Feature dancing and touring

What a feature is

A feature dancer is booked by a club as a headline act for a run of nights, usually with a stage show rather than, or on top of, floor work. Historically features were adult film performers or dancers with a big following; the club pays an appearance fee, promotes the dates, and the feature brings in a crowd that then spends on the house. How it works varies by club, country and era, so take anything you hear about standard fees with caution and check the current terms before you sign anything.

Features typically bring:

• A stage show with a start and a finish. Costumes, props, music edited to time, a reveal.
• Merchandise to sell at a table: signed photos, calendars, clips. For many features this is a bigger part of the income than the fee.
• A following that will travel or turn up, and a way to tell them the dates.
• Their own promotion: posters, posts, a chat with the club's DJ or local radio where that still exists.

Getting there

Most features did not start as features. They built a show, built a following and then approached clubs or agents with proof of both. A short, clean video of your stage set, a profile that shows a real audience, and a record of appearances are the things a booker actually looks at.

Agents exist for this and some are good. Ask other features who they use before signing with anyone. Read every contract. Know who pays travel, who pays for the hotel, what happens if a night is cancelled, whether you can sell merchandise and whether the club takes a cut of it. Ask a professional if the paperwork is beyond you; it is cheaper than a bad tour.

Touring without burning out

Touring is a different job from a home club. You arrive tired, you do not know the staff or the layout, the local rules differ from what you are used to, and you are responsible for everything from music files to lost luggage. Some ways experienced features keep it sane:

• Travel with a tour kit that never gets unpacked: spare costume, spare shoes, music on two devices, cables, tape, a first-aid pouch, cash for emergencies.
• Confirm the licence or permit requirements in each city before you book. Some places need paperwork weeks in advance.
• Do not drink or use on tour the way you might at home. You have no backup there.
• Hold the same safety rules about getting back to the hotel that you would about getting home.
• Build a day off into every run. Skip it and the third city pays.

Put every date on your schedule, by venue, so the people who follow you can see where you will be. A feature's following is the asset, and a following that knows the dates is the one that shows up.