Audience participation of some variety is an expected part of most Oriental dance sets. It comes in the middle of the set and can take many forms.

There is the “Sultan Act” where a man is chosen from the audience. The dancer might put her veil on his head like a turban, maybe she’ll have a turban already made she can just set on his head or she could forego the turban altogether. She also might tie her veil around his hips. The idea is to get the gentleman up and dancing, maybe embarrass him a little, have some fun and make the audience laugh. She’ll have him take a bow and sit him down.

There is just getting folks up to dance plain and simple. The dancer can choose to get a group of women up, then a group of men and have them each follow her like a chorus line, she can get a couple up to dance or just an individual. Some audience members take instruction better than others. It is the dancer’s responsibility to maintain control of her show.

She can also just go out into the audience, joke with people, if the environment is right and the furniture sturdy, she can get up to dance on a chair or a table. She can get people dancing in their seats. There is a lot that can be done, keeping it in good fun.

Shems’s Audience Interaction YouTube Playlist