We’ve all heard it before–from friends, family, co-workers, other dancers. It’s insidious. It eats away at your soul. It diminishes your art and your creativity. It’s a philosophy that goes back generations, centuries even. The Starving Artist.

“You can’t make money with dance.”

“You have to suffer for your art.”

“You should do it because you love it, any other motivation is just wrong.”

“You shouldn’t trade money for beauty. It should be free for the world to share and experience.”

Well, pardon me for getting uppity, but WHO THE *#&@!! SAID SO? And WHY do we have to blindly follow stupid rules? It’s the same for writing and painting and live theater and composing and underwater basket weaving and just about any other “art” out there. The truth is…

It’s Not Wrong To Make Money.

Telling people about your accomplishments is not bragging.

You should never be ashamed to ask a fair price for your hard work!

Where did this philosophy come from anyway? Seriously, I want to know. Is it a relic from our Puritan ancestors and their “work ethic?” Those of you reading from outside America–would you please shed some light on this for me? Do you get the same rolling eyeballs when you tell people what you do? Or do you feel you need to hide it? Do your parents beg you to get a “real job?” Seriously, leave a comment and let me know because I want to get to the bottom of this.

Is it religious? Lots of different traditions have misunderstood sayings like “money is the root of all evil” (it’s actually “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.”) or “All life is suffering” (you Buddhists out there will know that the rest of the Four Noble Truths have to do with how to transcend suffering.)

Is it because we’re women and we’ve been conditioned to think less of ourselves? Is that why Miles Copeland gets such flack from dancers? Honestly, do we get whipped up into a jealous rage because a MAN has accomplished in a few years what we women have been struggling to do for the better part of a century? He markets the hell out of his show and all its peripheral merchandise. He has created multiple income streams through the brand he invented. And whatever you think of his methods, his show stylings, or his treatment of dancers…you can’t deny he is making money with our dance. And he ain’t apologizing about it!

Maybe we still think women aren’t supposed to make money, or aren’t capable. Here’s an interesting side note–when I was searching Microsoft’s archive for a photo for this post, I typed in “money” and filtered it with the category “emotions.” Every Single Image of a woman in those two keywords also contained the keyword “surprised.” Huh. (They were also all Caucasian–double huh.) Most of the photos of women with money consisted of one dollar bills and piggy banks. The photos of men contained 50 or 100 dollar bills, stacks of them,in fact. Sigh.

Or maybe it’s a generational thing. My mother is a very accomplished artist, photographer and poet. She has work in the Smithsonian Museum and her students have become internationally famous artists in their own right. Yet she tells me she just can’t promote herself because she was raised to be “seen and not heard.” (I can so remember my grandmother saying that to us kids…it never made sense to me, even then.) I have noticed many younger generation dancers don’t seem to have a problem making dance a career choice and working their butts off to succeed.

Well, whatever the reason, it’s time to get over it! This is my mission for the Belly Dance Business Academy…I want to shout from the mountain tops

IT’S OKAY TO MAKE MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE!! (whether it’s dance or dog walking…)

And with the right tools and techniques in your pocket, it doesn’t have to be difficult either.

If you’re with me on this–spread the word. Encourage your sisters in dance. Participate in forums and build supportive communities where we can all rejoice in each other’s achievements and find solutions when things get tough. Competition is not a bad thing. It helps us grow and improve. And it’s a sure sign that there’s a real market for our commodity (but that’s another post!)

I’ve watched this dance world grow so much in the past 20 years or so. It’s amazing what is possible now that only a decade ago was unheard of. I’m reminded of one of my favorite songs…

The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!