The little person elf, the Female aerialist, the tall male stilt walker, all stereotypes deep set inside based on what you are used to seeing. What is around, what is portrayed in film, what is available in shows. The artist is constantly adapting to real world scenarios of people’s imaginations created often by the media.
Within our industry, there are stereotypes most clients are not aware of, even within their own minds. What happens when they think Winter Wonderland theme? Little people elves, beautiful white female aerialists, female LED Winged Gogo dancers. Few people think of elegant little people servers, african american elves, and female magicians. How can we assist with creating diversity in the minds of our clients, without creating offense or friction?
At Firestorm talent & Entertainment, we do our best to create subtle encouragement. Either through photos on our website and social media platforms or through talking them through and making it our first suggestion, along with sharing the accolades of our amazing performers.
This can create an image in the clients mind, gently showing them other directions they can picture their final event presentation.
In the beginning years of our company, we had challenges where a client imagined a particular type of performer, and where we had put out our personal favorite due to their skill set or ability to perform. And they didn’t have “the look” the client was trying to achieve, though the skill level was accurate. We get to alter some of this with makeup and costuming, however, we love to highlight our performers real soul!
To resolve these challenges, we now go over with the client what they can look forward to regarding costume, vibe and skill level of the performer. We have now proudly been able to build relationships with our clients and guests, whence everyone is excited to be a part of the events at hand.
