Who Are You & What Do You Want?
Alright you primitive screw heads, listen up. Tacoma Belly Dance has been putting on themed belly dance shows since 2013 and we are excited to announce our 4th run of the hit show, Horrific!: A Night of Horror Themed Belly Dance! What's that? Horror...themed...belly dance? You heard that right. 450 people agree, that Horrific is a hell of a show. Seeing that our show has grown from a small studio show to a public theater experience we are looking to up the ante and put on the best show yet. To do so, we need support from viewers like you.
Tacoma Belly Dance started with its owner and artistic director, Kat Welsh. Kat is a long time belly dance perform who teaches classical American Cabaret Belly Dance weekly at Tacoma Dance Studios. She has always had a strong love for horror and wanted to fuse the two loves into a show that would be fun, all inclusive, and a littel bit weird. Ok, it's real weird.
What We Need & What You Get
To fund the show is not a cheap task:
- We are asking $3,000 to help fund the initial deposit for the theater. Last year we utilized the Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma. We so enjoyed the space, and it truly allows us to grow in our audience as well as give dancers an amazing stage. The Rialto can hold up to 700 people, allowing our annual audience growth of 50%. The Broadway Center (owners of the Rialto) helped provide us with a lighting crew, backstage crew, ushers, security, and ticket sales. As a small company, these kind of services are invaluable. We are also interested in keeping our show in Tacoma as we truly believe in local art and business.
- "Yeah yeah yeah, but what do I get out if it?" Perks! We want to make sure you know your money is well invested. In return, we have added perks. Those include a "thank you" in the program, Stickers, Merchandise, Tickets to the show, backstage passes, private belly dance lessons, photos with the cast, and even a role in the show!
- If we don't reach the goal, all funds will still go to the production of the show. The show must go on!
The Impact
Our show brings something different and unique to the horror scene. It showcases professional belly dance performers through the art of storytelling. It also houses a space for people of all genders, ages, and body types to showcase their art. When you contribute to our show, it also supports the artists who deserve a space on stage.
- Your contribution means that we can focus on the art and direction of the show making a better overall product. Peace of mind means a lot to us!
- Being that this is our 4th year, we have a strong handle on how to make a successful production. Help us provide the show to you.
- The people who work on the show have other life commitments outside of dance. Any help beforehand makes the process much smoother.
Risks & Challenges
Putting on a production is a risky process! We invest a large amount of time, energy, and money into the show. It is always possible to fail and not sell the tickets that we hope to sell. We hope to overcome these battles with these key elements.
- This is our 4th year for the show. Each year it has more than doubled in attendance with new and old faces returning every time. Last years show sold just over 450 tickets. If we continue the growth, we should see numbers of around 600 attendees.
- This is also not a new adventure for us. Tacoma Belly Dance has been putting on successful dance productions since 2014 and smaller monthly shows since 2013.
- Our plan is to merge into different avenues for marketing. This includes more involvement at Crypticon (a yearly horror convention), local horror-themed shows, presence with bands in the shock rock scene, and heavier social media presence and content creation.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help:
- Share our event, IndieGoGo, or website both on social media and in person!
- Use the Indiegogo share tools to make this easy!