No, I don't sit by my phone waiting for it to ring!

Lately, I have gotten a TON of last-minute gig requests - like, really last minute. For example, just last night I received a text from the owner of a club I have danced at before - the text came in at 8:30, he wanted to know if I could dance at 10:00. What!?! No! I have a life, thankyouverymuch!

Contrary to popular belief, I do not sit by my phone in costume waiting for the phone to ring. I need at least 12 hours advanced notice if you want me to perform. And even that is pushing it. Maybe it's because I have a day job - I work 9:00-6:00 every day, and then teach 6 classes a week. So - I'm busy. My weekends are precious to me, and every single second is scheduled weeks in advance. Even if I'm not "doing" anything in particular, I have so many errands to run on the weekends, because of lack of time during the week, that I always feel that I need a weekend from my weekend by the time Sunday evening rolls around.

So, if you call me hours before you need a dancer, don't expect me to take the gig. I am probably busy. And even if I'm not busy, I'm probably exhausted and would rather stay home and rest than flip my weekend upside down in a whirlwind of getting in costume, packing my gig stuff and getting out the door. Sure, I could always use the money. But sometimes I could use my sanity more.

But someone must be doing this gigs, no? I mean - who is actually dancing at the restaurant that called me at 7:00 for an 11:00 show? Or the lounge who wants to know if I can be there in an hour? There's got to be someone taking these last minute gigs, or else these club and restaurant owners would actually need to *plan ahead* and book a dancer - gasp! - a DAY in advance!

So what's your position on last minute gigs? Do you take them? Do you charge more for the aggravation? Or are you like me, where the likelihood you will take a gig with less than a day's notice is slim to none?

Talk to me about your restaurant sets....

This summer, my intermediate students have been working on the elements of an American Cabaret show. We've gone over the basic parts - entrance, veil work, audience participation, prop and/or chiftetelli, drum solo, finale (of course while zilling all the while).

I know this is the old school AmCab way of doing things, but this is how I've always structured my sets, and I'm the first to admit that I'm an AmCab girl all the way (veil wrapping and all!). But what are the other ways to structure a set?

How do you do it? What style of bellydance do you do? Does your style affect your set structure? I know that the NYC scene is very AmCab with heavy turkish influence, and most of the sets I've seen follow my format, or they just do a bunch of pop songs to get the crowd up and dancing (no real "set"). But I'm curious to know what else is out there! Talk to me about your set, please!