Talk to your accountant. Almost half of my yearly income is strictly dance based -- I do not have a formal license but do have a business account and keep all records separate to claim on taxes. My accountant has actually discouraged me from doing an LLC due to some red tape and other issues that it may bring up in the future. I will not claim to understand it all but basically he stated that it red flags me every year. This way if I do have a drop in income then it is not expected to always have a huge profit. Basically it could fall back into the 'hobby' category. He said that if I do find that a lot of money is going thru my account to pay a number of people then it may be best to change this but really you can operate under your own SSN and just keep good records. I know vendors do often get a separate EIN for themselves but they have sales and a lot more to deal with. A friend of mine who is a costume designer actually just moved her business back under her SSN bc really it was not paying off trying to manage both. My friend/mentor who owns Unicorn Belly Dance also said...really you do not need that and it is a lot of hassel so avoid if you can.

I have not had any issues and teach in 4 locations outside of my home. I do make sure that the venues cover any disclaimer of health/safety (they have to sign a waiver)....if the venue does not then I have my own waiver. I only teach privates in my home and so they sign a waiver there also.

As for performance....most places do not care if you have a business license. They care about who to write the check and if there is any liability (even that question is rare). So just have that covered. I do have a business account under my dance name so that checks can be written to my dance name...as that just causes confusion.

The one trick with a troupe is ... if one of you always gets the check then know that you will have tax payments. May be have a trade name in the troupe name but it will need to be under one individual in the end.

Just some thoughts...I have seen too many run out and get a license (spend the time and money)...then split in a year and have the hassel of trying to figure that out. Might just want to pick one person to deal with the taxes and ensure they get paid any costs of that during tax season. That is what my husband does with his two bands and I do with my troupe.

depends on what you are doing & where you are. my insurance & rental policies both required a business license, so I didn't really have a choice! Same if you want to sell anything. I stuck with sole proprietorship since it is much simpler to organize- a non profit has advantages if there are funds available in your area, or you have donors who want a tax write off, but it is definitely a lot of work too! a business license itself does not require a whole lot of effort- but price will vary by state
& locality (if you have city licensing as well as state.) Getting a Federal EIN is free and takes about 2 minutes.