What does it take to become a professional dancer? A question I’m asked quite often by wide-eyed dancers, in love with the feel of dance, the art of dance, and hoping to move into the profession of dance.  This is a different question. 

Dance, just like any other profession you get paid for, requires a certain amount of expertise, personality, drive and luck to succeed.  This question implies that one wants to become successful at what they do.  Success in the “Dance Business” has many colors depending on the goals of the individual dancer.  Do you want to be a Broadway dancer, Hip Hop dancer, Ballet dancer, TV/Video dancer, Modern dancer, Ethnic dancer or a GoGo dancer?  All require a certain expertise.  Some of the techniques will intersect and some will be entirely specific to the form. 

To start with, the “Dance Business” is a business.  This means that it requires other skills beside just technique, style or look.  In this business, one must be the CEO or director of their own life in dance, even though one is often taught to “be quiet and follow orders.”  Whether ones decision is to be a ballet dancer or Hip Hop dancer, one must be his/her own PR, Marketing and Sales Director, Technical Director, Accountant and Agent/Manager.  All of these skills, if learned well, will be transferable into civilian life.  All of these skills can also allow one to become a “professional.”  When you can ask a simple question, “What is the budget for individual dancers in this project?”  Any head of a production company or dance company will know that they must come up with a fee for the job, or give you a good reason why there is no fee involved.   It takes courage and experience to ask questions in a professional and non-threatening way. 

When you begin to have some modicum of success with smaller projects, often you begin to look for an Agent to do one part of your job.  But notice, I said “part.”  The Agent’s job is to book as many dancers per day, week, month, as they can.  The reason?  They are in their business to make a commission.  If you do not “stand out” in any particular way, they may not even consider you as part of their “stable.”  Or if you do not keep up your technique, your “look,” or give them the materials they need to sell you, you disappear to them, which means you will not be called for the next audition or be considered for the jobs that come up.   This does not mean you are a failure!  It may mean that you don’t have enough experience, you need more technical training, you may not be the kind of client this agent knows how to book.  It does mean that you need to search for a good fit for you. 

In sales the life-blood is to be able to handle the rejection that is inherent in the field itself.  If one must be a dancer, it is necessary to know that inherent in the business is rejection, perfectionism, beauty, spirit, and if one is a working dancer, an exciting and even boring field of endeavor.  It is a hologram of creativity, possibilities and tests that make you stronger, more brilliant, more able and even at times more bitter than most any other field of endeavor.  It is a field that challenges every fiber of you. 

We will continue to examine the “game” of the business.  Happy dancing!    
For comments or information, please e-mail us at jdivito@sag.org   
For information, call CTFD in L.A. at (213) 549-6660 or CareerLine in New York at (800) 581-2833 or visit: www.careertransition.org  

Joanne DiVito, Dance Editor
Administrator – Career Transition for Dancers  
Former Broadway dancer, Choreographer and Director
What is a dancer?   In its simplest form, someone who moves their body to the rhythm of music, sounds or just a pulse inside them.  This obviously is a simplistic definition, but in dance, the body is an instrument that allows someone to “show” rhythm, “show” music, “show” style, “show” spirit.   It is an all-encompassing art form that requires an intelligence of the body, mind and spirit.