• Show up drunk or stoned. No more needs to be said.
• Not try the newly burned CD before the party. There is nothing worse than getting all the way to a job and finding out your CD doesn’t work and you don’t have a back up.
• Hand your CD over without your name or a case. What if the person playing the music puts it on a pile of all the other unlabeled home-burned CDs he may have? If you are in a multiple dancer show you may just have to perform to someone else’s music. And you can forget about getting your CD back.
• Put other music on the CD before or after your show music. Having other music on your show CD tempts fate and Murphy’s Law and was mentioned above. If your CD has multiple tracks, write the number of tracks for the DJ. It will help him be prepared for the end of the show and your exit.
• Badger the musicians about music. Also discussed above, musicians have a lot on their minds the night of a performance. If you wait until then to talk to them, your chances of having a meaningful conversation are slim. It is best to call before the party or come prepared with a list of well-known songs you know how to dance to.
• Cheat the musicians out of tips. Don’t fool yourself, they see everything. They will never forgive you for it and they will never trust you again. Plus your name will be mud with all the musicians in town. Is a $20.00 dollar bill worth the consequences?
• Cancel last minute or not show up. This is another cardinal sin of professional belly dance. Broken bones and a death in the family are about the only legitimate excuses. Even then it is your responsibility to find at least one sub before you call in to announce the bad news. A cold, the flu, a sick cat, a broken fingernail, a better paying job elsewhere… are not good enough reasons. You may be the best dancer in the world, but if you can’t be relied upon to show up for work no one will hire you. Word gets around quickly.
• Refer a sub you do not know. If you recommend someone for a job, you should be able to vouch for their dancing ability and their character. If you can’t, it is better not to put your reputation on the line. If you do refer a stranger, Murphy’s Law dictates that she will totally embarrass you and the customer.
• Show up late without calling. This too is unprofessional behavior. If you are caught in traffic it is not the customer’s fault. It is better to deal with the problem quickly and tell the truth. The owner or customer may be able to delay or rearrange the show for you if they know exactly when you will arrive. Or they may not have room at any other time and you can turn around and go home. Assume the consequences. Liars are always caught eventually anyway.
• Stay after your show when you don’t have to. It ruins the mystique. It implies you have nothing better to do than sit in a bar all night. How exotic is that?
• Sit or be too friendly with guests/customers you don’t know. This only reinforces the idea of belly dancer as prostitute. You shouldn’t have to sit and open bottles for a good wage, not in the US at any rate. It is one thing to go over and say hello if customers ask for you. Weddings and private parties are often arranged in this way. It is quite another thing to spend the evening with strangers. It signals to all the regulars that you will sit with them too. And if you don’t, the club may loose their business. Check your motives. Are you working or are you playing the diva and flirting with customers? If the later is the case, go home and save your charms for when you are on stage.
• Play only to men or flirt with women’s dates without their permission. Don’t ruin the night out for the lady. The guy may like the attention while he’s getting it, but he won’t get anything else for the rest of the evening from his companion except grief. He certainly will remember that and won’t bring another date back to the restaurant. Your employer loses a customer and if it happens often enough, you will lose your job. Put yourself in the lady’s shoes. Would you want someone coming on to your husband or boyfriend?
• Think that the show is about you – it is about, for and paid for by the audience. Star behavior only turns off customers. They want to have a good time, not be constantly reminded of your magnificence.
• Use facial expressions or movements that are not appropriate to the audience. Again, dance for yourself in the mirror. Do you use any facial expressions that might offend women or children? Sticking your tongue out, even a little, is never a good idea. Do you have any muscle ticks or nervous habits that might come out under stressful conditions? Filming your self during a performance is always a good idea.
• Say bad things about other dancers or musicians to the people you work with or to customers. What goes around comes around. You never know when your words will come back to haunt you. It’s best not to get involved. Remember that there are at least 2 sides to every story.
• Try to make the musicians look bad while you are dancing on stage. I went over this above. Making a scene only makes you look amateur and petty. It’s better to deal with snafus gracefully and go on with the show. Don’t make your problem the audience’s problem. Smiling through disaster will make you look the professional and endear you to the band when you address it nicely later.
• Play finger cymbals off beat. If you can’t play them well, don’t play them at all, particularly if you are working with a band. You will throw them off beat and then the music will really sound dreadful.
• Drop your veil in the middle of the stage or where you will step on it. A veil on the floor is distracting. Audience members will watch it and wonder how long before you trip on it. And trip on it, you will. That’s Murphy’s Law.
• Use a prop you are not good at. Why set yourself up for failure? Try to be objective about your dancing ability and your skill level with the prop.
• Choose a song you don’t know what the lyrics mean. If you are performing in front of an audience that understands the lyrics of your song and you don’t, you could insult them without even knowing it. I once witnessed an extremely famous American belly dancer doing ‘happy, happy, joy, joy’ to one of Om Kalthoum’s saddest songs. I was offended. I can only imagine what someone growing up with the music felt.
• Use a plastic smile. If you’re not happy dancing you should reassess your reasons for performing. If you are happy, let the joy shine on your face. But your joy must look real, not fake. Watch yourself in the mirror when you practice. Smile at yourself. Get used to how a real smile feels. It is not etched in stone. It comes and goes.
• Wear a belt where the back gaps.  Make a thread casing for elastic and sew it either on the sides or in the back of the belt. Men may think they want to see your crack, but not really. They certainly don’t want to see your underwear or the safety pin that attaches your skirt to your belt. Certainly women don’t want to see any of it.
• Wear a bra that doesn’t fit. Gaping holes between the cups and your skin are not pretty. Besides your nipples, they show you couldn’t adjust your costume properly or that you didn’t know how.  If you can’t do it yourself, pay someone else to do it. Don’t think no one will notice… Sagging and ‘sports-bra-smash’ are not flattering either. Look for healthy cleavage but not overflow – either over the top, under the bottom or out the sides.  Check that the back strap is snug, so you don’t fall out when things really start to jiggle.
• Enter the profession without guidance. In this day and age there are many wonderful professional dancers and experienced teachers all over the world that newcomers can go to for advice. Besides answering your questions, they can also boost you up when the going gets rough and to see reality when you have blinders on. Ask what the going rate for a show is in your area. Find out the places not to work and why. Learn who the other working dancers are in your city and go see them perform. Are you up to their standard? Are there any professional associations you can join, a newsletter to subscribe to, any Internet list serves to belong to? Don’t be too shy or too proud to ask for help. Knowledge is power, and it just may save your life. Don’t kid yourself. This can be a dangerous profession. You owe it to yourself to do research.

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Ready for more?
5-4-07 The Devil's Details, Show Ethics for Professionals, Part 1- Booking a Party by Yasmin
When a dancer looks good, she, or another, will get called back to perform again. When she looks bad, customers might be turned off to our lovely art form forever. Therefore, a bad dancer not only ruins things for herself, but for all of us
8-29-07 The Devil's Details, Show Ethics for Professionals, Part 2- The Cross Cultural Factor by Yasmin
10-15-07 The Devil's Details, Show Ethics for Professionals, Part 3- Separating the Girls from the Women by Yasmin

7-16-07 Music Copyright Law for Belly Dancers (or for any Performing Artist by Yasmin
From Hollywood blockbuster movies down to clips on YouTube the law is the same and it applies to anyone who uses someone else’s music for their own purposes.

11-28-07 The International Belly Dance Congress told by Salwa of Belgium and the winner of the contest professional category
September 28-30, 2007, in Bogner Regis, England Gala photos provided by Josephine Wise, others by author.
Not being able to prepare my planned choreography properly for the Oum Kalthoum song, which is not easy to interpret to begin with, I quickly turned to emotions in order to fill up the space.

11-24-07 Antique Textiles Part 3: Creating Your Unique Statement by Najia Marlyz
It is possible that you may never have performed professionally while wearing a lampshade on your head…but I have!

11-16-07 Nonprofits for Middle Eastern Belly Dancers, Is a 501c3 Right for You? by Dawn Devine
By understanding the nature of non-profits, how they are organized and run, you can see their potential for developing successful arts organization, performance space, dance company or troupe.

11-15-07 It’s Not Me; it’s You: Toxic People and What to do About Them by Taaj
The problem is, sometimes it’s hard for a reasonable person to tell if she or he is under attack by a toxic person who intends harm.

11-14-07 Three Web Apps for Busy Dancers by Asim
Since part of my day job is to keep up with technical information, I thought I would write about three free useful online services for busy dancers, and see if these can give you a hand—without killing your Bella Budget!

11-13-07 Where Have All The Cover-ups Gone? by Ashiya and Naajidah
What happened to professionalism? Mystery? Decorum and good taste?

11-9-07 Performing: Taking It to the Next Level by Piper
Some people think that performing is a way for egotistical show-offs to get attention. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A true performer entertains her audience, doing her best to make sure everyone is having a good time. What could be more generous than that?