I dont know what you act is, but it doesnt hurt to constantly keep people packed near you.
Usually this is your money tip the ones that are close.
You do want enough space for a baby stroller or wheelchair to get by. But on the other side of the sidewalk from your "stage".

There are a couple quips for this. "My local cops have a deal if I keep the sidewalk open, I can continue performing, so please leave a space for people to get by" that kind of thing.

This kind of interactivity usually can lead to tips if you can direct another remark to the traffic blocking individual. The people who do block traffic but cannot be roped into being part of the larger audience will not tip and a lot of those "satellites" are muttering hecklers, the scum of the earth. They are never content to actually participate in life, but boy do they have an opinion!!
Sometimes you have to qualify your audience jettison the flesh wasters and keep the tippers near you.

Of course none of this is helpful if you are a human statue.

David, I don't think it's okay for her partner to be "incensed" about her practicing her art in public. I would find that very stifling.

Your safety is of course an issue when street performing, no matter what you do. As the ONLY woman performer at Fisherman's Wharf for most of the season last year, the worst I usually got was an occasional lewd comment or invitation. Only twice have I had to break character and deal with someone who stepped over my boundaries. (Statue Comes To Life and Smacks Tourist! Story at eleven...) If you're dancing, it's unlikely anyone will come close enough to you to touch you or anything. You have a certain distance as a costumed performer, and most people will be a little intimidated by you, actually. Remember you're safer than usual when other people are watching you... nobody's going to do anything while you have a crowd of onlookers.
The rest of the time, it's the same rules as for every day; Park close by so you don't have a long walk through deserted parking lots while in costume, assess your weapons, Don't burden yourself with lots of things to carry... Maybe your husband would feel better if he picked you up after your day of busking was through. He'll probably come around once he sees you perform once or twice; unmolested by all those theoretical maniacs who can't control their lust at the sigh of a bare midriff.

uh-oh! in trouble already and i haven't even gotten outside yet! if you click on the *teensy* photo, you'll see baggy red shorts and a cropped black t-shirt with pilling. way more than a bikini, got a bit of a chunky gut sticking out there, and, most importantly, knees together... i have some pictures in my page together with requests for comments about my costume, etc... the leg photo was actually included on my page asking if people thought whether I needed to wear baghdad pants to cover up what I think are less than perfect legs... i saw other people had nifty photos of something not entirely shown (eyeballs and stuff) and i didn't think the photos with my face were very good...
i haven't picked what kind of music i'll play, (i was thinking of something folksy /gypsy/ polka/ greek vine-step party---yelling Opa! and throwing around red and white checked tablecloths/ to start out with and maybe a tummy coverup that I haven't made yet...) i'm hoping to present as G-rated, family-approved fun. Since my card says ".... Improv..." I can edit out whatever moves I think are saucy, teasing, low-lidded, hands behind the head types of moves that i wouldn't even do if i were in a troupe. My teacher is very adamant about which moves are not appropriate for public audiences: no shaking one's cleavage about, make sure everyone who looks at you can tell right away that you are at least wearing shorts (boy-shorts, she said) under your costume on your butt, no taking tips anywhere !ANYWHERE! except at the highest furthest point of the hip where the belt sits, sensible side-slits on the skirts, no taking cheap dancing jobs at restaurants (ie charging less than the industry standards), no touching of money while performing (ask a friend to collect or maybe the staff at the restaurant,) no sitting with the customers after the show, no showing up at a gig without a large, bland coverup over top of the costume, and absolutely, under no circumstances at all, is a dancer ever, never, ever to agree to perform at a stag or for a men-only party.
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There is no doubt that belly dance is a sensual/sexual/seductive dance, whether people wish to admit to it or not. And while people in the crowd aren't going to seize and carry off a dancer, still, a partner of someone doing such a dance I believe, has reason to get upset.
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I would very much like to hear more about a dancer's partner being upset. Can you describe what is *too* much for a spouce to put up with? I have asked other people what they think about this busking buisness and most are perplexed as to why my husband is so against it, except possibly for him he feels that people will interprete me/my dance as "too sensual" and that the idea of dancing anywhere except in a troupe is out of the question.

Sorry to be so long-winded. I'll be watching for you. Yo Ahn Na <><