TO HANDLE TIPPING BY PIPER:
Decide what part of your costume you are comfortable with having
people tuck money into, then be friendly and firm when presenting this
option. If you don't want people to touch you at all, try going around
with a basket or tambourine that you have already placed a few bills in.
Members of Suhaila's troupe go out into the audience with the large clay
water jars that they use for the "pot" dance to collect contributions.
If you want to be tipped, and you don't have a friend with you to get
the tipping started, look over the audience ahead of time for a friendly
face. Explain to that person that you pay for your costumes with tips,
give him/her a five dollar bill, and ask to be tipped with it at a
particular point in the show. Most people are very helpful and glad to
have a chance to participate.
When people are putting tips in your costume, look at their eyes, not
their hands. If someone is going to grab you, you will usually see it in
their face. Do not assume that men will be your only problem. I once had
a woman try to burn me with her cigarette. I am quick on my feet, so she
didn't succeed, but was haunted for years afterwards by the look in her
eyes.
Learn to dance on your toes and then quickly drop so that your hips
are above your heels, only a foot or so off the floor, and then step
backwards and up again. This move has saved me from someone who wanted
to put his hand inside my hip belt on several occasions (twice they were
fathers with their whole family right there, so go figure).
Be ready to quickly twist in the direction away from anyone tucking a
bill into a bra cup.
Remember that you are in charge of the show. If you are fast enough,
no one but you and the potential perp will know that someone tried to
grab you, so keep moving and keep smiling. I once had a giant (he must
have been 7.5 feet tall) scoop me up like a baby and kiss my stomach. He
then stood there, grinning, holding me at least 5 feet off the floor. As
all the possibilities of what I could do raced through my mind including
screaming and poking him in the eyes, I realized that I REALLY
didn't want him to drop me. "Put me down now," I said firmly with a
smile. He put me down and I continued dancing. What else could I do? The
show must go on.
ADDITIONAL ADVICE FROM THE BALTIMORE BELLY DANCE COMMUNITY:
Melina: Ideally, clubs would pay performers well enough (at
least $150 per performance at your regular 'gig') so that trolling for tips would not be necessary. Of
course, being showered with hundreds of bills cascading over your head
because someone appreciated your performance is not a bad thing. Nor is
interacting with the audience in a family-friendly way. If the
venue permitted it, dancers could develop their own brief instructional flyer educating customers about various tipping customs
and the dancers' preference on she would like to be tipped to show
appreciation for her performance. I think in part it's a question of
audiences being educated -- Americans simply don't know what to do about
tipping and want instruction. They generally take the lead from the
performer. If the performer sends a clear message either by body
language or flyer, the audience generally accommodates.
Cashmere: Well, when I danced for bands the money that was
thrown on the floor "before" I danced was the bands money-but, once I
entered the floor-anything that was thrown was mine. Now, when I did
restaurants many folks did not know that they could "tip" the dancer-so
to start things off I would always have my escort-or friend that always
accompanying me be ready with a tip half way through my performance-I
would dance over to the person sitting in the audience who was actually
with me but no one knew that-and of course they would pull out a 5.00 or
10.00 and tuck the bill into my skirt-I would then give them a hug or
peck on the cheek and a little private wiggle and that would get the
ball rolling for others who wanted the "dancer" to come over to them
personally they would need to have that money out - it works great every
time! Naturally use common sense-eye up the crowd, make sure that this
is a "tipping" type atmosphere - keep those zills on for grabbers and
give them a little zing on the hand with if the money is going in the
wrong place!
Amirah Ahzar: Depending on the setting and audience, tipping
can be either enjoyable or horrendous for the dancer. I had the
opportunity to dance at a restaurant for several months and when I went
for my last performance, I arrived to find a bachelor party of 25 who
came to give their groom a glorious send off. Contrary to popular
belief, the purpose of our dancing is not done to cater to the
affections of men, as if re-enacting a scene from the age old movie
Sinbad. The heart of every serious belly dancer knows that. And I don't
know any dancers who actually agree to perform specifically for bachelor
parties. But if they show up at the Mediterranean restaurant where
you're dancing you should be prepared, at least mentally, for anything.
Although the group was basically harmless on that night, I encountered
one guy who had too much to drink. At the beginning of my performance,
my heart plummeted to the floor as I began hearing him shout, "Come on!
Move! Work for this money!" Dismayed while dancing for a predominantly
male audience, I began to wonder, "Is this what I've been reduced to?"
Intoxicated by more than mere dumbec rhythms, this man had no clue that
the last thing on my mind was dancing to appease him or even for the
sole purpose of making tips. Frankly, I could care less whether I'm
tipped or not. That's not my motivation as a dancer. Some of us dance
because it's in our very soul and for us tipping is a fringe benefit.
Tipping can be a fun and exciting part of belly dancing for both the
dancer and audience, but not at the expense of becoming disrespectful or
rude to the performer.
Latifa: I personally *don't* encourage tipping, but that's a
personal decision and I know many dancers feel differently. The
traditional Arabic tipping method -- showering money over the dancer --
is great, even if it makes the floor slippery. It's the other, more
common tipping method -- tucking money into a dancer's costume -- that I
don't care for. Your dignity as a dancer is worth more than a sweaty
dollar bill, tucked into the wrong place by probing fingers. I don't
think that every tipper is trying to get fresh with the dancer -- most
aren't -- but it's not worth taking the chance. There's also a problem
with getting a tipper on and off stage, or getting away from the
tipper's table so you can circulate to other tables, depending on the
circumstances. These problems can be avoided if the dancer realizes that
she does not have to be a passive recipient in a tipping situation.
Here's one way that the dancer can take an active role in setting the
tone for tipping. When someone approaches you with money, instead of
letting him (or her) tuck the money into your costume, try this: dance
up to the person, take the money yourself, in a very flirtatious way,
tuck it into your costume (be cute, not seductive), thank the person
warmly, and go on dancing. It's a way to flatter the person a bit, make
him/her feel special, and keep the flow of your show going.
Nerissa: Interacting with the audience is a huge part of
performing for me, so I always take tips. It's a great way to play with
audience members. I've never had a problem with people treating me
disrespectfully when giving tips, though a few have tried to put tips
into my bra, which I'm not comfortable with. It's easy when that
happens, though, I usually say "No" firmly and point to my hip belt. But
more often than that, I find people don't know how to tip a bellydancer.
At a Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco, the dancers did their whole
show on a stage, then came down into the audience balancing large brass
pots on their heads and it was easy to know how to tip them. Many people
here, I find, aren't even aware of the tipping tradition and sometimes
even come up to me after the show when I'm back in my street clothes
eating dinner and hand me money. I always appreciate the gesture, but
it's more fun to me to take tips during my dance. Though I think taking
tips is fun, I consider it part of my salary in some ways. All the
costumes and lessons are expensive and what we make from restaurants
rarely comes close to covering that. I have always been curious, though,
about the tradition of throwing flowers at a performer, which I hear is
done in other cultures. Being showered in money is kind of cool, but I
would love to experience being showered in flowers like the dancers in
Greece.
