I am a practitioner of dance that has great cultural significance. For the cultures I present though my art, these dances are not merely movement for the sake of movement. Today, I will focus mostly on Polynesian dance, but some of the concepts to be discussed pertain to Middle Eastern/North African dance (belly dance) as well as Indian dance. This post is more of an overview of the topic. In future posts, I will go more in depth about this topic for different styles of dance.


WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND CULTURE?
Many people take a dance class to get more exercise. That is a valid reason to want to dance! However, when one chooses a dance such as Hawaiian hula or ‘ori Tahiti (among the many other Polynesian dance styles), one has chosen to learn a dance that has deep historical, cultural, and spiritual significance. For example, you may have been inspired to learn hula after seeing a dancer at a luau. Chances are, that dancer (assuming they were dancing hula) showed you hula ‘auana (modern hula). It is likely that the dancer did not present hula kahiko (ancient hula), which would have likely had a deeper, sacred meaning to it. Don’t be surprised if you join a hula hālau (school) or dance studio and you learn more serious dances and chants in addition to the cute and fun routines you may have seen at a party.

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to learn based on a “more fun” version you’ve seen, it is important to allow yourself to learn everything you can about the culture. Why? Because understanding the meaning behind the dance routines will help you move with more intention, thus improving your overall performance and the value of what you’re learning! Fortunately, Polynesian dance itself is a great avenue for learning more about the cultures represented, as the dance routines often depict significant historical events, legends, and mythology. The same is true for dances from other cultures as well, such as kathak from India. The routines in kathak often depict significant events or are presentations of devotion to a god. For Middle Eastern/North African dance, cultural significance can come in the form of knowing what gestures are used by the people of the country you’re representing (i.e. Egypt if you’re using an Egyptian song) and what gestures may be inappropriate in that culture. Knowing this will spare you embarrassment and even the possible disdain of audience members of the culture.

Another important piece to point out is that the dances I’ve talked about so far each had a historical period during which they were disallowed by colonists. When you take that into consideration, it should become clear why these arts are so significant to the people of the culture today. These beautiful forms of art were almost lost forever. It is important to preserve what is left today, and the only way to do that is to hold onto the roots of the dance. If you are an outsider to the culture, it is not your place to update or put a new spin on a dance with ancient roots. Learn it the way it was meant to be learned, and allow that to connect you to more people in the world.

HOW TO START AND STAY INFORMED?
A great way to start learning more in depth about the culture associated with your chosen dance style would be, in the case of hula, to find an authentic hālau. In some cases, that is not possible due to location. In that case, find a good hula studio or studio with hula classes in which more than just movement is taught. This goes for ‘ori Tahiti as well—find a good studio in which the teacher teaches more than movement by itself. Make sure the teacher explains the meaning of gestures done in each routine. Make sure they talk about the background of the songs used. Make sure they explain or show the lyrics of the songs. If you have to, ask for these things. If the teacher cannot provide these things for you, or if they don’t wish to, it may be time to find another school.

Another way to learn more in depth is to seek out lectures pertaining to the dance and the culture. In the last couple of years, many teachers from around the world have been teaching online dance workshops and giving online lectures. I have taken advantage of both, and I have learned so much about Tahitian culture and history as a result. 

There are some books you may be able to find on the dance and culture you’re studying as well. These may be more difficult to find, especially if the book was written in a language other than your own (there are often no translated versions available), but you may be pleasantly surprised if you search! If you’re studying a culture and history on your own, it is to your benefit to diversify your sources. Hearing things put a different way can help you gain new understanding of a concept, or you may learn a little more about a given topic from one teacher to the next (or even from one class to the next of the same teacher).

CONCLUSION
​Dancing is fun! Learning about other cultures through dance is enriching. Allowing yourself to take a deep dive into understanding a culture and its history will help you grow as a dancer, as there will be more meaning and intention in your dancing. People do notice that, whether it’s other dancers, teachers, or an audience! Even if you are not a professional dancer, being serious about learning cultural significance will expand your horizons and give more meaning to your hobby. For many, that means they won’t lose interest after a few classes. Instead, they end up with a life-long, fulfilling way to be healthy and creative.

I don’t have much formal business training. I was a business major in college for about a year, but I quickly went back to science. Because of that, I ended up figuring out how to start and run a business with whatever information I could find online. I will share some of the steps I took. Note: My experience is from running a business in the USA. With that said, state laws may vary. No one sponsored this post. These tips are purely based on my own experience as a dance entertainment business owner.




​


​Where to Start

1. Create a business plan.
   As many may tell you, the first step is creating some kind of business plan. Simply outline how you want your business to look at different points in time—after six months, one year, five years, and so on. Make reachable goals. Take all the time you need, but don’t procrastinate too much!
2. Register your business.
   Once you’ve got a plan and are sure of what you want your business to be, the next step would be registering your business with your state. This does cost money, so do keep that in mind. Your state may have instructions and paperwork online (Rhode Island does via the RI Secretary of State website). Be sure to read all the rules thoroughly! You may opt to use a legal liaison service (such as Zen Business or Legal Zoom; there are websites with lists of the best ones for different situations), but keep in mind it will likely incur an additional cost. The benefit is that you will have some guidance, and you’ll be less likely to make some trivial blunder that causes a big problem later.
3. Gather photos and videos.
   Compile photos and videos, preferably professional. You’ll want good photos of you in costume and videos of your dancing. It’s also preferable that at least some videos are of you dancing in front of an audience. If you can’t get professional photos and videos at first, that’s fine. Use what you have. Take some with a smartphone (or have a friend or family member do so for you). Most popular smart phones have great cameras these days, so while not professional, they will be passable for the time being. These can be used on flyers, your website, gigging platforms, etc.
4. Consider gigging platforms.
   Consider setting up an account with an online gigging platform. For example, I use GigSalad. There is also The Bash (formerly called GigMasters). These services do cost a fee, but with GigSalad, at least, you can let the membership lapse and just keep a free account thereafter if desired. Setting up on a gigging platform can get you noticed a lot faster than you would be otherwise! It will help get your name out there for when people search for your genre of entertainment.
5. Set up a website.
   If you can, set up a website as early as you can. The photos and videos will come in handy here, too. You don’t have to be good at computer programming at all; you can use a service such as Wix or Squarespace.
6. Don’t neglect social media!
   It will benefit you to have a profile set up on some kind of social media, e.g. Instagram or a Facebook business page. Try posting at least once a week. It will benefit you more to post more often, but you don’t have to post every day. You can post videos and photos of your performances there as well. It only compounds your online presence! Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags on your posts.
7. Register your business with Google.
   This helps when locals are looking for your genre of entertainment via Google search.
8. Get reviews!
   Reviews will be useful both on Google and on the gigging platforms. You can get reviews from past clients (for example, clients you danced for when you were in a troupe) or local fans if you participated in local dance showcases (like haflas for belly dancers). Some people get reviews from friends, but I would caution not to do that too much unless your friends saw you dance in a show of some kind. That’s just from a moral standpoint for me, but others may think it doesn’t make a difference. I happened to have some reviews from when I was in a troupe and the reviewer mentioned me by name. I only had two, but they came in handy! When people search for entertainment, it really helps if they can see reviews. If there are none, they may be a little skeptical. That doesn’t mean you absolutely won’t get hired; the videos should help too!
9. Prioritize customer service.
   Another way to help yourself get the gig is to be great at customer service. Be reasonable; don’t let people take advantage of you. However, you should also show genuine care and respect for potential clients as well as booked clients.
10. Set your price.
    Find out what other dancers in your area charge (it helps to be friendly with and supportive of your local dance community for this and a plethora of other reasons). You don’t want to undercut! When you undercut, you make things worse for yourself as well as the rest of the working dance community. Everyone will eventually have to lower their prices. That is no good for anyone trying to make a living!
11. Invest in a good speaker.
    A lot of people hiring you for a party won’t have any reliable sound system. Sometimes there’s a DJ, but in my experience, that is not often the case. You’ll want to get a speaker with great volume in case you have an outdoor gig in a wide open space. See if you can find one with a microphone so you can easily speak to the audience when needed.
12. Invest in at least one or two good, professional costumes.
    You may have one if you’ve been a hobbyist or student for a long time or if you’ve been in a troupe before; just make sure it’s not a student costume and that it’s in good repair (in other words, for belly dance, not something like a coin hip scarf and basic crop top with an old skirt).
13. Get good at makeup.
    Make sure you can do your own makeup relatively well. Watch tutorials on YouTube and Instagram if needed. I did that a lot! It does help.
14. Draft a contract for your gigs, and make sure your clients understand the terms and conditions.
    This is very important! There are examples of gig contracts online. When you use a service like GigSalad, there may be a built-in contract that you can add to and tweak however you need to.

How to Continue

1. Continue gathering videos and photos at your gigs.
   Use these photos and videos on your social media, website, and gigging platform profile to show potential clients what to expect. Take an assistant to your gigs to help with this. It can be a friend or family member. I often take my husband along to help me with carrying all of my things (speaker, props, and costume pieces) and as some added security. He is great at taking photos and videos of me working!
2. Keep up with the maintenance of your costumes.
   Make sure your costumes always look great! Ensure that any embellishments are still intact, that any blemishes are cleaned, and that the costume as a whole is clean. Make sure, as well, that your closures are secure as time goes on. That way, you won’t have to worry about wardrobe malfunctions due to wear and tear.
3. Keep gathering reviews.
   Ask after every gig. Services like GigSalad remind customers to leave reviews for you as well.

Experienced dancers, do you have anything to add? Those considering starting a new business, let me know if you have any questions!

Studying multiple types of dance can be very tempting when you’ve fallen in love with more than one. It is also quite possible to do! It can be challenging, especially when the styles are vastly different from each other. However, after doing just that for 17 years, I have a few tips to share.


I can only think of a few months in the last 17 years during which I was studying only one style of dance. At one time, I was studying three! If you’re not sure how to go about it, it can get complicated and stressful. I have been through that, so I’ll share my tips on doing it successfully. For this post, I will focus on a time at which I was studying Bollywood dance (Indian dance based on the dancing seen in Bollywood movies) alongside raqs sharqi (belly dance). Based on the styles of my teachers at the time, the key differences I noticed between Bollywood dance and belly dance are the following: Bollywood dance often entails bigger, wider, more flamboyant movements; while belly dance typically requires an emphasis on tightly-controlled, subtle, and often internally-focused movements to draw in your audience. Switching between these two vastly different types of energy was, at first, a big challenge for me. It took me a few years to figure out how to seamlessly switch back and forth. Here’s what I figured out! Please keep in mind this is what worked for me—some of these may work for you, and some may not, but I hope you find something useful here!
​

1. Have a clear mind before beginning to practice.
   This helps to eliminate a lot of confusion. If you’re thinking of one thing while doing another, you may get mixed up (especially when you’re just starting out as a dancer).
2. Take breaks in between practices.
   If possible, try to have at least a day of rest in between practicing each style. This is especially important when you first embark on this multifaceted journey. It allows you to reset your mind and body and eliminate confusion between the two styles.
3. Drill, drill, drill!
   When you do practice, drill movements many times. Make sure you have a solid understanding of what you’re supposed to be doing. You should start to build muscle memory.
4. Wear appropriate practice clothing.
   It may not be exactly the case for most Bollywood dance classes, but in classical Indian dance classes, you are typically required to wear certain clothing. In many cases it would be what’s called salwar kameez. This clothing is similar to what you would wear during a performance, yet comfortable enough to be worn during your 1-hour class. It helps you better understand how to move in your dance style. Similarly, for belly dance, it may help to wear a hip scarf so you can see just how much (or how little) you need to move to produce a satisfying hip shimmy, drop, or lock. It can also show if you’re moving too much elsewhere in the body—one goal is not to disturb the hip scarf when you’re doing an upper body movement such as a shoulder shimmy.
5. Practice in full costume in front of a mirror.
   One reason for the need for big movements in Bollywood dance, as I was told by my teacher, has to do with some of the clothing worn during performances. For example, if you are wearing a sari, it can be difficult for the audience to see any subtle chest or hip movements (depending on how it’s wrapped). If you practice every now-and-then in full costume, you’ll be able to see whether your movements are coming through clearly. Again, muscle memory should kick in and help you dance correctly whenever you practice with plain practice attire. Practicing in costume works similarly for belly dance. You may see proof that less is more when you wear a beaded costume. This is not something you’ll want to do every day, as you want to keep your costumes beautiful for as long as possible!

One last note: It is very important to remember to be respectful of each style of dance. When presenting a culture that isn’t yours, this becomes especially important. For many people, a dance is not just a dance. It can serve as a tribute to their culture, their home, and even their ancestors. You wouldn’t want to do anything offensive, which is one reason why proper energy and technique are important to practice. Your teacher should be able to help you with that, but do keep it in mind when practicing and performing.

These techniques can be applied to any style of dance. Once you get the hang of dancing in each style, it will become a lot easier for you study them at the same time. Ideally, you’ll eventually be able to switch your mindset to match the style you’re about to dance at any given point. It may take a long time, but just know that it can be done and done well, as long as you remember to stay true to each style!

​

To practitioners of multiple dance styles: have you applied these techniques to your dance practice? Do you have other tips that I missed? Let me know what styles of dance you study or want to study!