In Dance: A Career As A Career

To be successful in a dance career is a hard thing to accomplish. A person looking to have a career in dance must have experience in dance for many years and be able to take the heat of the competition. A dancer must be able to hold their own and be able to take opportunities when the time is right, not too soon, and certainly not too late (Brady). In the dancing ‘world’ a person must also be able to handle the word “no” in any field of dance that he or she decides to go into; a dancer will be told this word often. Learning of the different occupations that there are inside of dance helps someone looking for a career in dance achieve one even if they do not have the needed skills to become a dancer. Although there are a lot of hardships that

People saying that they want to become dancers are using too broad of a career; they must first choose what style of dance they would like succeed in such as tap, jazz, lyrical, street, ballet, musical theatre and so on (Mauro 47). Whichever dance style that the dancer chooses then decides where he or she will begin to work. The work place for dancers can range from studios in California for filming music videos to the extravagant stage of Joyce Theatre (Brady). A dancer on average makes about fourteen dollars an hour when performing or during a scheduled rehearsal (Bureau of Labor Statistics). When a dancer is training he or she will not be paid. A dancer’s work schedule varies on whether their company is on a tour or not and what type of a company he or she is in. A company can be a small local one that tours the region or state, or can be large in which the company may tour the entire country and sometimes tour internationally. The average work day for a dancer depends on their workplace, “during tours, dancers… have long workdays, rehearsing most of the day and performing at night” (Bureau of Labor Statistics), meaning that when a dancer is touring with his or her company they could rehearse from seven in the morning till six with minimal breaks. After, that the dancer will have their performance on stage and normally will have a after party as well to celebrate a good performance. A

People looking for a career in dance do not have to go to only a dance school; they may attend a regular college and be in that specific college’s dance program or take classes at a local dance company. It is recommended for a person looking for a dance career to only minor in dance and major in another occupation because after retiring he or she could look for another job without a struggle of being employed (Muaro). When preparing for an occupation in dance a dancer should start out by expanding his or her limits, step out the comfort zone of their local studio and conventions (Lee). Dancers should try and take as many classes as they can to improve their skills. Along with taking all of these classes a dancer should be able to handle their own schedule without over working their self and making sure that they acquire a sufficient amount of sleep every night (Brady). Besides having a general education a person looking for a career in dance should build networks. A network works like this; “somebody you know knows people in high places who can give your résumé some extra attention or land you the audition you always wanted” (Lee). In order to obtain networks a dancer should apply their self anywhere he or she can; conventions, workshops, and websites (Chua). By using their networks and their education right a person looking for a career in dance is almost certain to find some kind of occupation in