Preparing For A Show

Belly dancers seem to be attracted to doing charity work. I like to think the dance opens us up to be more caring and giving. More gentle hearted. Whether or not that's true, many shows are done for charity.

Both of our shows we do each year are done for charity. Our World Belly Dance Day show is usually for an animal charity and the year of the year student showcase is for women and/or children.

When we begin the planning for our show, the first thing we do is ask our students to nominate charities they'd like to support (this is even before finding a venue). A list is drawn up and discussed in each class. Then we choose a charity. Using this method, students feel connected to and passionate towards the cause.

There are 2 ways in which you can support a charity: Giving all the proceeds to them or doing a drive.

Our show in May this year we donated all proceeds to the Eastern Cape Horse Rescue Unit. For our end of year showcase we are doing a drive for Sanitary Sisters, a charity that gives sanitary wear to women who can't afford it and end up missing school and work during their period. The entry fee has a small monetary value, but you must bring a pack of sanitary towels. In this way we ensure a large collection for our chosen charity.

I'm very passionate about this years cause. Living in a country where a huge majority of people live in poverty, I believe that education and job creation is very important. Condoms are free, but sanitary wear is subjected to "luxury tax". Yes, it is seen as a luxury. The cost of 1 pack of sanitary wear (not even enough to get you through 1 cycle), is about the equivalent of a day or more's worth of basic food for a family. Often women are supporting their whole family from 1 badly paying job, and I don't mean just her and her kids! The whole family: her husband/partner, her kids, her parents, his parents, nieces and nephews, sisters, brothers and the kid 3 shacks down who's parents don't have a job. So if they miss 5-7 days of work every month, their salary decreases and so does their food and water supply.

Young girls miss school every month. They live in unsanitary conditions (shacks with no toilets or running water) and have no access to sanitary wear.

This is wear Sanitary Sisters comes in. They give pads to women in need, as the clinics don't. Clinics give you free contraception, but not free sanitary wear.

Anyway...

Choosing a charity is one of the easiest parts of organising a show. There are so many needy causes out there, you just have to find one that works and feels right for you and your studio.