Bellydancers and money - Page 3

da Sage · 03-03-2008, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salome

da Sage has a point, certainly if you are 'going out for tips'. But if you are receiving a tip in a hand to hand type situation there is nothing wrong with tucking it in your costume. In fact I did that last night myself, a gentleman approached the stage during my first set and handed me a 1,000 bill, whoohoo (rupies not dollars, lol). I can't run back stage and tuck it in my wallet or set it down on the stage somewhere. Tucking it in my belt keeps it nice and safe until I'm let loose in the mall.

Ha ha! I had conveniently forgotten (until just now) that at Ren Faire I often tuck money into my bodice for the same reason...but that is usually while shopping, no one tries to tip me then!

sausanacademy · 03-05-2008, 07:39 AM

Hi....

Tipping in a costume was very acceptable when I was dancing for the public back in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's. In fact, if we didn't get tipped, we'd be very upset. Accepting tips in a costume was never frowned upon and I'm almost positive that that certain tradition was passed along via the Egyptian film industry. There have been many an Egyptian movie where a dancer will be dancing around and someone will tip her in her belt or in her bra top. In fact, a few of the clips I have preserved on DVD actually show dancers getting money in their costumes.

Accepting money this way was never considered disgusting. In fact, it was actually expected -- by me and by the rest of my dance colleagues. I loved getting tipped in the belt and in the bra. If we did not get tipped, it meant (in our minds) that we were not capable dancers.

I don't know when the attitudes changed. And in a way, I'm a little sad those days are gone. However, times do change, and things are done more politically correct nowadays. Accepting tips in a costume has gone by the way side for the most part, but in my restaurant, a little brown envelope with the notation "Dancer's Gratuity" is always included in the check presenter so that the dancer for the evening can still be tipped by the night's patrons.

-Sausan

lizaj · 03-05-2008, 08:08 AM

...more importantly, I was told that dancers received only the tips given in most establishments in Turkey. A British dancer told me she was given room and board at the restaurant that hired her and had to rely on tips for any cash from her dancing and that this was the norm.
I also get concerned when we see fit to criticise dancers who live and work in very different societies to our Western ones and where it is a matter of surviving
Mostly we are not trying to make our only living here in the West. We have other "day jobs". We are not sex workers in any way shape or form(

def not me!) even if we do a very sensual dance. Again the British dancer told me she had to make it very very clear she was just a dancer

As to the photos I think they looked posed anyway!

Makeda Maysa · 03-05-2008, 05:19 PM

It is normal in my area (Maryland) to tip in the dancer's costume. I have tipped others in this way and am not shy about being tipped by having a bill placed in the hip band or arm band or even up on the bra strap of my costume (no down the front of it, though!). I love money showers, as well, they're fun. I've seen many dancers catch a bill before it hits the floor and stick it to a glistening body part, usually the forehead, which I think is cute and cheeky.

Hasna · 03-06-2008, 11:28 AM

hi
i don't know why is that so bad if the dancer gets the tip from the customers in restaurants. in many bosnian, serbian, turkish places is giving money to the dancer normal thing. the hole point is: how the dancer takes it-she has to look noble, doing that!
behind the belt is usually normal, but behind bra is bad. i saw that in many places. many dancers take it by hand or they have plates for that on the table somewhere near the dance floor.
in egypt i saw customers throwing money in air when the dancer is dancing, she never takes it by hand.

Caroline_afifi · 03-06-2008, 12:40 PM

I am not exactly sure where this custom began. In Egypt now it is not acceptable to touch dancers and money is generally thrown over their head and collected off the floor and put into a box by a waiter.
Chance would be a fine thing!

Aisha Azar · 03-06-2008, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caroline_afifi

I am not exactly sure where this custom began. In Egypt now it is not acceptable to touch dancers and money is generally thrown over their head and collected off the floor and put into a box by a waiter.
Chance would be a fine thing!

Dear Gang,
This is even how I have seen the Arabs here in the States do it, and depending on WHO it is and how rich they are, they sometimes make that shower out of$100 bills. They sometimes do this snappy thing with their fingers and the money flies everywhere!( I have tried it and can't seem to do it very well.) Sometimes they make a necklace with the money too, and put it on the dancer. In some places in the States, there is occasionally the rule that the band gets all the tips that reach the floor. It was this way in several clubs in Portland and Seattle years ago. I am not sure the patrons were aware of it.
Regards,
A'isha

Shamsa · 04-11-2008, 12:39 PM

i think it's unfine to tip the dancer like that, it's a bit slutty...

Makeda Maysa · 04-11-2008, 01:36 PM

Well, having had several of us say that we have received tips in that way, or have no objection to it, I think it's a bit much to say that we or those other dancers are "slutty." I understand that you disagree and I'm fine with that, but I think there's a way to do it a bit more constructively.

sausanacademy · 04-11-2008, 10:46 PM

In a good many black and white Egyptian movies, dancers received tips in their costumes. Even if this may have not been the norm outside a movie site in Egypt during the time these movies were being made, it did develop that way in the West by way of these films.

I love and accept getting money this way in my costume; and, quite frankly, I don't find myself feeling slutty at all. I find myself feeling much like I believe the dancers in Egyptian films who accepted tips that way felt -- feeling appreciated and enjoyed.

03-05-2008, 05:19 PM	#24 (permalink)
Makeda Maysa Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 239	It is normal in my area (Maryland) to tip in the dancer's costume. I have tipped others in this way and am not shy about being tipped by having a bill placed in the hip band or arm band or even up on the bra strap of my costume (no down the front of it, though!). I love money showers, as well, they're fun. I've seen many dancers catch a bill before it hits the floor and stick it to a glistening body part, usually the forehead, which I think is cute and cheeky. __________________ The Niraja Dance Company www.thendc.net

04-11-2008, 12:39 PM	#28 (permalink)
Shamsa Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: France Posts: 54	i think it's unfine to tip the dancer like that, it's a bit slutty... __________________ a belly dancer is a queen, and queens never go on the floor.

04-11-2008, 01:36 PM	#29 (permalink)
Makeda Maysa Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 239	Well, having had several of us say that we have received tips in that way, or have no objection to it, I think it's a bit much to say that we or those other dancers are "slutty." I understand that you disagree and I'm fine with that, but I think there's a way to do it a bit more constructively. __________________ The Niraja Dance Company www.thendc.net

04-11-2008, 10:46 PM	#30 (permalink)
sausanacademy Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California Posts: 74	In a good many black and white Egyptian movies, dancers received tips in their costumes. Even if this may have not been the norm outside a movie site in Egypt during the time these movies were being made, it did develop that way in the West by way of these films. I love and accept getting money this way in my costume; and, quite frankly, I don't find myself feeling slutty at all. I find myself feeling much like I believe the dancers in Egyptian films who accepted tips that way felt -- feeling appreciated and enjoyed. __________________ The Pain, the Passion, the Joy; Dancing with "Nephis"

03-05-2008, 07:39 AM	#22 (permalink)
sausanacademy Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California Posts: 74	Hi.... Tipping in a costume was very acceptable when I was dancing for the public back in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's. In fact, if we didn't get tipped, we'd be very upset. Accepting tips in a costume was never frowned upon and I'm almost positive that that certain tradition was passed along via the Egyptian film industry. There have been many an Egyptian movie where a dancer will be dancing around and someone will tip her in her belt or in her bra top. In fact, a few of the clips I have preserved on DVD actually show dancers getting money in their costumes. Accepting money this way was never considered disgusting. In fact, it was actually expected -- by me and by the rest of my dance colleagues. I loved getting tipped in the belt and in the bra. If we did not get tipped, it meant (in our minds) that we were not capable dancers. I don't know when the attitudes changed. And in a way, I'm a little sad those days are gone. However, times do change, and things are done more politically correct nowadays. Accepting tips in a costume has gone by the way side for the most part, but in my restaurant, a little brown envelope with the notation "Dancer's Gratuity" is always included in the check presenter so that the dancer for the evening can still be tipped by the night's patrons. -Sausan

03-05-2008, 08:08 AM	#23 (permalink)
lizaj Moderator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK Posts: 1,269	...more importantly, I was told that dancers received only the tips given in most establishments in Turkey. A British dancer told me she was given room and board at the restaurant that hired her and had to rely on tips for any cash from her dancing and that this was the norm. I also get concerned when we see fit to criticise dancers who live and work in very different societies to our Western ones and where it is a matter of surviving Mostly we are not trying to make our only living here in the West. We have other "day jobs". We are not sex workers in any way shape or form( def not me!) even if we do a very sensual dance. Again the British dancer told me she had to make it very very clear she was just a dancer As to the photos I think they looked posed anyway!

03-06-2008, 11:28 AM	#25 (permalink)
Hasna Junior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ljubljana Posts: 42	hi i don't know why is that so bad if the dancer gets the tip from the customers in restaurants. in many bosnian, serbian, turkish places is giving money to the dancer normal thing. the hole point is: how the dancer takes it-she has to look noble, doing that! behind the belt is usually normal, but behind bra is bad. i saw that in many places. many dancers take it by hand or they have plates for that on the table somewhere near the dance floor. in egypt i saw customers throwing money in air when the dancer is dancing, she never takes it by hand.

03-06-2008, 12:40 PM	#26 (permalink)
Caroline_afifi V.I.P. Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Liverpool UK Posts: 1,341	I am not exactly sure where this custom began. In Egypt now it is not acceptable to touch dancers and money is generally thrown over their head and collected off the floor and put into a box by a waiter. Chance would be a fine thing!