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Thread: Questions for Alberta Dancers

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    Default Questions for Alberta Dancers

    I am thinking about starting to dance in Alberta. I have a bit of experience dancing a while back in Toronto and I know things are much different here. I've taken a look at the stickied thread about Canadian dancers but I still have some questions.

    I live in Grande Prairie but I don't want to dance here. I was thinking about going on work trips to dance in Edmonton and/or Calgary for a week or more at a time from now until the end of August since I am going back to school. I have already contacted Independent Artists and they got back to me telling me to call them. I'd like to get some insight from some actual dancers though.

    A few questions I have: I know dancers need promo here; what is the general cost to get started? Are accommodations provided for traveling dancers? What is the cost for that? What generally could I hope to be making in a night? Do you believe it's even worth it money-wise for me to go down this route? Any more info you could give me?

    I am currently working at a restaurant as a host making minimum wage part-time. I should be moving into a serving position within the next week or so though, then I will be making tips. I've seen girls make anywhere from $60-$140 and I'm sure many other amounts in tips from their shifts. A few nights ago my friend made $80 in about 3.5 hours in take-home tips.

    I am just trying to figure out if it would be better money-wise to stick with trying to serve or get back into dancing. Any experience you could share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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    Default Re: Questions for Alberta Dancers

    Hi there! I haven't danced in Alberta yet but I am considering it. The clubs usually have their own promo people they send the girls to. The manager at Shade in Edmonton is also a photographer. I don't know what they charge but when I got my own promo photos done with a photographer I know, sessions were $200-$400 plus you have to factor in the cost of your outfits. Also, for Edmonton you can choose between doing both stage and private dances or just private dances/just stage. I'm not sure what stage pay is but it's really only worth it if you're going to do dances too because having new stage outfits all the time can get really expensive. I used to make my own stage outfits but one would still be about $300+ and not counting the time it took to make them. I find that sequins and crystals are fantastic for feature shows as they really make your show stand out. Good luck! And yes I think you'll make much more dancing than waitressing but I would still keep the waitressing job if I were you and then dance 2 nights a week.

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    Default Re: Questions for Alberta Dancers

    You only need promo if you are planning on doing stage. Lots of girls just freelance which is only selling private dances in order to get money together for costumes and promo. There are a ton of different photographers around, usually clubs dressing rooms will be full of business cards for photographers and costume makers etc. One thing you can do is search the clubs websites, they'll have the dancers for the week posted, if you see a style of pic you really like, just google the watermark.

    Don't dance in Calgary, Calgary is garbage rn. They have too many gogo girls doing topless dances on the floor, and they have also lowered their stage pay.

    All clubs are required to have accommodations available for dancers, as part of their contract with the agency. The cost will vary from club to club. Regardless it's always substantially less than a hotel.

    It's hard to say what your costs for getting started are- freelancing is just the cost of the edmonton license and some shoes and outfits, plus whatever beauty stuff you choose to do that you aren't already (nails etc). Stage can start off inexpensively if you do out of town (sex shop costumes etc will be fine for these kind of bookings). If you plan on starting off the bat on stage in Edmonton expect to spend about $1000 on costumes and more as you gain experience. You'll need 4 good outfits at minimum.

    Most of us who do stage (which you will want to be doing as soon as you can afford to and feel comfortable to) travel from club to club, so it's normal to live in one city and dance other places. If you have reliable transportation there are a ton of other small town bookings worth considering, the agency will help you out there.

    It's really hard to give you a potential earning, because it could be anywhere from $0-1000+ depending on the night (with stage pay it's never $0 though, usually a minimum of $150+ per night, depending on the club).

    You can't just dance 2 nights a week unless you do small town bookings. Freelancing in Edmonton requires a minimum of 3 shifts a week, one of which must be a weeknight, one must be a weekend. Doing stage in Edmonton is either a full 7 day week, or you can do back halfs, which are Thurs-Sat

    This facebook group has a lot of reasonably priced costumes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/338059916351025/

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