Hi Katherine. I don't know if this will be of any help, but I did my first restaurant gig in February with my troupe (there are three of us) and some of the choreography we used had veilwork. I suggest scouting the location and perhaps rehearsing there if possible. When we danced at our restaurant gig we were unprepared for the GIANT COLUMN in the middle of the dancefloor/stage! Haha, pretty funny, actually. We made the best of it, but it was a challenge to work around that incredibly poorly placed column. Definitely not a great venue for the three of us. Solo dancers did much better with the space. In a nutshell, try to become familiar with the space and I'm sure you will be fine. GOOD LUCK!

Congratulations for this gig - well done.

I agree with Donna, if you can check the place out before the actual gig things will be much smoother. I would even take a veil and your isis wings to have a play around to see what you can and cant do.
If you are opening your set with isis wings and dont plan to mingle around the tables then this can be choreographed (probably best as I wouldn't want Joe Public anywhere near my wings!).
If you can have a chaperone or member of staff on hand so you can hand them your wings once you are done, then mingle around the tables - to me this part would be improvised.

On the whole I tend to improvise during "verses" of a song, that is when I go around the tables, and have a light choreograph for the chorus and I would dance in the centre where most people could see me.

I hope this helps, and good luck:-D

Kathryn

Congratulations on the gig!

I think if they want a regular Friday night spot and you can't make that commitment, see if you know other local dancers that you can rota the gig out with. You would have to discuss with the restaurant who would be responsible for handling the rota though...

Did you go and check out the venue yet? It must be a pretty big place if they want you to use Isis wings...on the other hand, maybe it isn't. Maybe the manager/owner just thinks Isis wings will look good and doesn't have a realistic sense of what's achievable in the space. The more restaurant work you do, the more you'll realise that you sometimes have to be the voice of reason with over-imaginative (i.e., demanding and unreasonable) restaurateurs ;-)

I would say, unless the owner has specifically asked for a 'show' show, roughly choreo an opening number with the Isis wings, then go out and improv for the rest of your set. In a lot of the places I dance your main function is to entertain and get people up to dance...there's little room there for the kind of artistry we might like to be practicing (although you do get to sharpen your cat-herding skills!) It helps to be clear what they want from you at the venue. Have they given you a length of time they expect your set to be?

Good luck!

Now didn't I teach you better than that! C'mon girl, where's your confidence, get up there and show them what you can do!! I've seen you with wings and veil so why are you nervous? Go out there, and give it your best.... every week! Different audience, you may get fed up, but they don't cos they've not seen it before! Best advice I can give is smile and ENJOY!!!! Good luck!