Bang for your buck: The whole package
Hello my lovelies!
The crazy season is upon us! How so Ms. Valentine, you may ask. You see my dear friends, the burlesque work year is a bit different to the normal working year. While normal workplaces start winding up around October to get ready for December holidays, for any burlesque performer worth their mettle it is around this time of the year that work starts piling up! You have Octoberfest, Halloween, Christmas, New Year and then Valentines Day all in one successive swoop and thats just the Hallmark holidays! Here in the southern hemisphere it is also summertime which means festivals galore. To a fulltime burly girlie like yours truly this means employment opportunities. Huzzah! Also, i dont know about anybody else but when i think about summer i excite myself ;)! So many ideas come to mind while just hanging out laundry (yes, my life really IS that glamorous). My point is, if you are a burlesque performer anywhere in the world especially in the southern hemispehere, October- February is one of the busiest periods about.
So every morning after i drop some ice cubes into a glass and pour myself a nice tall glass of coke (where others would prefer tea) i take my laptop to my backyard, and dutifully check my emails to make sure i am on top of my workload. After sifting through quotes, subscribed mail, junkmail and facebook crap (god that stuff is never ending!) there is always one of those emails that reminds me of disappointing striptease. It starts off all promising, kinda like this:
Oh how exciting! I dont know about other performers but i do love a good band and burlesque night mostly because i used to be a muso myself once (dont ask what happened there). Also, depending on the kind of band, i get a chance to pull out some of my more unconventional performances that i wouldnt get away with at say a Burlesque Revue. I message the nice promoter promptly, thanking him for thinking of me, asking him whom he heard about my company from (someone is doing their advertising job right!!!) and then, cutting straight to the point, attaching a copy of my performance CV which includes my reportoire and price quotes for his consideration. I then go about my day giddily guessing as to what act the promoter is going to pick from my repertoire, running through all the choreography in my head while listening to the burlesque playlist on my ipod and simultaneously doing some mindless paperwork. I tell you there is no drug that can give you the intoxicating high of knowing you have a gig coming up. If you are a full time performer and poor student like myself, its even more exciting because performances mean food for the belly as well as the soul! Hurray! Or so I mistakenly thought before i got the next email:
Now, don't get me wrong, i think Joe Bloggs posed his question in a totally polite manner but i already know that my answer in this case would be a big firm NO! This is where the debate really begins. Personally, i think a performer need not justify their decisions to the masses as it is ultimately their choice whether or not they wish to perform at a gig for a fee or at all however for the purpose of this post i shall tell you why some performers wont perform for free or below their set fee. My set fee for my most flamboyant crem de la creme act is $150.00. I think i heard a few gasps there! But Iskra, i hear you say, why so much for a five minute act? Why not just do it for free? Well allow me to explain dear reader.
Why Iskra Valentine wont agree to do free shows.
My most flamboyant act would have to be the one that has cost me about $200 dollars just for the costume (not including the corset which itself cost me $150) and the prop for which took me over a month to create and perfect. The choreography alone took over a month to work out to perfection. So all in all a rough estimate of the money the act cost me would be close to $500 dollars plus about a month and a half worth of putting things together. The rehearsals before the show would be another factor. This is a bare minimum of work put into major scale burlesque acts. I know people who work for months on one act. Not to say that i slack off, everyone has their own time frames and this just happens to be mine. Being a full time student as well as a burlesquer means that i am constantly juggling my work life with other responsibilities. I accept that I have chosen this pathway and that it is a difficult one. I am not one to complain. I LOVE MY JOB. But do others view my job as a job?
If i had worked in a conventional position, at a bakery or an office or a cafe, i would be paid a minimum wage of $20.00 an hour. Given that i have spent roughly 6o hours or more on this one act over a period of a month and a half ( and that is a very modest estimate) technically i would have made $1200 dollars for the hours i had put in had i chosen a industry regulated profession. Now some of you might say, well, you don't do as much work as a baker/ cafe hand etc but i beg to differ with you there. For what being an independent burlesque artist consists of ( a seamstress, choreographer, MUA, Props designer...all of which are Industry regulated jobs) i am definitely not paid for the hard work i put into the act. What i am asking to be paid is a concession to what the entire process should cost. Look at it another way, if i had hired a seamstress to make my costume (which i may do in future), a choreographer to choreograph my routine, a builder to build my props...would all this cost me less than $100 dollars? Of course not! I'd be lucky if even one of those cost me less than $300 dollars for the time and effort i am doing putting in by myself now. I am not a professional seamstress, choreographer, builder, MUA etc so i cant charge the amounts they would charge for their professional services. Nor would it be fair to my career at this stage to charge a client for the total amount of work i have put into the creation of my act. What i am left with is a concession which barely helps make ends meet for the first few months.
Only after i have performed a routine 3 or 4 times at my standard rate do i make back the money i spent on crafting the act in the first place. To make a profit on an act comes a lot later on. This is the hard truth of my industry. Hardly any burlesque performers make it to the riches and glamour that Dita Von Teese may lead you to believe is the burlesque lifestyle. Poverty is NOT glamorous.
So, no dear reader, you are not just paying for the five minutes you see of me on stage. You are paying for the time i spent searching ebay for patterns, the time i spent at spotlight looking for the perfect material, the money i spent on buying materials and the time i spent on creating my costume. You are paying for the reasearch i do on the act i am performing, you are paying for the internet usage that helps with everything leading up to the act. You are paying for the cd i burn my track on to and my travel fare to and from the venue. You are paying for my 2am crafting sessions when i have uni at 8 am the next day. You are paying for my sweat, my blood, my tears and hard work. You are paying for my chiro appointments when my shoulders and back gets all cramped from constant bump and grinds, shimmies, bend and snaps in sky high heels. Technically that is what you should be paying for. But that is not what you are being charged in my invoices. You are being charged a percentage of what it costs to put a single high level act together because i believe entertainment should be affordable and available to the masses. However, this should NEVER be at the cost of the artist.
Perth photography David Woolley and I once had a chat about this very subject at the Miss Burlesque W.A heats. I asked him whether it was fair for me to put the client on the receiving end of my financial burdens with regards to sustainibility. His words have stayed with me since and i leave you with them:
"You are selling your time and your talent as your product and it is really important that you believe in the value of those two things. After all, if you don't think your time and talents are valuable then why would anyone else?"
Touche Mr Woolley, truer words have never been uttered :).
The crazy season is upon us! How so Ms. Valentine, you may ask. You see my dear friends, the burlesque work year is a bit different to the normal working year. While normal workplaces start winding up around October to get ready for December holidays, for any burlesque performer worth their mettle it is around this time of the year that work starts piling up! You have Octoberfest, Halloween, Christmas, New Year and then Valentines Day all in one successive swoop and thats just the Hallmark holidays! Here in the southern hemisphere it is also summertime which means festivals galore. To a fulltime burly girlie like yours truly this means employment opportunities. Huzzah! Also, i dont know about anybody else but when i think about summer i excite myself ;)! So many ideas come to mind while just hanging out laundry (yes, my life really IS that glamorous). My point is, if you are a burlesque performer anywhere in the world especially in the southern hemispehere, October- February is one of the busiest periods about.
So every morning after i drop some ice cubes into a glass and pour myself a nice tall glass of coke (where others would prefer tea) i take my laptop to my backyard, and dutifully check my emails to make sure i am on top of my workload. After sifting through quotes, subscribed mail, junkmail and facebook crap (god that stuff is never ending!) there is always one of those emails that reminds me of disappointing striptease. It starts off all promising, kinda like this:
Hi!
I am a promoter at XYZ club. Been hearing a lot about burlesque and stuff and notice your company does band/burlesque nights. I have some bands in mind and would like to offer you guys a gig. Its on (insert date here) at XYZ club and we are charging $ 15 dollars a ticket. Estimating (insert a number greater than 50) people and its on a Saturday night. Let me now if you are interested.
Joe Bloggs
Oh how exciting! I dont know about other performers but i do love a good band and burlesque night mostly because i used to be a muso myself once (dont ask what happened there). Also, depending on the kind of band, i get a chance to pull out some of my more unconventional performances that i wouldnt get away with at say a Burlesque Revue. I message the nice promoter promptly, thanking him for thinking of me, asking him whom he heard about my company from (someone is doing their advertising job right!!!) and then, cutting straight to the point, attaching a copy of my performance CV which includes my reportoire and price quotes for his consideration. I then go about my day giddily guessing as to what act the promoter is going to pick from my repertoire, running through all the choreography in my head while listening to the burlesque playlist on my ipod and simultaneously doing some mindless paperwork. I tell you there is no drug that can give you the intoxicating high of knowing you have a gig coming up. If you are a full time performer and poor student like myself, its even more exciting because performances mean food for the belly as well as the soul! Hurray! Or so I mistakenly thought before i got the next email:
Hi again,
Just went through your CV. Very impressive. I think (insert most flamboyant act in repertoire which includes my most expensive prop) would be just perfect for the event! Would really stir the crowd. But it says here you charge $X for this act. Was wondering if you would mind doing it for free. We could give you a jug of beer or a bottle of champagne. Let me know what you think.
Joe Bloggs.
Now, don't get me wrong, i think Joe Bloggs posed his question in a totally polite manner but i already know that my answer in this case would be a big firm NO! This is where the debate really begins. Personally, i think a performer need not justify their decisions to the masses as it is ultimately their choice whether or not they wish to perform at a gig for a fee or at all however for the purpose of this post i shall tell you why some performers wont perform for free or below their set fee. My set fee for my most flamboyant crem de la creme act is $150.00. I think i heard a few gasps there! But Iskra, i hear you say, why so much for a five minute act? Why not just do it for free? Well allow me to explain dear reader.
Why Iskra Valentine wont agree to do free shows.
My most flamboyant act would have to be the one that has cost me about $200 dollars just for the costume (not including the corset which itself cost me $150) and the prop for which took me over a month to create and perfect. The choreography alone took over a month to work out to perfection. So all in all a rough estimate of the money the act cost me would be close to $500 dollars plus about a month and a half worth of putting things together. The rehearsals before the show would be another factor. This is a bare minimum of work put into major scale burlesque acts. I know people who work for months on one act. Not to say that i slack off, everyone has their own time frames and this just happens to be mine. Being a full time student as well as a burlesquer means that i am constantly juggling my work life with other responsibilities. I accept that I have chosen this pathway and that it is a difficult one. I am not one to complain. I LOVE MY JOB. But do others view my job as a job?
If i had worked in a conventional position, at a bakery or an office or a cafe, i would be paid a minimum wage of $20.00 an hour. Given that i have spent roughly 6o hours or more on this one act over a period of a month and a half ( and that is a very modest estimate) technically i would have made $1200 dollars for the hours i had put in had i chosen a industry regulated profession. Now some of you might say, well, you don't do as much work as a baker/ cafe hand etc but i beg to differ with you there. For what being an independent burlesque artist consists of ( a seamstress, choreographer, MUA, Props designer...all of which are Industry regulated jobs) i am definitely not paid for the hard work i put into the act. What i am asking to be paid is a concession to what the entire process should cost. Look at it another way, if i had hired a seamstress to make my costume (which i may do in future), a choreographer to choreograph my routine, a builder to build my props...would all this cost me less than $100 dollars? Of course not! I'd be lucky if even one of those cost me less than $300 dollars for the time and effort i am doing putting in by myself now. I am not a professional seamstress, choreographer, builder, MUA etc so i cant charge the amounts they would charge for their professional services. Nor would it be fair to my career at this stage to charge a client for the total amount of work i have put into the creation of my act. What i am left with is a concession which barely helps make ends meet for the first few months.
Only after i have performed a routine 3 or 4 times at my standard rate do i make back the money i spent on crafting the act in the first place. To make a profit on an act comes a lot later on. This is the hard truth of my industry. Hardly any burlesque performers make it to the riches and glamour that Dita Von Teese may lead you to believe is the burlesque lifestyle. Poverty is NOT glamorous.
So, no dear reader, you are not just paying for the five minutes you see of me on stage. You are paying for the time i spent searching ebay for patterns, the time i spent at spotlight looking for the perfect material, the money i spent on buying materials and the time i spent on creating my costume. You are paying for the reasearch i do on the act i am performing, you are paying for the internet usage that helps with everything leading up to the act. You are paying for the cd i burn my track on to and my travel fare to and from the venue. You are paying for my 2am crafting sessions when i have uni at 8 am the next day. You are paying for my sweat, my blood, my tears and hard work. You are paying for my chiro appointments when my shoulders and back gets all cramped from constant bump and grinds, shimmies, bend and snaps in sky high heels. Technically that is what you should be paying for. But that is not what you are being charged in my invoices. You are being charged a percentage of what it costs to put a single high level act together because i believe entertainment should be affordable and available to the masses. However, this should NEVER be at the cost of the artist.
Perth photography David Woolley and I once had a chat about this very subject at the Miss Burlesque W.A heats. I asked him whether it was fair for me to put the client on the receiving end of my financial burdens with regards to sustainibility. His words have stayed with me since and i leave you with them:
"You are selling your time and your talent as your product and it is really important that you believe in the value of those two things. After all, if you don't think your time and talents are valuable then why would anyone else?"
Touche Mr Woolley, truer words have never been uttered :).
Dear Joe Bloggs,
Unfortunately my prices are non negotiable at this stage. I am interested in your event and will definitely attend as an audience member should we decide not to enter into paid contractual agreements. I am sure as a member of the artistic community you understand.
kindest regards
Iskra Valentine
posted by Iskra Valentine at
2:06 PM
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