.professionalism.

The weekend before last (the weekend of Elemental) I heard a word a lot. A Lot.

“professional”

“You’re a professional, so….”

And it got me questioning whether I am a professional, as it always does every time I hear it; which led to me wondering, “What is a Professional Bellydancer?”

That term gets bandied around the bellydance community so often, but to this day I don’t think I’ve ever heard a discussion of what makes one a Professional. At the beginning of workshops we ask people about their dance level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Professional? We put it on business cards, and use it to describe ourselves and other dancers.  But there’s no qualifying test for Professionalism in the bellydance world, no final exam, no board of certification (ok – Suhaila and FCBD had certification programs, but being certified doesn’t really mean you’re a professional either, does it?)

So what makes you a professional?

Looking at the dictionary, which is where I always start just to get a baseline, there are a couple of things listed:

• following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain; following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime
• an expert player, as of golf or tennis, serving as a teacher, consultant, performer, or contestant; pro. a person who is expert at his or her work

Already, we have two qualifiers – making money, and expertise.  But it’s not just making money. It’s not just “knowing the material."

Are you charging a reasonable and fair rate for your services without undercutting the other professionals in your area? Are you not only presenting venue appropriate dance/education, but doing so in a way that makes sense to your audience - whether they be a class full of students, restaurant patrons, or an audience in a giant big theatre? And is that performance of a quality to justify what people are paying to see it?

Appropriate pricing. Appropriate material.

But is that it? Is that all it takes? I’d argue that No, it isn’t. And having contracts isn’t enough. Everyone’s been in a situation where they encountered a person and had a reaction: “That’s not professional,” whether it be a dance teacher, or a babysitter, or an employee or a boss, waitress, plumber, or doctor. As a society, we have an expectation of a certain standard of behavior from our professionals – that’s why we go to them. We know/expect that they will show up on the agreed upon time, do the job correctly the first time, and not act like a teenager having a temper tantrum when things do not unfold exactly as planned.

So we’ll add a third qualifier – Behavior.

• If your music doesn’t play, do you have a backup plan? Can you figure out a solution to that problem without flipping out on your host?
•  If your performance isn’t going to start on time because the party your performing at is running late, can you calmly but firmly inform your client of the problem?
• If you drop your prop or trip while dancing or forget a portion of your choreography, can you dance through it?
• What are you going to do if you get sick? Can you still perform? Or do you have a backup dancer who might be able to fill in for you?

All of these things can and will happen at some point in your dance career. Your music will malfunction. Your host will try to delay your performance, or possibly even try to weasel you into a second performance for free. Something is going to go wrong while your dancing. And you are going to get sick. It’s part of being human, rather than a robot.

I’ve been sick a number of times, and only ever missed a performance because I blew out my quads and quite literally could not walk; and very fortunately the performance in question was a very forgiving situation with very forgiving hosts. I’ve danced with the flu, sinus infections, altitude sickness; and severe depression, anxiety, and celiac flare ups.

So we’ll add a forth qualifier: Dedication.

You have to be dedicated, you have to Want to do this, beyond a sense of physical or emotional comfort.

Income. Expertise. Behavior. Dedication.

It’s not all fame and glory.

So the question now, are you a professional?
And do you want to be?