What Makes a Belly Dancer's Blood Boil?

• One of your students went to the restaurant where you have a regular gig and offered to dance there for free in your place.
• One of your students missed nearly all the rehearsals for an upcoming group recital, then was furious when you told her she couldn't be in the show because of it.
• No matter how hard you try to accommodate her wishes, one of your students whines about everything: she claims the troupe costumes are ugly, the choreography is too hard to learn, there aren't enough performance opportunities, and so on.
• You've given one of the students feedback on how to improve her costume, technique, or performing style, and she refuses to listen. Then she screams at you when you tell her you won't let her perform in a show if she insists on ignoring your recommendations.
• After spending thousands out of your own pocket to create an instructional video, you've learned that a belly dance club in another city purchased just one copy, then made 30 copies to distribute to its members. That hole in your pocket from the video investment suddenly feels very large!

These things can make you burn so hot that you don't even need a match to light the candles you're going to dance with.

Unethical Local Competitors

It's hard enough to find performance venues, especially those that pay good money. It's even harder when other dancers in your community threaten the few opportunities that do exist. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Your local rival discovered which date you were planning to host your big seminar and show, so she scheduled a major event of her own a week earlier to draw away your audience.
• A new dancer has surfaced in your community who wears too-skimpy costumes, encourages audience members to give her tips with their teeth, and does sleazy moves on stage, thereby giving Oriental dance a bad name in your community.
• Your local rival went to the restaurant where you dance and told the owner she would dance for $10 per night less than what you charge, so you lost your job. Worse yet, she's not even a good dancer!
• After two months of negotiation, you reached agreement with a local restaurant to sponsor dancing one night a week. As soon as word got out, ten other teachers in your community went to the owner to muscle in on the business that you initiated.
• You put several months of labor into designing and making
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