Tens of thousands of children across the United States pursue their passion of dance. Some participate for recreation, while other dancers desire to make a career out of their passion.
- What types of career opportunities exist for the child who wants to dance professionally?
- What type of training/education is necessary for a dancer to pursue this type of career?
- What type of pay/income can one expect as a professional dancer?
In this 2-part series, you will find answers to these questions and other information to help a family if they are considering having a child go down this path.
What Types Of Jobs Are Available For A Dancer?
Dance is a wonderful way to make a living, but you must realize it is a very competitive profession. The reality is that only a small percentage of dancers find steady work in the world of dance.
Landing a job in the dance field as a performer usually involves auditioning for parts along with many other dancers striving for the same role/job. To supplement their income, many dancers have to often hold other jobs to make a reasonable living.
Dancers can pursue their career by trying to land a role/position with a ballet company or another type of dance company.
Jobs can also be found as performers in theater and musical productions. This type of job is highly coveted and may also require singing experience.
Music videos will also often feature dancers and provide great part-time work opportunities for dancers. The type of dance experience required will vary depending on what type of music the dance video will be set to, the type of production, and a variety of other factors.
Having experience in a variety of dance styles will serve the aspiring dancer well in her/his pursuit of these types of jobs.
Other Dance Careers
Another avenue for professional dancers is to teach dance. This allows those individuals to pass their passion for dance along to others.
With the proper dance degrees, a trained dancer can pursue teaching at the college level with many, many schools around the country offering programs for dance. Dancers can also find jobs teaching dance at local dance studios, coach a high school dance team, or teach dance at other organizations within the community.
Some professional dancers prefer to design dance routines for themselves or other dancers and pursue a career in choreography. These dancers may have perfected their dance and choreography skills during their dancer careers as a performer and found the art of creating dancer routines and dance forms is what they enjoy most and best suits their skills.
Professional dancers with financial backing may pursue starting their own dance company producing shows locally, regionally, or nationally.
Other dancers might decide to open their own dance school, offering dance classes to children, adults or both. These options, of course, require up-front money, some business knowledge/experience, a solid business plan, and hopefully a good business mentor to help get the business started.
Click here for part 2 of this post.
