The Maasai perform culture for tourists. They dance, pose for photos, sell beadwork, and take visitors to "traditional" villages. The performances are real and staged simultaneously, a negotiation between economic necessity and cultural dignity. Some Maasai profit significantly from tourism through conservancy partnerships and lodge employment. Most do not. The tourism economy extracts Maasai imagery while leaving Maasai communities economically marginal. The dance is authentic. The distribution of benefits is not.