The Business of  performing Arts   

After witnessing Oriental fire in action at a local event, the Life of an Entrepreneur Magazine spoke to founder and professional artist Tina Kapp about how Oriental Fire build their passion for performing into a business. Global Media named Oriental Fire Best Unique Event and Entertainment Company of 2023 MEA Excellence award Gauteng.

Ceo Tanya Steynfaardt describes the performance as an Explosion of professionalism, poise and energy.

Tina Kapp Grew up with missionary parents and this meant that although she’s Australian by nationality she was born in Hong Kong. She grew up all over Asia and did her schooling in Japan. After travelling to the States and Brazil on her own, she spent some time in Europe and Africa. She lived and worked for an NGO in Uganda for 8 years. They managed independent projects all over the world, each setting up their own funding initiatives.

 “We always found a way to include performing arts, whether it was putting on shows for the charities themselves or gala fundraiser dinners for our sponsors. I was then asked to be a regional director for our NGO which required moving to South Africa.”

 After getting married to a South African and settling here, she wanted to focus on her passion for performing. In 2010 herself and two of her friends started rehearsing in her garage. This was where Oriental Fire was born.

The motivation behind the idea of Oriental Fire

Like many upcoming artist starting out, they did plenty of shows for that dreaded word, ‘exposure’ but they did try to choose wisely and stuck to community or charity events. They spotted a definite gap in the market for professional Bollywood dancing.

“The movie standards are so high in energy, costuming and storytelling through dance, we wanted to showcase that quality to cultures who knew and loved Bollywood and those who’d never seen it before.”

The recruiting process

“Over the years, Oriental Fire added amazing new artists who each brings a unique talent and skill to the team. There are no divas or drama queens. Everyone teaches and learns from each other with the goal to constantly improve as individual artists and add new personal skills. I’d say good character is far more important to us than talent alone. Artists who support and work well with others are priceless.”

As their market grew, they were constantly requested to add new styles like Sega. They studied YouTube videos, chatted with Mauritian friends, and did loads of research. After getting booked by the Mauritian embassy and getting fantastic feedback (and repeat bookings) they knew they were doing it right. It was as if the Globe opened its doors for them and they’ve since done Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Hula, Mexican themed fusion shows and more and learning a lot from the process.

Some of the Oriental Fire dancers are fulltime artists, some have day jobs. According to Tina it’s wise to have several streams of income so those who are also personal trainers, sports massage therapists, language or dance teacher have flexible work options to supplement their performing income. They mostly recruit dancers based on personal referral. It is important to the team to know that anyone who joins Oriental Fire, has the same goals and vision that they have.

 “We love adding new artists when we can but also want to limit the number so that we don’t dilute the work too much and that the artists have access to as many shows as possible. We generally rehearse 3 days a week, 1 with everyone to learn new choreography and Bollywood, 1 for Belly dancers specifically, 1 for the upcoming weekend’s show rehearsals and placing.”

Oriental Fire share some important tips for those that want to turn their passion for performing into a career:

1. Be Ethical- Entertainment Agents are your best friend, they promote you, hire you and do the groundwork to make events run smoothly. When artists try to cut them out of the picture and go direct to clients, you may score a higher fee once but no one will want to work with you again.
2. Be Professional- The higher the quality of your footage and photos, the higher quality your act or offering comes across. Clients will judge your standards and professionalism by your grammar and spelling, your presentations and everything you send that represents you. Not just your rates.
3. Be Reliable- No matter what size event it is, whether it’s a big concert or a small bridal shower, give every performance the same attention, respect, and quality. You never know who might be in the audience and they could be your next big client.
4. Be Both Punctual and Patient- Time is money when it comes to your client, never ever be late and build in plenty of time for traffic, accidents, or delays. At the same time, build in enough time for your event that when the client runs late you have budgeted for extra time, enough gaps between shows and you have a confirmed agreement on overtime fees, so you don’t make them feel rushed or that you don’t care. This is especially true for wedding shows as this is their big day and any supplier who makes them feel like a tick on their schedule and in a rush to get to the next thing is going to leave a bad taste.
5. Be Polite- Manners is crucial. This might seem obvious but make sure it doesn’t stop with the client. Treat every waiter, sound technician, stagehand, and DJ with the same respect, obviously just because it’s the right thing to do, but from a business perspective, the bigger the network of people who enjoy working with you the higher the chance of getting a referral from word of mouth- the most effective form of marketing out there.
6. Build a Strong Team- You can have great ethics, professionalism, manners, and a high-performance level but if the team you work with that represents your brand don’t all passionately share the same standards, your company name will lose value instantly. Make sure you work not only with the strongest and most talented performers but team players who work well together, enjoy each other’s company, and want the team and show as a whole to succeed not use it as a steppingstone to promote themselves alone.
7. Invest in quality- while we all need to start somewhere, and our early day costume and prop budgets were small we knew we’d rather have one better quality costume than lots of cheap looking ones. This took patience and sometimes tightening the purse strings elsewhere but it’s so worth it. Pay attention to accessories, details and look for opportunities to be creative and make new things to add excitement to your shows.
8. Be Aware of Presentation- Make sure you’re well-groomed with hair, nails and make up are on point. Costumes are not wrinkled or scruffy and even if you have a stage rehearsal try to look neat and presentable. Clients will pick up on this and feel assured you’ll fit in with their high-class events. Performing arts is a visual business so your look is part of your show.
9. Your Online Presence – Make sure when people look you up you have a well-organized, beautifully presented Instagram account and/or Facebook Page and any other social media outlet that suits your target audience. If you’re a solo artist clean up your public profile, those fun drunk blurry photos may have to go OR make sure you have a public artist account with only your performing related stories and photos that help to sell you as an artist.
10. Have a Marketing Plan- Different things work for different artists and companies. The best thing is to try a few to see what gets you the best results. We’ve personally had the best feedback from Google ads, an active Instagram account (focusing on a personal touch so people can connect with the artists and enjoy show clips and behind the scenes) and various websites that help link customers to suppliers.
11. Never Lose the Fun- I would say for the most part we perform because we LOVE it. We enjoy the learning, the moments on stage, new experiences, connecting with new people and bringing joy to people’s special moments.

“Turning performing arts into a business has been an incredible journey of learning and growing through experience. There is a big market for the arts since Covid and Oriental Fire has never been busier!“

 Might it be that the world realized how much movies, music, dance and entertainment add to the lives of each and every person on earth. The more we support artists, the more the industry will grow.

If you need a special and unique performance for your event you can contact management for more information.

Tina on tina@orientalfire.net

Jitesh +27 (72) 519-4549 or Gemma at +27 (73) 342-3307