Your Guide to Bringing Energy,
Unity & Celebration to Every Event
Tip #1: Be enthusiastic
Display high levels of energy, fun, and happiness at all times.
Tip #2: Be outgoing
Move around and interact with everyone you encounter, both the kids and the adults. Don’t be shy. Be very proactive and eager to interact with everyone. (Tip: Make sure you memorize the names of the mitzvah kid and his parents and also, the names of any siblings.).
Tip #3: Be engaging
During the dancing segments, always be engaging at least one person and always try to engage a big group of people at the same time (if appropriate). Make sure that you never ever dance alone. Always dance right in front of people or right beside people. If the MC is leading the whole crowd, follow along by either dancing right beside the MC or (if he already has dancers right beside him), then go out and try to pull more people onto the dance floor and have them follow along with the MC’s moves or have them follow along with your moves. As you lead people in dancing, keep your dance moves very simple, fun, and easy-to-follow. Listen to the music and choose dance moves that fit the music. Constantly, rotate through a variety of dance moves.
***Important Side Note: One of the most impressive things that you can do at the party is pull people onto the dance floor. If the MC sees you successfully pulling people onto the dance floor and making them feel comfortable on the dance floor, then the MC is going to give you a high rating and that high rating will get you booked on more gigs.
Tip #4: Follow these guidelines:
Dance with everyone, both kids and adults.
Be a leader on the dance floor; when you are out there, everyone should take notice as you lead a group of guests to follow your moves or as you draw attention to the dance moves of guests.
Make sure you never appear to be just a guest of the party. Always make your presence stand out as a leader of the party!
Be aware of the party goods and distribute the party goods effectively.
Never dance alone or with other dancers. Always dance as a part of a group.
Focus on making sure that everyone on the dance floor is participating with the MC.
Tip #5: Obey these rules:
Respect your call time: Always plan to arrive early so that you’ll still be on time even if you experience unexpected delays.
Be professional: Do not assume that you may partake of any food without the consent of the MC. Except for events that are less than 3 hours in duration, food is usually provided by the caterer and your MC will handle the details on your behalf.
You are hired for your talent and interactive personality: Your ability to dance is a plus; however, your skills to interact with the guests are most important. Do not follow other dancers around the party; instead, find your own ways to add fun to the party. Be a leader and move the crowd!!!
Regarding scheduling, you are never forced to work an event but, if you accept the invite regarding an event, then you must work it because these are big contracts and there cannot be any cancellations (unless there is an extreme emergency).
Tip #6: Understand the flow of the party:
There are different structures and styles regarding bar/bat mitzvah parties. However, most parties are divided into sections. They usually begin with a Cocktail Hour which is then followed by a Grand Entrance, welcome speech by parents, the Challah/blessing, the dinner, group photo of all of the kids, candle lighting, speeches, video montage, the Hora, the dessert, final farewell circle, etc. Dancing and games are usually mixed in all throughout the event.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
The Cocktail Hour consists of mingling with the guests with most of the focus on the kids. Cocktail hour is your time to get to know the kids. One of the main reasons you are hired is your expertise in interaction with these kids. The impressions you leave with them during this time are crucial to the tone of the rest of the party. This is the time to show confidence and focus on your connections with each child. These kids dictate the energy of the room once the party begins and your skills can lead them toward positive energy.
It would be advisable for you to work on these skills such as:
- Talk about popular TV shows, music, movies, etc.
- Discuss sports, hobbies, favorite school subjects, after school clubs and organizations.
- Engage them to talk about their life, their interests, possibly their future goals and aspirations, and see if you have anything in common with them. Try to build rapport.
During the Speeches, Blessings, Montages, and Candle Lighting, help to keep the kids quiet.
Different DJ companies have different expectations regarding the candle lighting. Ask the DJ to explain what he/she wants you to do during candle lighting. However, here are notes regarding a typical candle lighting: The Candle Lighting ceremony is the time where the GOH will pay tribute to the family and friends by lighting candles in their honor. Your main responsibilities are to escort the named guests to the candle and back to their seats, as well as keeping the energy high in the room.
Here are some tips:
- Help aid the MC in having all of the kids seated on the dance floor being careful not to block the photographers or videographers.
- You may be asked to stand next to the MC and hold the candle which lights the other candles.
- Once the MC calls a guest’s name, you will escort them to the candle and back to their seat.
- Use creativity by utilizing party goods, dancing, etc.
- If you are not an escort, mingle throughout the room motivating guests to sing or clap.
- Provide special treatment for the siblings, if possible.
Different DJ companies have different expectations regarding the hora. Ask the DJ to explain what he/she wants you to do during the hora. However, here are note regarding a typical hora: For the Hora, you will need to help get everyone to form two (or three) circles. You will help lead the guests into the circles making sure the family is in the center. When the MC (or DJ) is ready, he will ask for a chair to elevate each family member. Dancers will need to stay alert for this moment so that one may get a chair while others assist the family members in the center of the circle.
Regarding line dances and random dance moves, I organized our dance training videos into a free, online course. Please make sure that you know how to do the Cha-Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, Wobble, Macarena Electric Slide, and Cotton-Eyed Joe (classes #2 through #8). Also, class #1 is a great example of the type of random, easy-to-follow dance moves that can fit into any song. Class #21 is Jess's choreography piece (Party In The USA). Here is the link to the dance course: https://claysmile.thinkific.com/courses/DanceLikeLance
Tip #7: Here are some general DOs and do NOTs.
DOs:
- Bring or wear a black t-shirt/tank top, pants, belt (if applicable), socks and shoes
- Arrive at venue 60 minutes prior to the party’s start time and remain at least 30 minutes after conclusion of event (call time will be mentioned in email). [This time is now required as you are not training the dancers for Mitzvahs.]
- Be dressed and ready to entertain 15-20 minutes to party start time.
- Make sure you know the new popular line dances, TikTok songs and dance steps.
- ALWAYS SMILE: the way you smile will make someone else smile. (There is always someone watching you. Plus, you will be in many pictures and throughout the video.)
- Keep the guests engaged, leaving no time for boredom or mischief.
- Be a leader on the dance floor, be unique and show off your personality.
- Pass out party favors throughout the event.
Do NOTs:
Do NOT use your cell phone for calls, texts, emails, social media or internet usage during the party.
Do NOT chew gum (mints are better)
Do NOT smoke or drink alcohol before or during the event.
Do NOT solicit gratuities from DJ’s client.
Do NOT hit, punch, touch inappropriately, scream at, yell at any guest.
Do NOT act tired even if you are tired.
Do NOT invite anyone to an event.
Do NOT wear excessive jewelry (hide crosses).
Do NOT follow other dancers throughout the entire affair…be unique.
Do NOT just walk around the room
Do NOT lead dances with your back to the crowd.
Do NOT curse.
Do NOT act rudely to the guests, DJ/MC, vendors and coworkers.
Tip #8: Be aware of what company you are representing
When you are at a mitzvah party, in the eyes of the DJ company, you are representing Claysmile but in the eyes of the client and the client’s guests and client’s other vendors, you are representing the DJ company who is hosting the event.
Tip #9: Special Notes
#1: After each gig that you work, we will need you to send us (Jess and Lance) a basic message (it could be a simple Facebook message if that is convenient for you) and the message has to include the date of the gig you worked, the time frame of the gig, and the fee that we owe you.
#2: Payroll is done every Monday. Dancers have two options:
#1: They can be paid via ACH or
#2: They can send a request for payment via PayPal....
Requesting the payment via PayPal is a much faster way, however, PayPal will take a service fee (I think it is around 3%) from your payment... ACH does not take any fee but it takes 1 to 3 business days (from the time we do payroll, which is every Monday) for the payment to show up in your bank account... So, some dancers prefer the speed of Paypal and other dancers prefer the free service of ACH. Whichever method you choose is fine with us.
Either way, we’ll need you to send us an invoice that contains these elements:
#1: Description of Services Rendered
#2: Date in which your services were rendered
#3: Date in which you are sending your invoice
#4: Amount that is owed for the services rendered
Invoices are usually processed within one week and definitely within two weeks.
If you choose the PayPal option, you can go into the PayPal app and there is a button for you to "request" money. You can hit that button and in the request box, put in our company's email address: Claysmile@gmail.com and "request" the amount and in the notes section, you can type in the invoice.
If you choose the ACH option, here is the info needed to set up your ACH:
Payee (Full Name) or Business Name
Payee Type (Individual or Business)
ACH Routing Number
Account Number
Due to the nature of bar/bat mitzvah parties, the expectations/standards are very high.
This is the Dancer Report Card: 5 evaluation questions that you will use for doing a self-evaluation after the event. So, it’s important that you know ahead of time what the expectations are:
#1: Did the dancer arrive on time?
#2: Was the dancer dressed appropriately?
#3: Was the dancer enthusiastic and out-going throughout the whole event?
#4: Did the dancer stand out as a leader of the party (meaning, was the dancer proactive and did the dancer take initiative to do things that added value to the party instead of always waiting to be given specific instructions).
#5: Overall, did the dancer succeed at increasing the level of fun and excitement and happiness at the party? In other words, did the dancer successfully accomplish the job that the dancer was hired to do?