How To Be A Professional Dancer
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The median hourly wage for professional dancers was $17.49 in 2019. During that period, the lowest 10% of dancers earned less than $10.10 per hour, and the highest 10% earned more than $43.41 per hour.
One of the toughest decisions a dancer has to make is to determine which career preparation track to follow: studying dance at a college or university, or enrolling in some form of pre-professional training. There are pros and cons to both forms of training: college might allow you to pursue other options as well as dance, providing a backup plan of sorts for when your dance career ends.
Yet, while a backup plan is nice, dancers also have to accept that dance is also a time-limited career, one that favors younger dancers. Finishing high school and college, followed by a year or two of pre-professional study puts you well into your twenties by the time you finish. Most dancers will retire when the wear and tear on their bodies takes its toll, usually in their 30s or 40s if they are fortunate. For dancers that choose the college track, that means a career of 10 to 15 years, at best, plus being at a possible disadvantage compared to the dancers who got their start younger, when their bodies were stronger and more resilient.
For these reasons, dancers need to be realistic and ask themselves the tough questions about their ultimate life and career goals. Are you willing to forego the college experience in order to extend your career and improve your dance prospects Do you have a plan for what you will do when that career ends Dancers who want to make it as a professional need to consider not just their dance career, but their ultimate life goals.
This article was co-authored by Val Cunningham. Val Cunningham is a Choreographer, Lead Dance Instructor, and Certified Yoga Instructor at The Dance Loft, a dance studio based in San Francisco, California. Val has over 23 years of dance instruction, performance, and choreography experience and specializes in ballroom, Latin, and swing dancing. She is also trained in house, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and modern dance, and has studied with world renouned dancers such as Tom Slaterand Richard Lambarty. She is ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing), ProDVIDA (Professional Dance Vision International Dance Association), and Zumba certified. She is a member of the National Dance Council of America.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 16 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 717,858 times.
Professional dancers practice and perfect their dancing ability for years. They often specialize in a particular style of dance, such as ballet, hip-hop or modern dance. Professional dancers often have to undergo numerous auditions to find work. Once they earn a role they must learn various dance numbers and participate in rehearsals. They work closely with other dancers, choreographers and directors to deliver the best performances possible. Professional dancers often participate in different promotional events for their shows. If you're curious about the training and experience required to become a professional dancer, check out the table below. You'll also find employment projections and other career info.
There are many styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop and folk, and different opportunities await dancers of different genres; for example, you don't see many ballerinas in pop videos. If your dream is to dance for a renowned company, you'll need a strong foundation in 'classical' styles of dance, such as ballet, jazz and modern. On the other hand, if you want to be a backup dancer for a musician or musical group, you might focus on contemporary or hip-hop dance. Keep in mind that successful dancers tend to be well-rounded, with skills in a variety of genres. Being able to switch from jazz to tap to ballroom could help you secure regular work.
While you can have a career in dance without formal education, a training program can provide an opportunity to learn different styles from professional instructors. It also could give you the background needed to teach dance.
Most professional dancers begin learning the craft between the ages of 5-15. Starting early is important because it can take years to develop the muscle strength and technique needed to turn dance into a profession. Formal training opportunities are available with dance companies and conservatories, or you could pursue a bachelor's or master's degree in dance at a college or university.
Relocating to a city where entertainment is a major focus might offer you more chances to get hired as a professional dancer; however, theater, ballet and dance are performed nearly everywhere. You might start by investigating the arts community in your area and volunteering to dance at festivals and shows.
You also can search for auditions through newspapers, online job sites and professional dance sites. Show up at auditions with a resume and head shot; you also might want to provide a demo reel. Additionally, you may want to look into getting representation. An agent may be able to get you more exclusive auditions, as well as providing you with information and opportunities you wouldn't have otherwise known about.
Cleveland mid-westerner Chelsea Hupalowsky spent most of her youth in pointe shoes, then earned her BFA in dance performance from The University of Akron and came out a contemporary dancer. Alongside performing she has taught dance in public schools, rehearsal directed for universities, and has produced shows across the nation. She currently resides in Orlando, performing and playing dance captain at Universal Orlando Resort and Cirque Magique/Cirque by Night. With her leftover spare time, she manages a bar and runs her apparel brand, Concept Hissyfit. Chelsea has been a freelance writer and blogger for over eight years and is ecstatic to be sharing her obsessive passion for dance with anyone who will listen.
On Average 10% of dancers who actively pursue a career in dance become professional. The percentage of dancers who become professionals and are working artists having completed an arts degree is also 10%. This number can change to 90 or 100% of dancers who attend company affiliated pre-professional dance schools, but respectively, these schools accept less than 10% of those who audition for their schools to study with them.
The School of American Ballet has a similar intake to the Vaganova Academy. Fewer than 100 students are accepted every year into various year levels. The school states on average 20 of their students are successful in obtaining contracts with professional dance companies every year.
The following dance schools are some of the top ballet schools in the world. After researching their websites, most advertise that their students are 90-100% successful in securing contracts with dance companies around the world. Many schools state that thousands of hopeful dancers audition for their programs, but only those with the potential of a professional career are invited to train with them and therefore as this varies from year to year do not state annual intake numbers.
The rate of success for students studying dance at schools that funnel their students into their own company or that are the best in their country is extremely high as shown in the table above. But this is possible because most schools have a re-enrollment policy which means dancers ability and suitability is constantly assessed and schools cull and cut from their programs accordingly.
If more dance schools willingly shared their statistics I would have a better answer to the question of what percentage of dancers become professional, but unlike The Vaganova Dance Academy which is funded by the government in Russia, Dance schools are businesses and although it would be incredibly helpful, openly giving these statistics could hurt their student intake, profit, and business.
Funding for research into the subject would be extremely hard to secure because training dancers is a money making business and who wants to tell a future customer that the chance of them actually succeeding is quite small, especially for those about to take out student loans and debt to pursue their dream.
To become a professional ballet dancer you need around 9 to 10 years of disciplined and consistent ballet training. Attending a pre-professional course at a school affiliated with a company reaps the most chance of success for a potential ballet student.
To become a professional Contemporary or Modern Dancer you need a strong background in classical ballet and therefore you would be looking to gain around 9 to 10 years of disciplined and consistent ballet training. In addition to ballet lessons, you would want to attend lessons in contemporary or modern dance. Attending a pre-professional course at a school affiliated with a modern or contemporary dance company reaps the most chance of success for a potential student.
To become a professional tap dancer you need to train for as long as it takes you to master the art of tap dancing. This will take a non dancer longer than someone who has danced before, but can be complicated even for a dancer as learning to isolate the muscles of the feet to produce tapping sounds requires different muscle memory to what one might be used to. Secondly tap is all about creating rhythms and beats which is another skill not always easily mastered. Once at a proficient level you can audition and join a tap dance company or troupe.
Classical ballet dancers start training very young, usually at 10 or 11 years old. It's possible to make a career in contemporary dance if you start at a later age, if you're prepared to work hard and put in a lot of training.
Few dancers are able to make a comfortable living from their creative pursuits alone. Many rely on non-dance freelance work or multiple part-time gigs, fearing that a full-time job would take too much time away from their dancing. However, plenty of artists manage to balance full-time day jobs with fulfilling dance careers, opting for the security, benefits and opportunity to learn new skills. 153554b96e