SO YOU WANNA BE IN THE DANCE PROFESSION ? a little advice | USEFUL LINKS answers4dancers.com A great LA-based site with lots of info and Q & A pages on how to make it and survive in the biz. www.DanceArt.com Find dance classes in your area ArtsBooks.com Find books on dance Jacques d'Amboise's National Dance Institute Getting kids dancing. Dance College Degree Programs Southern California Dance Directory Ladanse.com International links directory for dance and movement art, including the USA and listing dance schools and colleges Laclubfeet.com Download videos of dance routines online Planet Funk Online Urban Dance Choreography Dance Links Links to dance related sites HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT IT ? GETTING STARTED BOYS DANCE TOO ! | OTHER THINGS A USEFUL BOOK Hi. I get a lot of emails asking questions about how to start out on the road to becoming a professional dancer or choreographer. I try to answer everyone but thought it'd be even better to put up this page for people to go to directly. Since many of the letters express interest in dancing in music videos and such like, the following is geared mainly to the commercial dance scene but can be applied to the profession in general. So here's a few pointers that might help you on your way that I feel confident about writing here after 24 years in the dance world. I think most professionals would agree with me but noone has the last word. It's always good to get varied opinions. There's a lot of info on the web if you search around a bit. My favorite search engine is Google. Just type in keywords like - studying dance, choreography, training, advice, etc. and you'll find tons to look at. There's a few links listed here to sites that I think are very useful. Anyway, here we go: How much do you want it ? I would only ever advise someone to go for a career in dance if it's really the only thing in the world they want to do. Why ? Because it's a hard road that's not for the faint hearted, demanding huge passion and total commitment. If you're attracted to dance because it looks like a cool thing to do, a great way to excercise and get a great body but aren't absolutely crazy about it, then hey, try it by all means but you might eventually decide it's something you'd rather do just as a hobby after all. To make it professionally takes a great deal of discipline, dedication, staying power and varying levels of sacrifice as it rarely offers much financial or life stability. As with all the performing arts, it's a very competitive field where you're only as good as your last performance. Your dancer's body and technique will require constant dedication, daily upkeep. Many dancers take class regularly till the day they retire and often have long careers because of that. The same rules apply for those interested in choreographing as the good choreographers have usually been, or still are, high-level, experienced dancers. Even once established as choreographers, the good ones are always searching for new moves and challenges, ways to keep their work fresh and inventive. All of this might sound a bit scary but, on the other hand, if you really are in love with dancing, don't let anyone or anything stop you from doing it. I didn't start any formal training till I was 17. Everyone said it was already too late for me to be a serious dancer and my parents were disappointed that I didn't choose a less difficult and risky career, but there was nothing else I wanted to do as much as dance so I went for it. I had to knock myself out to make up for my late start, going to New York by myself and taking 5 classes a day of ballet, modern and jazz etc., while paying for it with waitressing and other part time jobs. It was pretty gruelling and I received very little support or encouragement for the first few years but I was a dance maniac that just wouldn't quit ! If your parents absolutely insist that you go to college, then there are some that have excellent dance programs where you can get a degree and good dance training at the same time. return to top Boys Dance Too !! In our western culture there's long been an idea that dancing is only for girls and "sissies". More recently, the presence of boys in Hip Hop has helped to improve that a little, but in my teaching work I still come across a lot of boys embarrassed by the idea of dancing. In some other cultures dancing is considered a wonderfully masculine thing to do and even in ours, some of our most famous dance figures have been, and are, men - Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Michael Flatley (Riverdance), Michael Jackson, Baryshnikov to name just a few. Check out Jacques d'Amboise's National Dance Institute link to the right, which is dedicated to bringing the thrill of dance to both boys and girls. If you're a boy who wants to dance but are afraid of being teased by your friends, watch the recent movie, "Billy Elliot", to see how he went on and did it anyway, finally earning everyone's respect. return to top Getting Started: Research and then sign up for the best dance classes in your area, which should include ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop etc...as many styles and techniques as you can get under your belt. For those of you who wonder why ballet training is necessary if you think you really only want to dance in music videos and never want to be a swan or Prince or ever wear a tutu, sorry, but ballet gives you the strongest technical foundation for doing all other dance styles and will help your body last the longest. A few people might disagree with this but most would agree. A lot of hip hop dancers are already done at a young age, with knee problems etc. because of their short-sighted approach to training. Even though music videos generally use a limited range of styles these days, in the professional world it's good to have as many bows to your arrow as you can or you'll always be limited too. Like I said, it's tough out there and unfortunately, music videos have given a lot of people the wrong idea about what's involved to be a dance artist - it's not just about doing music video routines. Even if that is all you want to do, it's best to have as solid and varied a background as possible in order to compete. The top choreographers, hip hop included, like to weave lots of different types of moves and styles into their work and they like versatile dancers that can do anything they ask for. Ballet and technical jazz classes give you the basics that a choreographer has to be able to take for granted like good turns, clean lines and an ability to pick up styles and routines quickly. Wherever you're from in the US, if you're really serious, you'll eventually have to go to a big city like New York or LA for professional training, auditions etc. Again, there's a lot of info to be found on the web to help you, such as L.A.'s answers4dancers.com site listed to the right. return to top Other things: Being a dance artist isn't just about knowing how to dance. It's also important to know about your art form and others. Read up on dance history - there was dance way before Michael Jackson and Madonna came along that influenced them too. See the great dance films, documentaries and musical shows involving all kinds of dancing. I had to choreograph a music video not too long ago where the director decided he wanted some scenes flavored by the work of Bob Fosse and Fred Astaire. I was amazed that neither of the two dancers on the job had heard of either Fosse or Astaire let alone seen their stuff and this also made my job harder. Imagination is also an important part of being a good dancer or choreographer. Read good books, not just comics, romance novels and detective stories. Know about music of all kinds, theatre, film, painting and sculpture. Study singing and acting too if you can as they can add important qualities to your dancing and are essential if you're also interested in musical theatre work. And then of course, there's the questions of how to take care of yourself physically (eating habits etc.) and also emotionally, as self-esteem can take quite a bashing in the performing world. The "Advice for Dancers" book below looks like it might be a very useful one for wanna be dancers (and parents) to take a look at. I hope you've found this page useful and good luck ! Deborah return to top  Where to buy ADVICE FOR DANCERS by Linda H. Hamilton | Reviews: "Linda Hamilton's book is excellent and needed. She touches on all aspects of being a dancer." Jacques d'Amboise, Founder, National Dance Institute, NYC "A comprehensive and valuable book for dancers, their parents and teachers, as well as other health care professionals who work with them. She addresses those common, silent, questions that dancers have but are not openly discussed. Her expertise in the field of dance and psychology enable her to speak realistically, with honesty and integrity, about the dancer world. Her commitment is clear...it is time for the dance community to take responsibility in promoting and producing health dancers! This book is a "must read" for everyone involved with dance."
Marika Molar, PT, director of physical therapy, Westside Dance Physical Therapy and New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet "Students, dancers, and parents will benefit greatly from reading Advice for Dancers. You will learn how better eating habits will help you lose weight, that starving or crash diets are not the answer and can hurt you for the rest of your life. Everyone is not meant to be thin or have the perfect body. Linda Hamilton shows you how to be the best that you can be." Faith Shaw Petrides, president, Dance Professionals Associates, Ltd., and author of The Dance Directory "A unique and much-needed volume for our times that is sure to be an invaluable help, resource, and reference for anybody in the performing arts." Richard N. Philp, editor in chief, Dance Magazine return to top | | |||