• Contributors
    • Catherine L. Tully, Owner/Editor
    • Dance Writers
      • Rachel Hellwig, Assistant Editor — Dance
      • Jessika Anspach McEliece, Contributor — Dance
      • Janice Barringer, Contributor – Dance
      • José Pablo Castro Cuevas, Contributor — Dance
      • Katie C. Sopoci Drake, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Ellis, Contributor — Dance
      • Samantha Hope Galler, Contributor – Dance
      • Cara Marie Gary, Contributor – Dance
      • Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Contributor — Dance
      • Karen Musey, Contributor – Dance
      • Janet Rothwell (Neidhardt), Contributor — Dance
      • Matt de la Peña, Contributor – Dance
      • Lucy Vurusic Riner, Contributor – Dance
      • Alessa Rogers, Contributor — Dance
      • Emma Love Suddarth, Contributor — Dance
      • Andrea Thompson, Contributor – Dance
      • Sally Turkel, Contributor — Dance
      • Lauren Warnecke, Contributor – Dance
      • Sharon Wehner, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Werhun, Contributor — Dance
      • Dr. Frank Sinkoe, Contributor – Podiatry
      • Jessica Wilson, Assistant Editor – Dance
    • Dance Wellness Panel
      • Jan Dunn, MS, Editor
      • Gigi Berardi, PhD
      • James Garrick, MD
      • Robin Kish, MS, MFA
      • Moira McCormack, MS
      • Janice G. Plastino, PhD
      • Emma Redding, PhD
      • Erin Sanchez, MS
      • Selina Shah, MD, FACP
      • Nancy Wozny
      • Matthew Wyon, PhD
    • Music & Dance Writers
      • Scott Speck, Contributor – Music
    • Interns
      • Intern Wanted For 4dancers
    • Contact
  • About
    • About 4dancers
    • Advertise With 4dancers
    • Product Reviews on 4dancers
    • Disclosure
  • Contact

4dancers.org

A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Follow Us on Social!

Visit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On Instagram
  • 4dancers
    • Adult Ballet
    • Career
    • Auditions
    • Competition
    • Summer Intensives
    • Pointe Shoes & Footwear
      • Breaking In Shoes
      • Freed
      • Pointe Shoe Products
      • Vegan Ballet Slippers
      • Other Footwear
  • 4teachers
    • Teaching Tips
    • Dance History
    • Dance In The US
    • Studios
  • Choreography
  • Dance Wellness
    • Conditioning And Training
    • Foot Care
    • Injuries
    • Nutrition
      • Recipes/Snacks
  • Dance Resources
    • Dance Conferences
    • Dance Products
      • Books & Magazines
      • DVDs
      • Dance Clothing & Shoes
      • Dance Gifts
      • Flamenco & Spanish Dance
      • Product Reviews
    • Social Media
  • Editorial
    • Interviews
      • 10 Questions With…
      • Dance Blog Spotlight
      • Post Curtain Chat
      • Student Spotlight
    • Dance in the UK
    • Finding Balance
    • Musings
    • One Dancer’s Journey
    • Pas de Trois
    • SYTYCD
    • The Business Of Dance
    • Finis
  • Music & Dance
    • CD/Music Reviews

18 Things I’ve Learned About Being A Professional Dancer

November 4, 2014 by 4dancers

Alessa Rogers, photo by Rick McCullough
Alessa Rogers, photo by Rick McCullough

Dance, like any other career, has a learning curve. With time and experience, you find ways to navigate your daily life in this art form–and piece by piece you learn what works best for you in terms of a career path. It isn’t always easy–especially in the beginning–but over time, most dancers find their own way.

Our new series features posts from professional dancers from companies across the nation. They’ll be writing about a variety of different topics, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at what this career looks like up close…each from their own individual perspective.

Today we’ll be hearing from our new contributing writer Alessa Rogers. A dancer at Atlanta Ballet, she has graciously pulled together some of the most valuable things she has learned over the course of her career to share with you here–including a piece of advice from Twyla Tharp! Look for more posts from Alessa and other professional dancers in the coming months.

We hope you are enjoying this new series!        –Catherine


dancer doing a grand jete
Alessa Rogers rehearsing Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, photo by Charlie McCullers

 by Alessa Rogers

There is no formula for being a professional ballet dancer. There are some obvious requirements like having a good work ethic, a good teacher, a fair amount of luck–and a lot of Advil. But there are some other tips that I’ve picked up over the course of the past couple decades that I have found useful in my career.

1) Don’t quit. This may seem like a no-brainer but sometimes I feel like the reason that I managed to become a professional dancer over some of the girls I trained with is simply that I stuck with it and they didn’t.

2) Be nice. By criticizing others you take energy away from improving yourself. Gossip will not make you a better dancer and it will definitely make you a less desirable person to be around. Remember that the dance world is incredibly small. You will run into the same people again. Make it so that when you do run into those people they are happy to see you. You never know when it will pay off to have been kind.

Even when you are doing a solo, don’t forget about the countless people who helped you get to where you are today–your parents, teachers, the artistic staff, even the production crew. These people don’t get a curtain call or spotlight. Be grateful to those people in your life and when you get a chance, pass it on.

3) Love your body, worship it, treat it well. As a dancer, your body is the only instrument you have. Listen to it when it hurts and needs special care. Kiss your feet before a show. Say thank you to your body after a long week. Ballet gives us nothing to hold, so care for your body like a museum would care for a masterpiece.

4) Learn from others. Watch dance voraciously. Watching the people in your class is the easiest way to do that but these days you can watch almost anything online. If possible go see professional dance live. Ask professional dancers questions. Learn from them. But learn from your friends too. A correction for them is also a correction for you. Which brings us to:

5) Corrections are good things. Don’t feel ashamed or take it too personally if you get a correction. Feel grateful that you have a chance to improve. Strive to hear a correction only once.

As soon as I am given a correction I repeat it in my head a few times to help it stick. Later I might write it down. Be patient with yourself if it does take some time to apply. Bodies respond differently everyday and habits are hard to change but make no excuses when something doesn’t work. Mistakes happen, even when you are a professional dancer. Learn from them and then let them go.

Alessa Rogers, photo by Rick McCullough
Alessa Rogers, photo by Rick McCullough

6) There will always be someone better than you. The sooner you realize this the sooner you will be able to be proud of where you are right now and how far you’ve come. Having people who are better than you should give you inspiration–not depression. Be gentle with yourself. A dancer has to work hard enough, don’t put yourself down while you are doing it. Trust me, other people will do that for you. Be patient with yourself and ignore the naysayers, especially if the naysayer is you. You are almost certainly better than you think you are.

7) You have to find the right company for you. It might take a few before you find a good fit. Having a dream company is good for motivation, but realize there are so many factors that go into hiring dancers. If that dream company passes you up because they need a brunette this season that shouldn’t crush your dreams of being a dancer in general.

Find a company that will appreciate you and also push you to be the best dancer you can be. When you do get a job don’t be afraid to have respectful conversations with your director about issues that concern you. Also, cattle call auditions are rarely the best way to be seen.

8) Work smart. A ballet career is so short. You have to work hard to make use of the time you have. This does not always mean physically (but do that too). You can save a lot of time and energy if you use your brain as well.

Instead of throwing yourself into doing something poorly over and over again pause and think about how you could approach it differently. You’ll find you have more control over your body and improve more rapidly. Decide before each combination what you are going to focus on in that combination. It might be your port de bras or playing with the musicality or spotting a different place. Thinking about an intention before each combination or visualizing the choreography in your head before you actually take a single step will help enormously.

Also, do your homework at night. Go over your part, research your roles and take care of your body so you are prepared for the next day. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: advice for dancers, alessa rogers, atlanta ballet, ballet company, dance company, professional ballet dancer, professional dancer

Finding The Right Dance Company For You

October 20, 2014 by 4dancers

dancers arms
Emily Kate Long, photo by Kimberlyn Aust, www.maduroarts.com

by Emily Kate Long

When I landed my first job in a small professional ballet company, I had no idea what would happen. How long was it supposed to last? How long did I want it to last? I remember being acutely aware of a hierarchy in the dance world at large, and I wanted badly to get as close to the top as I could. I visualized my career as a vertical climb, and I was singularly focused on bigger things. Little did I know the challenges and satisfaction I would find by staying put. Gradually, my own career focus shifted to depth rather than height.

I hardly need to say that the perfectionist, achievement-oriented mentality is part of what makes dancers successful. It can also cloud our focus from opportunities right in front of us. The broad role of dance as an art form is to inform, inspire, and challenge our audience, and there is a real immediacy to that in dancing with a small company. It’s great fun to be a cultural pioneer in the Midwest. It’s also very fulfilling to know that the whole company dances in every single show—like many smaller companies, we’re unranked and therefore always pushing ourselves and one another to be better.

For me, the right fit has meant tons of challenging performance opportunities, plus getting close to many other aspects of being part of an arts organization. The dancers are the community outreach team, the teachers in our affiliated school, and formal and informal public ambassadors. For smaller shows, we are even our own stage crew. It makes me proud to have a wide-ranging and always-deepening skill set.

So, what size environment is the right one? Every dancer’s response to that is different, and it could take a few job changes to figure out the answer. What satisfies me about dancing for a small company is the richness of experience—in classrooms, onstage, in the community. It’s a gift to be able to open people’s eyes to dance in a place where many people don’t yet know they have a ballet company.

For more perspectives on the “What size is right for me?” question, check out these articles from Dance Magazine and Pointe Magazine. If you’re looking for the right fit, big or small, Dance/USA maintains this roster of US dance companies.


 

dancer doing arabesque
Emily Kate Long, Photo by Avory Pierce

Assistant Editor Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice, and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. She has spent summers studying at Ballet Chicago, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Miami City Ballet, and Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive/Vail Valley Dance Intensive, where she served as Program Assistant. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007.

Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed principal roles in Courtney Lyon’s Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. She is also on the faculty of Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, where she teaches ballet, pointe, and repertoire classes.

 

Filed Under: Career Tagged With: career advice, dance career, dance company, emily kate long, professional ballet company, small dance company

Help! I Think I Want To Quit My Company

April 4, 2014 by Katie Sopoci Drake

Dancer: Eliza Larson Photographer: Bill Watt

Dancer: Eliza Larson
Photographer: Bill Watt

Goodbyes with Grace

by Katie C. Sopoci Drake, MFA, GL-CMA

There comes a time in every dancer’s career where they think about moving on to another company or just away from the company they’re currently in. Or to a desert island where they lie on the beach all day and bartend at night… But there are a few things to keep in mind while you are contemplating the shift:

Why do I want to quit? Is it because I’m unhappy with the company, the dancers, or dancing?

What does my contract look like? If not, do I have a verbal agreement or understanding?

And most importantly, what relationships do I want to foster after my departure?

If I only ever gave one piece of advice to my friends it would be, “Don’t burn your bridges”.  Then right after that, I’d say, “Take care of yourself”. The two go hand-in-hand and there’s almost always a way to take care of yourself without burning bridges. Believe me, I’ve learned this all by trial and error through many regional modern dance companies (sorry, no union experience, but “read your contract” will apply doubly, and you could probably safely toss in “talk to your representative” in there too), and hopefully my experience will spare you some of the error!

First, why do you want to move on?

Is it the choreography? Then yes, it’s time to move on. Every company has a mission and a vision that they’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and money into. Try writing an artistic statement of your own, forming a company around it, fighting for funding, and then see if you feel differently about their particular vision. If you find that you are not jiving with the company’s direction, that’s probably not something that is going to change until you’re in a new company.

In this case, you should be able to have a conversation with your director about your interests and they may be able to suggest avenues to investigate. Just be careful how you use your words. Make sure you steer the focus onto your interests and away from their choreography. After all, there’s an audience for everyone, and someday you may be facing a young dancer who “isn’t interested” in what you’re creating.

That being said, you did make a commitment to the company and they are putting oodles of time, effort and money into you, so look at your remaining commitments as a time to grow and expand your range of appreciation.

Is it the way you are being cast? That could be your own problem. My first inclination is to suggest sticking it out for a couple of seasons to see if you can’t improve your standing over time. If this is an ongoing problem over many seasons, it’s time to have a conversation with your director about your future in the company. They may not see you in a leading role…ever.

Is it the dancers? Are they just awful to be around? Are any of them planning on moving on? You might outlast them. On the other hand, the dancers ARE the company. Weigh your options carefully, you might consider getting advice from your director, or another person removed from the company dancers. They can help you figure out your options as well as gauge the current company climate against the whole history of the company.

Is it you? Some dancers just need a break. You might be there. Are you finding that you have the same problems no matter what company you are in? Are you consistently unhappy whether you’re dancing for your company or guesting?  In rehearsal or in class? You might need to turn your attention to just training, just making work or your own, going back to school, or shifting your focus entirely, even if it is just for a couple of months.

 

You’ve decided to leave. So, what do you need to do?

Check in with yourself. Have you identified why really want to leave? What does that tell you about your future options? Write down those goals and what people you’ll need to reach out to to accomplish them.

Check your contract. Read it 10 times. Then have a friend read it and tell you what you’re missing. Figure out the minimum and maximum you need to do to fulfill your contract and have it at the ready for your next conversation.

Check in with your Director. Or the level of administration that is directly above your position. Talking with them first, before rumors get around will let them know that they are your first priority and leave the conversation open-ended.  Then schedule a follow-up check-in. This is important. You need to let them know that you haven’t made any final decisions before you’ve gotten their opinion and had time to process it. They’re putting their resources into you now (no matter your personal feelings towards them), so the least you can do is show deference.

Assess your options. Get a second opinion from other professionals who can be discreet. Their experience and inside knowledge of the dance community can be invaluable.  Every dance company and history is unique.  Use that history to help you make a graceful exit.

Talk to your allies. These are the people who you will actively keep in contact with.  You may want to dance with them, for them, or work with them in another capacity in the future, but that won’t happen without a little work on your part.  We dancers are busy.  It’s amazing how much we rely on rehearsal time to be the glue for relationships.

But, don’t talk to them about “that rotten so-and-so.” Here’s where the bad blood may come in. I have committed the sin of talking too much many a time.  Don’t you do the same.  Focus on the good, and remember, less is best.  Tell your family and your trusted bestie about “that rotten so-and-so,” but don’t tell your coworkers.

After you’re gone, thank everyone for their time regardless of your personal feelings. I know, you had a terrible time and feel like a jilted lover.  Well, pull up your superhero Underoos, and make sure that people know that you know that you appreciated the resources that were expended for you. The dance world isn’t the corporate world, it’s a family, and every show is Christmas.  Don’t make Aunt Mary regret the time she spent knitting that horrid sweater for you.  Just send her a freaking thank-you card. It’s just how we do things.

Thank_you_small

Contributor Katie C. Sopoci Drake, MFA, GL-CMA, is a Washington D.C. based professional dancer, choreographer and teacher specializing in Laban-based contemporary dance. Holding an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Graduate Certification in Laban Movement Analysis from Columbia College – Chicago, and a BA in Theatre/Dance with a minor in Vocal Performance from Luther College, Sopoci Drake continues to take classes in as many techniques and practices as she can handle to inform her work and life as a curious mover.

Katie Sopoci Drake Photo by Scott Pakudaitis
Katie Sopoci Drake
Photo by Scott Pakudaitis

Katie has been on faculty at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Nova Southeastern University, Miami Dade College-Wolfson, Miami Dade College-Kendall, Carthage College, and Lawrence University.  She currently guest teaches and gives masterclasses around the D.C. area and wherever her travels take her.

As a performer, Sopoci is described as a “sinuous, animal presence of great power; watching her dance is a visceral experience.” (Third Coast Digest).  Company credits include Mordine and Company Dance Theater of Chicago, Momentum Dance Company of Miami, Wild Space Dance Company of Milwaukee, and Rosy Simas Danse of Minneapolis.  Katie has also made appearances an an independent artist with many companies including Brazz Dance, Your Mother Dances, The Florentine Opera, and The Minnesota Opera.

Katie’s choreography, described as “a beautiful marriage between choreography, music and poetry” (On Milwaukee), arises from her fascination with the idiosyncrasies of daily life, and the flights of fancy that arise from ordinary inspirations.  Her work has been performed by numerous companies, colleges and studios across the country and her latest collaboration, Telephone Dance Project, will take her to states up and down the East Coast while investigating long-distance creation and connecting far-flung dance communities.

Filed Under: Career Tagged With: career, dance career, dance company, Katie C. Sopoci Drake

Dance And Your Smartphone

December 13, 2011 by 4dancers

Smartphones are becoming omnipresent, and depending on what you do in dance, you may want to consider building your own app. Like applications on your computer, an app for a smart phone can do numerous things. For example, a ballet company may want to provide information on shows, tours or other upcoming events, whereas a studio might want to have class and recital information available to the public. You could also use your phone app to direct fans to your website, show them videos, and more.

Those who want to be, if not ahead of at least on the curve, can find an easy iPhone app builder or an easy Android app builder and start figuring out ways to best reach their customers. Here’s one I found doing a simple search—which I may try and use for 4dancers to build an app in the coming year.

Keeping up on smartphone technology, social media and other ways to advance your brand is always a good idea, and you can make an app work for you in many different ways, depending on your needs. After all, the more channels through which people can reach you and learn about your studio/company, the better!

Filed Under: Social Media, Studios Tagged With: dance, dance apps, dance company, dance studio, smartphone

Social Networking For Dance Professionals: Great Dance

September 29, 2009 by 4dancers

great dance

If you are looking for the definitive source on Internet marketing and social media for dance, this is the place to go. Great Dance is the perfect place to browse if you are searching for a way to learn how to use new media to promote your dance company, studio or even your blog. Author Doug Fox is a dance aficionado and has been on the web since 2005. Visit and learn!

Share

Filed Under: 4dancers, 4teachers, Online Dance Resources, Social Media Tagged With: dance, dance company, doug fox, great dance, internet marketing, Social Media, studio

Dance Artwork

Get Your Dance Career Info Here!

Dance ebook cover

Podcast

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

This site sometimes features advertising, affiliate marketing, or affiliate links, such as Amazon Associate links and others. When you click on these links, we get a small sum that helps to support the website operations. Thank you! There’s more detailed information on ads and our disclosure policy under the About tab in our navigation at the top of the site. We clearly mark any and all posts that contain these features.

Copyright Notice

Please note that all of the content on 4dancers.org is copyrighted. Do not copy, utilize, or distribute without express permission. We take cases of infringement seriously. All rights reserved ©2022.

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in