A contract is important to have for private parties for many reasons. Most importantly it protects your rights and the employers rights. I'll use a wedding party for an example.
You and your employer agree that you will dance at 7:30pm. Your contract clearly states that after 30 minutes of waiting there will be an extra charge of $10 for the first quarter hour and $1 per minute for each minute thereafter. If you have to wait 45 miutes past your scheduled time then you have legal means to claim that extra fee and your employer has no basis to argue your claim since they should have clearly read and understood the contract. Another example is if you planed on performing a wedding but then had to back out at the last minute because of an emergency. Your contract clearly states that you will find a suitable replacement and return the deposit in full. If you do not adhere to your contract your employer has leagal means to be properly compensated and you have no basis for argument. From just these two examples you can see how the contract can protect both the dancer and the employer from being taken advantage of. When you have a contract each party knows what is expected of them and what they should expect of each other. Another benefit of a contract is that it will make you seem so much more professional. Some people worry that people will think they are greedy or rude if they want to have a signed contract but in reality it only reinforces how professional you are that you are willing to take leagal responsiblity in protecting not only your rights but your employer's rights, people will only respect you more for it. If someone 'doesn't' want to sign a contract with you you I would seriously question why! Are they planning on taking advantage of you in some way? I can understand how many people may choose to be descreet about it (due to the many years of misconeptions on bellydance) but, you can always put in a privacy policy to make them feel more cofortable. There are buttons on the left that will lead you to an example of a solo contract and a group contract which you may download and use. Feel free to modify them to fit your needs. Another Legal Issue that you will need to consider (especially if your teaching) is liablility and insurance. This is very important to have for your classes and events in case someone get's injuered or experiences some other loss in which they try to take action against you. The absolute best protection comes from having insurance and a signed Liability waiver. If you can only do one, insuarance is the best way to go as it protects you and/or your studio best however, it's often expensive and it might be too much for you to afford and still make any profit from teaching/dancing. Signed waivers offer some protection but not enough, if nothing else you should at least have a signed waiver which at least shoes the student or participant acknowledges that there is the possibility of injury or loss. You will find buttons on the left for various waivers which you may use and modify as neccessary. There is also a button to bring you to the Insurance page.
