ikcsmiley

Thank you so much for coming out to see me! As far as tipping, here in Asheville, we dance around with a basket for tips at the end of each set. In other places bellydancers accept body tips, appropriate places being the shoulder strap of her outfit, or in her belt at the side of her hip. Becuase the Mela and Zambra gigs are me stepping in for Baraka Mundi while they are at Pennsic, I was trying to do my best and follow their rules. When I asked Lisa she told me that she will sometimes accept tips in her armband as a compromise.
To the best of my understanding, Onca, the director of Baraka Mundi, is trying to stop the myth that bellydancers are the same as strippers, so she does not want us tipped similarly.
But, the truthe is that body tipping is a Middle Eastern practise, so I feel at least, that bellydance owns it as much as stripping, and that it is not the act of the tipping that makes it sexual, but the atmospher and the attitudes of the customer and the dancer(as well as the lack of clothing).
Sorry this is so long, but to make a long story short, when in Asheville, tip the bellydancer in the basket, or in her armband if she has one (at least at Mela and Zambra). If you are out in the world somewhere else you may shower the dancer with money, tip in a basket, or if you wave a dollar bill at her and she comes over to you may be able to stick it in the shoulder strap of her costume, or the side of her hip belt.

Ah yes, the stage name. I use one for a number of reasons. First off, I will say that Middle Eastern dancers did not take dance names, at least not that I know of. If they did, it wasn't common practise. Dancers in the US would often take names that sounded Middle Eastern to give their personas a more exotic flair. Dancers who dance in the tribal style which came out of Cali tend not to take dance names. Ex. would be Rachel Brice and Jill Parker. Not very Middle Eastern.
When I first started takeing classes where I grew up, it was customary that when it came time for a dancers first performance she would pick a dance name. That was the first reason I did it. Other reasons are that it does offer some anonimity, it sounds a bit more exotic, and most importantly, for me, it helps me step out of my introverted self and into a character that can get up and dance in front of a crowd of people.
I am avery indecisive though. My first dance name was Nasreen. Now I use Rowena and Rowan, and sort of fluctuate inbetween the two. I have considered just forgetting the exotic and using Alice, which is a name I use a lot in different situations (like here).