Accepting Payment at the End of a Gig

Performing with the cast of CVDA's The Nutcracker

I recently performed in yet another production of every non-dancer's favorite holiday production of The Nutcracker. The shows went well, I wore white tights onstage for the first time this season, and I made a pretty penny all while playing the role of King of the Cranes, or the actual title of the role, Sugar Plum Fairy Cavalier. When all was said and done, I'm glad that I participated yet again in this seasonal tradition. One of my favorite memories from this year's production was watching one of my former students from Alaska, whom I still mentor, perform in one of his first professional guesting gigs. He performed the role of Snow King and did a stellar job at jumping in, learning the choreography quickly, and delivering solid performances. During the final intermission of his 3 show run, as I took the stage to warm up and prepare my presentation of the Sugar Plum Fairy, I noticed my student sitting on the side of the stage, fully-costumed with sweat dripping down his brow. I took a moment to determine why he was still sitting around in costume during the intermission when I quickly noted that his hands were holding a handful of Amtrak tickets that needed to be reimbursed for his travel to rehearsals and the theatre. Considering I have been mentoring this kid for some years, I kindly walked over, suggested he get changed, and hang around to watch the 2nd act of the production. What I hadn't contemplated until that moment is that there is actually an art to receiving payment that nearly every freelancer will experience at some point as a gig comes to an end.

There are a handful of different payment arrangements that can be made in order to make sure that a freelancer is compensated appropriately and within a respectful time frame. I've spoken about some of these in previous blogs, so I am not going to go into way too much detail here. If a dancer is spending a handful of weeks dancing for an employer, they often receive weekly paychecks or direct deposit into their bank account. But for many freelancers, especially during times like the holiday Nutcracker season, directors often save payment until the end of the last performance of a series. While I have sometimes received a nice little thank you note with payment at the top of my last show, it is much more common to be handed a check after you've received your applause, taken off your makeup, and changed into street clothes. This makes sense, especially if this is your first time working for a company or school. The organization likely wants to be sure you fulfill all of your contractual obligations before handing over your handsome fee. Sometimes, this transaction is taken care of quickly and goes over without thought or attention. Other times, you may be ready to head home, to your hotel, or to the airport, and wondering when you are going to be compensated for you artistic services.

For my student, he found himself in an awkward predicament. He wasn't performing or bowing in the second act, plus he had a local friend ready to drive him to the train back into the city. Since the train wasn't until later, I suggested he wait around and watch the rest of the show. I offered this advice for one reason. The director of a show, who usually issues payment, is likely overwhelmed with the process of making sure that the performance is running on track. From dancers to crew to wardrobe, audience, and beyond, there are many aspects of a show that a director must take care of in order to keep things running smoothly. To stop the director in their tracks asking for payment could be a huge distraction and may even make your intentions and desire to work come off greedy. You don't want it to look like you are only focused on the paycheck. You are a part of a production and there is a certain amount of excitement, emotion, and cultural etiquette that can quickly be cut off or broken by asking for payment. This may be especially true if you head out before the show is over. You want to be supportive of the show and your cast, especially if you are performing for a school and being brought in as a role model.

Now, if you absolutely have a time crunch where you need to get out of the theatre to catch transport, be sure to discuss this with the director prior to the beginning of the show. This is quite understandable, but should be addressed in advance. Usually, the director will make sure that they or an advocate are available to pay you on your way out. Or they often will just give you payment at the top of the show.

So, what do you do if the show has finished and you still haven't been paid? Sometimes, the overwhelming chaos at the end of a production can make a director forgetful, as the crew loads out, the wardrobe collects costumes to be cleaned and stored, and the dancers congratulate one another and change into street clothes. It is possible that intentions can get lost. In this situation, it is perfectly appropriate to seek out the director and request payment. This can be a bit awkward since nobody likes to talk money. But I find that writing a simple thank you card and handing it to them after the series can be an easy pathway to remind them that they owe you something. Think along the lines of a reminder that some type of exchange should be happening. Beyond this, it is good etiquette and relationship building to do this. If you didn't think ahead and get a thank you card, be sure to say goodbye and offer a verbal thank you. And if you still aren't handed your hard-earned salary, do ask when you should expect to receive a check. This is a customary way of saying, "I need to be paid", without demanding it. Usually, by this point, you will be collecting your salary. If not, then that is an entirely different conversation and blog post.

It is a rare occasion when payment isn't received at the end of a show, unless another arrangement has been agreed upon. As I always say, make sure you get an idea of when you should receive payment in writing (or at least in an email). It is never appropriate for an employer to pay you whenever they feel like it. You should know when to expect payment in order to keep track of whether you've been compensated or not. In fact, New York City recently passed the Freelance Isn't Free Act (have they been reading my blog 😉), which requires any freelance artist that makes more than $800 with an organization to have a written contract and receive payment in full within 30 days. This seems like a fair guideline to hold all organizations to, whether you live in New York City or not.

As I've stated many times in this blog, money can be one of the most awkward and uncomfortable things to discuss. But it is important that you get paid within an appropriate time frame. If you don't know when to expect being paid, don't wait around hoping it will happen. Be proactive and start a conversation. Just make sure that you don't start that conversation too late or in the middle of a hectic performance.

Be sure to check out my Holiday Shopping Ideas for Dancers on Pas de Chát: Talking Dance on iTunes - Me & my niece playing around before Nutcracker

Why blog when it brings me no income?

A typical blog-writing situation for me

One of the first questions people usually ask me when I tell them that I have a popular blog is if it makes me lots of money. When I answer, "no," many people are baffled that I spend so much effort creating and working on such a time-consuming, journalistic venture. It was never my intention to use this social media platform to roll in the dough. I, initially, thought it would be nice if I could make a little extra cash through my writing. But I always had different, non-monetary motives.

A few years ago when I found myself unemployed mid-season, I immediately had to find a way to keep working. I didn't have a financial cushion to wait until the new dance season started. I desperately needed to find a way to make a living and continue on with my career. At that time, freelancing seemed like the only way to survive. I knew if I wanted to find employment, I needed to market myself. But I didn't know many other ways to sell my product outside of Facebook. While brainstorming up ideas, I remembered how much I used to enjoy blogging on Myspace. From that moment on, I knew that I had to create Life of a Freelance Dancer.

When I first started blogging here, people constantly told me I needed to include Google Adsense to my postings. But I always felt that I needed to spend a solid period of time developing my writing and audience before adding this money-making tool to my site. Additionally, I never really wanted my readers to feel that I was using them to make money with the facade of a blog. So, I gave myself a number, 10,000 views, before I would try to add these ads to my pages of writings.

It took me about six months to reach my goals on viewership, which was right on track for my best-case scenario. Right as I reached my mark, I wishfully opened my browser and started going through the application process to place Google Adsense advertisements on my blog. After a few days had passed, I received an email that unapologetically denied me use of this popular revenue tool. Why? Because the unique niche that made my blog so popular was also so unique that they didn't feel that they had any products that would appeal to my audience.

When I got the news, I wasn't really that disappointed. I didn't really want aimless, materialistic ads flashing at dancers and independent contractors around the world. In fact, I was afraid that the appearance of ads would not only deter building my audience, but that it could turn away the audience I had already cultivated from reading my content.

Lacking any instant financial reward leaves many who have inquired about my blog confused about why I would put so much effort into such a time-consuming activity. There are a few reasons why writing about working as a freelance dancer without any compensation is so worthwhile. The easiest and corniest reason (but still true) would be that I get to help people around the globe. Whether using my blog as a tool in one's own dance career or an unrelated career as an independent contractor, I get to help people move forward in their vocation and navigate tricky situations that are not all that common in the gainfully employed world. Beyond that, I am humbled by the numerous people that have sent me messages from the US to Iran to India and beyond about how my openness has helped them in their careers, times of need, and searches for inspiration.

Beyond all of this sappy stuff, writing about my experiences, successes, failures, and evaluations of situations does help me make a living. While I've never made a penny directly off of LOFD, developing a public persona on an online platform has helped me greatly. I can't tell you how many employers have told me that they have felt much more comfortable hiring me sight unseen and trusting my product because of this blog. Not only that, thanks to all of this, I have been featured in Dance Magazine and Dance Informa magazine and received professional writing jobs, too.

While blogging technically gives me no income, it creates the basis for me to make a majority of my income. Other than all of this joy, warmth, and glory, writing is one of the best ways that I have found to express myself. I get so much out of writing and have learned so much more about myself as a dancer, businessman, and person. For all of these reasons, having a well-read blog is way more valuable than having my readers make money for me by clicking on ads. 

Freelancer Doesn't Mean Free

I was teaching an open class earlier this week to a handful of adult students. If I'm not rushing off to rehearsal after teaching, I usually stick around for a bit to see if any students have questions about the material from class. While hanging out after that class, a student walked up to me to mention that their friends were producing a music video and that they were looking for ballet dancers to partake in the filming. I asked about the details of project and the first thing they mentioned was, "well, they can't pay you, but it will be fun." I very politely stated that it will be hard to get a dancer of quality without any pay. My student understood, the conversation ended, and the subject for this blog was born.

Anybody who is on Facebook has seen those, what I believe are called, memes. I hate these things, but it is impossible to ignore each and every one that passes on your screen as you peruse your news feed. About a week ago, I was doing just that when one of these pre-made statements in picture form crossed my vision. That particular meme can be seen to the right. Unfortunately, this statement is often true, "I am an artist. This does not mean I will work for free." Even if it isn't completely true, artists work is way to often undervalued on a financial level. For instance, in the year 2009, according to the American Guild of Musical Artists website, New York City Ballet's leading dancers, in one of the country's highest level companies, started out making around $2300 per week (of course many other things come into play, like seniority and overtime). Just using this general amount, even if the dancers worked 52 weeks a year (which they don't), they would make $120,000 (Please keep in mind that this number is not correct and purely speculation). Now, let's look at the leading salary of players on a leading football team, like the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2009, the top 32 highest paid Eagles made more than $1,000,000 while likely working less than 52 weeks. Could you imagine somebody asking one of these players to play a game for free or to do a commercial gratis because it will be fun? It would be highly unlikely. I couldn't imagine any sane person asking this of a pro football player. So why do people assume that dancers, who already make so much less than other high-caliber athletes and artists, should just offer their years of training, pain, and fighting for perfection for relatively little or free?

Why is it so important to avoid offering your services for very little or no pay? My opinion on the subject offers many different reasons. First off, we aren't just artists. As the meme states above, we are real people with real bills and needs. It is a matter of survival. I have also found that unpaid work is usually low-caliber and can be dangerous. If a gig's director understood the work of dancers and respected them, they would provide a safe environment and sufficient compensation for their services. The biggest reason that I believe freelancers shouldn't work for free is due to the risk of injury. If a project can't afford to pay their dancers, how can they afford to ensure that conditions will be safe enough for them to dance?

Another really important reason that freelancers should avoid performing work gratis is one that I have struggled with personally. There are times when I have had as many as five offers for work during the same period. But, at other times, I have had no work lined up and felt desperate to find ways to continue feeding my hunger for artistic growth. When one is feeling desperate, they are more likely to say yes to free or very low paying work. Personally, I have found when I agree to do this type of work, I am usually disappointed with the quality of the gig and the final product. I have left rehearsals and performances feeling low and depressed, as if I had sold out. Also, if you are offering your services for nothing or close to that, you are lowering your value as a commodity. Think of that saying, "If you give away all of the milk, who wants to buy the cow?" So, even if times are tough or work is slow, I offer this advice to resist the temptation to take on free or undervalued work. It will be better for your product and even more important for your psyche.

There are a few instances where it may be appropriate to offer your services for free. If you have absolutely no professional experience, it can be positive to get performance experience on your resume. Just be sure that you are 100% aware of the expectations and requirements of your commitment. Be sure to research the gig to ensure that the producers are being honest about their notariety. Another situation that can be valuable is if the work is way out of your style. It may help you to grow greatly as an artist in a genre where you may not be qualified to seek work professionally. The last situation where I would consider working for free would be to help a close friend or a former association that greatly helped you on your path to become a person/dancer (old dance studio, school, religious institution, etc). In these situations, just be clear about what you can offer and what you need in order to avoid any issues that might sour your relationship if things don't go according to plan.

Unpaid or poorly paid work can be enticing, especially when you are having a dry spell. But there are few times that I feel one should accept this work. Maintaining your value and integrity are integral parts of marketing yourself as a freelance dancer. Respect yourself for the years of hard work you spent cultivating your technique and artistry. Not only will your product be more valuable, but you will feel better emotionally and protect your body along the way.