The dance industry is offering more career opportunities than ever before and it’s time to break free from the traditional company contract. Today’s dancers are building careers that span performance, teaching, and creative work. Today’s dancer’s are loving the flexibility that comes with this. Here are five major career paths and how to get into each one. Understanding these dance career paths will help you build a career that’s truly yours, and that aligns with your strengths and your lifestyle.
1. Performance Careers: What Makes You Shine – On Stage, On Screen, And On The Road
The Lowdown: Professional performers work in dance companies, musical theater, cruise ships, theme parks, touring productions, and the occasional commercial gig. That can mean backing up the stars on award shows, music videos, or live concerts. And, it all starts by getting your foot in the door.
Getting Started: Try out for regional auditions for smaller companies and productions. Get some experience on your resume by taking part in local theater, semi-professional companies, and showcases. And, of course, put together an audition package that showcases your range, a classical variation, a contemporary solo, and a commercial combination, and be ready to get physical and versatile.
The Reality Check: You can expect 20-30 rejections for every booking. And some of the biggest company auditions can see 500+ dancers vying for 2-3 spots. Commercial auditions are fast-paced, so learn to pick up choreography quickly and bring your personality to the table. And, trust us, you’re going to want to keep your headshots up to date, your resume polished, and plenty of audition outfits on hand.
Salaries: Corps dancers in big ballet companies can make $35,000-75,000 a year. Broadway dancers can earn $2,000+ a week. Commercial gigs might pay $500-5,000 a day, but they’re not always consistent. And working on cruise ships can mean $2,000-4,000 a month, plus a free place to stay.
Career Advice: Develop a specialty that makes you irreplaceable. Do this whether that means mastering a particular style, learning to partner, or tumbling with the best of them. And, do not be afraid to branch out and try your hand at acting or singing. That’s what can give you access to all those juicy musical theater opportunities.
2. Teaching and Education: Passing On Your Passion
The Lowdown: Dance educators work in private studios, public schools (K-12), universities, community centers, and fitness centers. That can mean teaching master classes and workshops on the road, or building a loyal following in your home studio. And it all starts with getting some experience under your belt.
Getting Started: Try assisting an experienced teacher at your home studio. Or, see if you can get a job as a junior faculty member. You’ll want to get some teaching certifications (Progressing Ballet Technique, Acrobatic Arts, or a style-specific credential) under your belt. And, don’t be afraid to try out for different teaching gigs and see what works for you.
The Requirements: Studios usually want to see some experience, plus a teaching certification. K-12 positions need a state teaching license and a degree in dance or education. And, university positions usually require an MFA in Dance, or at least some pretty impressive professional experience.
Salaries: Studio teachers can earn $25-75 an hour. Public school positions can pay $45,000-70,000 a year, with benefits to boot. University professors can range from $50,000-90,000. And, master teachers can command $150-500 a class, plus expenses.
Growth Strategy: Develop a teaching method that’s all your own, or find a niche (like adaptive dance, injury prevention, or dance science) that you can specialize in. And, don’t be shy about building your brand on social media. The more people know who you are, the more likely you are to get hired.
3. Choreography and Creative Direction: Bringing Your Vision To Life
The Lowdown: Choreographers create original work for companies, competitions, music artists, film and TV and commercials. And creative directors oversee movement for entire productions, tours or entertainment franchises. This is all about bringing your unique vision to the table – and making it happen.
Getting Started: Start by choreographing for student showcases and local productions – and make sure to film everything so you can start building a reel. Try to get some experience working with established choreographers to see how the business side works – and enter some choreography competitions to get your work seen. And above all, develop a movement vocabulary that’s instantly recognizable as yours.
Building Your Portfolio: Create some spec work (like choreographing to a trending song) to show people what you can do. And learn to choreograph for different mediums – like stage and camera have different demands. And don’t be shy about building relationships with directors, producers and artist managers – that’s how the business works.
Salaries: Entry-level choreographers can earn $500-2,000 per piece. Established choreographers can make $5,000-50,000 per project. Tour choreographers can earn $2,500-10,000 a week. And film and TV choreographers can command $20,000-100,000+ per production.
Industry Insight: It’s not just about being a great choreographer – it’s also about having business sense. Learn to pitch your ideas, manage a budget and navigate contracts – that’s what separates the pros from the wannabes.
4. Dance Therapy and Wellness: Using Movement To Heal
The Lowdown: Dance/movement therapists use movement to help people heal from physical or emotional trauma in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, mental health facilities and private practice. And wellness practitioners use dance to help people get fit – with somatic practices, dance cardio and barre classes. This is all about using movement to make a difference in people’s lives.
Getting Started: Dance therapy requires a master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from an ADTA-approved program – plus a minimum of 3,000 supervised clinical hours. For wellness paths, you’ll need certifications in pilates, yoga or techniques like Franklin Method or Gyrotonic.
The Route To Certification: You’ll need to get some basic training in psychology and anatomy – and then pursue graduate training that combines movement analysis, psychotherapy and clinical practice. And of course, becoming a Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT) is the ultimate goal.Salary Range: Dance therapists take home between $48,000 to $75,000 a year in a clinical setting. On the other hand, private practice dance therapists can charge anywhere from $100 to $200 per session. For those who teach dance classes, they can make anything from $40 to $150 per class, while studio owners who run successful programs can rake in over $100,000 a year.
Market Opportunity: With the growing demand for dance therapy in senior care, autism services, and trauma recovery – and with expanding insurance coverage for dance therapy – the earning potential for dance therapists is looking up.
5. Entertainment Industry and Commercial Work
The Path Ahead: The entertainment industry and commercial work offer a whole host of exciting opportunities – from doing motion capture work for video games, to performing stunts that require dance skills, right on through to coaching actors on movement, performing in theme parks, putting on shows for corporate events, and even creating dance content for social media.
Breaking In: If you want to make it in this industry, you need to be in one of the main markets – LA, New York, Atlanta, or Orlando. Get yourself a dance agent who specializes in commercial work, get signed up on casting websites like Actors Access and Backstage, and make sure you’re building relationships with casting directors by consistently showing up to auditions in a professional manner.
Digital Opportunities: The more of a following you’ve got on social media – the more brands will want to hire you to do dance work for them. You can also make money creating dance content for apps and virtual platforms. And if you’ve got the tech skills, you can even do motion capture work – which requires a good understanding of animation.
Salary Range: Theme park performers can make anywhere from $15 to $25 an hour, with a pretty steady schedule. Performing in corporate events can pay anywhere from $500 to $2,000 per gig. And on the social media front, you can make anything from product trades all the way up to $10,000 or more per campaign. Motion capture artists, meanwhile, can earn anywhere from $300 to $1,000 a day.
Competitive Edge: In order to stand out in this industry, you need to have a pretty versatile set of skills – stilts, aerial, partnering, character work – the works. You also need to stay current with the latest commercial dance styles and trends, and make sure your professional materials are top-notch – whether that’s a high-quality reel, headshots, or social media content.
Crafting Your Hybrid Career
Most successful dancers end up combining a couple of different paths. So, for example, you might start out the day teaching a morning class for a steady income, then audition and perform at night, choreograph on the weekends, and build an online coaching business on the side.
Strategic Planning:
- Years 1-5: Focus on performing, and get yourself established as a teacher
- Years 5-10: Get your choreography cred going, and keep on performing
- Years 10+: You can start to transition out of performing, and into education, choreography, or maybe even therapy – and still do some select performing on the side
Financial Reality: The truth is, you’re going to need to juggle 3 or 4 different income streams at first, so make sure you’ve got a decent-sized emergency fund set aside – say, six months’ worth of expenses. Invest in continuing ed that opens up new revenue streams for you, and consider joining a union – like SAG-AFTRA, AGMA, or Actors’ Equity – so you’ve got better wages and protections.
Action Steps for Any Path
- Get out there and network: Attend workshops, dance showcases, and industry events – your next job often comes from who you know.
- Document everything: You’re going to need high-quality video footage of your performance, teaching, and choreography in order to impress casting directors, studios, and other potential employers.
- Stay versatile: The more styles you master, the more opportunities you’re going to have.
- Keep your instrument in good working order: Injury prevention, cross-training, and mental health support are all career investments that will pay for themselves in the long run.
- Get some business education: Learn about contracts, taxes, and self-promotion – because let’s face it, you’re not just an artist, you’re a business.
The dance industry rewards people who are strategic and adaptable – so choose an initial focus, but stay open to opportunities that come your way. Your unique combination of skills and experiences will ultimately define your own individual path, from stage to studio to set – and beyond.
