Dance troupes in Bengaluru

A troupe needs your time on one evening. You give them a slot, a stage and the track to your DJ, and they do the rest. A family dance needs everyone in one room for several sessions in the weeks before, which is usually the hard part.

What a choreographer costs. One Bengaluru studio prints ₹20,000 for a couple's two-minute first dance, and ₹3,500 an hour plus ₹500 a person for a family group of ten or more, paid in advance. The planner's guide puts a whole Bengaluru sangeet package at ₹22,000 to ₹70,000.

A middle way: two or three hired dancers inside the family's own number, so the stage looks full and the cousins have someone to follow. Ask the choreographer whether they can bring dancers, since many bill them as an extra.

Running the whole night: see our guide to sangeet and cocktail nights.

Ask how many minutes the price covers. A surprise act is one routine of three to six minutes. The dance company sells its sets by the routine and gives no minutes, so "up to four routines" could be 15 minutes or more.

A Karnataka folk troupe, such as Dollu Kunitha, is booked by the day, and we found no wedding price for one. For drummers, see our guide to traditional drummers.

What people told us they had to spend. A book launch for 400 people wanted four to six classical fusion dancers for 15 minutes, for ₹40,000 to ₹50,000. A family wanted a 15 to 20 minute welcome act on a lawn for ₹20,000 to ₹30,000. Another wanted one surprise dancer at a restaurant for ₹3,000 to ₹4,000. Each is one family's budget, not a quote.

A surprise act

About ₹20,000

A routine made for your songs

About ₹28,000 to ₹40,000, our estimate

Six dancers, three to five minutes

The same six dancers, about five minutes

Trained to your theme, on the seller's party songs

A routine set on your sangeet songs

T-shirts, which the seller suggests you get printed

Rehearsed with you

Their speaker

Costumes in your colours and a coordinator: extra

The sum: the ₹19,999 six-dancer package, plus a choreographer to set a routine on your songs, at ₹8,000 to ₹15,000 from one planner's guide, up to ₹20,000 for a two-minute routine at one Bengaluru studio. That comes to about ₹28,000 to ₹40,000.

Bigger quotes usually buy more stage time. The dance company's ₹65,000 for six dancers covers up to four routines in four styles. A surprise seller's ₹19,999 for six covers one routine of three to five minutes. Ask how many minutes each quote covers before you compare them.

The same troupe can quote both. Ask for the price of a routine they already have, and of one made for your songs.

DR Carnival Performers, on their LED wings act:

LED and glow acts only work in the dark. At a 6 pm lawn reception they look like people in costumes. Book one for after sunset in a hall you can black out. For LED and fire as a stand-alone act, see our guide to live acts.

Classical dancers dance barefoot and need a clean, smooth floor, free of pins and petals. Live musicians cost more than a recording.

A mixed set for an office: one dance company sells ten artists doing a fusion of folk forms with Bollywood, from ₹1 lakh.

For Navratri and Janmashtami: see our guides to dandiya nights and Janmashtami.

Plan what happens if the person is late. One seller books flash mobs in three-hour slots between 10 am and 10 pm, so ask what time in the slot they come and how long they will wait.

One seller's refund terms: 90% back if you cancel two or more days before, 50% from 24 hours to two days, nothing inside 24 hours. No cancelling at all on Diwali, Karwa Chauth, New Year or Valentine's Day, and none on the cake or guitarist add-ons. For rain it only moves the date.

A photographer is extra. The same seller charges ₹6,000 an hour. A friend with a phone at the right spot works too, so tell them where to stand.

You can join in at the end. One seller suggests 10 to 15 dancers including your friends and family, so ask the troupe to teach the last part to you.

Searching "female dancers for wedding" brings up the wrong kind of ads. Look for a company or a studio with an address, a website or a mytribe profile, and videos from family functions. If an ad gives only a phone number and photos, move on.

Ask for the family version. Troupes that do weddings and office shows keep different songs and costumes for different crowds. Say who's in the front row, and ask for a photo of the costume.

A belly dancer at a 40th or an office party depends on the crowd. For an office, ask HR before you book, and pick a costume and a set suited to colleagues.

If your family showers notes on the dancers, ask the troupe before the day how they'd like it done.

Looking after the dancers. They need a room to change in near the stage, water and a meal. A guest who has had a drink may try to pull a dancer onto the floor, so ask one person from your side to stay near the stage. After a midnight function at a farmhouse, ask how they get home and whether the cab is on you.

The GST rule. An artist's performance in a folk or classical form of music, dance or theatre is free of GST when the fee for that show is ₹1.5 lakh or less. Above that, the whole fee is taxed. A Bollywood, hip-hop or LED act doesn't count as folk or classical, so a troupe registered for GST adds it. The rule names a show "by an artist", and we found no ruling on a company that sends a troupe, so ask whoever bills you. If your office needs an invoice, ask at the start.

10 pm. Karnataka counts 10 pm to 6 am as night for loudspeakers, and allows them then only in closed places like auditoriums and banquet halls. On a lawn, put the dance before 10. For drums, see our guide to traditional drummers.

Measure the stage. Ten dancers need room to move, and a lift on slippery tile is how people get hurt. Ask the troupe how much space their routine needs, and send them a photo of the stage.

Costume colours. Ask what the dancers will wear, so they don't clash with the bride's outfit or the decor in the photos.

What to ask for

• An uncut video from a real event, with a crowd like yours.
• Who exactly comes. Ask whether the dancers in the video will be the ones on your stage.
• Whether the routine is new for you or the one they do at every wedding this season.
• A recent client you can call, a family or a company that booked the same act.

In writing: the number of dancers, the minutes, the costumes, the time they reach, and what happens if they cancel or come with fewer dancers. A part refund for each missing dancer is a fair thing to ask for.

Booking early. The same baraat company says to book two to six months ahead for November to February and April to May. A routine made for your songs needs a rehearsal with you weeks before the day.