Advice for Dancers by
Dancers experience pain, joy, frustration, rapture, failure, applause, and are above the worldly concerns of food, money, and financial security. They live only to dance. Or do they? The reality is dancers of all ages, types, and skill levels often experience incredible physical and psychological stress and have traditionally bore their pain in stoic silence. In this much needed new book, Dance Magazine's Linda Hamilton offers dancers the same type of advice and understanding they have come to trust from her popular monthly column. Psychologist Hamilton--a former dancer with New York City Ballet under the legendary George Balanchine--offers a complete resource for coping with the day to day pressures of being a dancer. Page after page is filled with the insight that can only come from a person who has been intimately involved in the world of dance. Hamilton outlines strategies for dancers for dealing with a variety of common physical and psychological issues and shows how to be true to your passion and bring back the joy in dancing. The book is filled with answers to dancer's most often asked questions and offers practical methods for dealing with such difficult problems as eating disorders, substance abuse, ruthless competition, and performance anxiety. Advice for Dancers will teach you how to: Achieve you physical potential and select the dance technique that's right for you Find out which teaching practices you can trust and why Learn how to reach your optimal weight without compromising your energy, health, and career Develop healthy relationships both inside and outside the dance studio Use a variety of resources to get work, roles, and promotions Perform technical feats in front of an audience even when you are frightened Advice for Dancers is a result of Hamiltion's extensive research and years clinical work with dancers and includes information for a survey of more that 1,000 dancers from across the country.
Dance from the Campus to the Real World (and Back Again): A Resource Guide for Artists, Faculty and Students by 
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The Dancer's Survival Manual by
A road map to plan your career in dance "Impressive. . . . I recommend this book for parents, teachers, and dancers of all ages."--Karen Kain, Artistic Director, National Ballet of Canada "An invaluable book where students can get answers to many questions."--Franco De Vita, ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School "Every dancer, student, and teacher should read it."--Raymond Lukens, ABT/NYU Masters Program "I wish I had this book when I was a young dancer! Reading it is imperative whether you are an emerging talented student or seasoned professional."--Katerine C. Kiersten, Artistic Director, American Ballet Competition The process of beginning a career in dance can be intimidating and overwhelming. In choosing a school and a teacher, auditioning, competing, and signing a contract, a young dancer has to play many roles and make many difficult, life-altering choices. The older dancer faces a different set of concerns: dealing with the management and the press, navigating backstage politics, working through injuries, staying healthy, and eventually coping with the prospect of moving to a new profession. In The Dancer's Survival Manual, former New York City Ballet dancers Marian Horosko and Judith Kupersmith, M.D., draw upon their vast experience to carefully explain and demystify a career in dance. Written in a highly readable style, this comprehensive guide covers all the major decisions and challenges a dancer may face over the course of his or her career, and emphasizes the importance of caring for both the mind and body at every stage. Horosko and Kupersmith write with the knowledge that the most frightening aspect of any new venture is the unknown. They engage with and debunk common misconceptions about subjects in both the professional and personal realms. No dancer's collection is complete without this honest and engaging guide!
How to Dance Forever by
One of the country's most distinguished and critically acclaimed solo dancers and choreographers debunks the myth that dancers must retire from professional life as performers in their early forties. A performing artist since 1940, Daniel Nagrin initiated his own career as a solo performer in 1957 at the age of forty. With great wisdom and wit, this fiercely passionate veteran gives us an unusual and much-needed book that combines theory, personal philosophy, experience, and knowledge about dancers, dancing, teachers, mentors, and technique with practical information that ranges from nutrition, healers and treatments, sex, meditation, kneepads, and toe grips to the special problems and needs of dancers over fifty.
So You Want to Dance on Broadway? by
Veteran performer and choreographer Tina Paul dispels myths and delivers the inside dope about achieving your dream of dancing on Broadway. Tommy Tune, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and eleven other dancers join Tina in sharing their diverse experiences to help you make the right choices, avoid embarrassing mistakes, and prepare for the challenges that lead to a Broadway career. All of them agree-they love theatre and that love got them over many hurdles. Through tips on survival, discipline, and protocol, these professionals offer encouragement, bolster determination, and guarantee that you will be one step ahead in your quest for the lights and life of Broadway.
Being a Dancer by
How do I get a job as a dancer? Where and when should I train? How can I protect my body from injury? How do I become a choreographer?These and many more such questions asked by young or aspiring dancers are answered in this book - the most revealing and instructive book yet on what it means to be a dancer.Here is advice from some of the best dancers and choreographers in the world, crossing the fields of ballet, contemporary, South Asian dance, musical theatre and hip hop, and covering subjects both motivational and mundane, from tapping into your own reserves of creativity and resilience, to the important matter of when to eat your pre-show banana.The twenty-five experts in these pages have performed with the likes of the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Rambert, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and BalletBoyz; they range from stars of the West End stage to TV talent-show successes and Kylie's backing dancers - as well as some of Britain's leading choreographers.They are Carlos Acosta, Matthew Bourne, Teneisha Bonner, Darcey Bussell, Lauren Cuthbertson, Maxine Doyle, Tommy Franzén, Adam Garcia, Jonathan Goddard, Matthew Golding, Melissa Hamilton, Wayne McGregor, Steven McRae, Stephen Mear, Cassa Pancho, Seeta Patel, Arlene Phillips, Arthur Pita, Kate Prince, Matthew Rees, Tamara Rojo, Kenrick 'H2O' Sandy, Hofesh Shechter, Aaron Sillis and Marlon 'Swoosh' Wallen.
A Dancer's Guide to Getting Work by
No Marketing Blurb
Making It: The Artist's Survival Guide by
What Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential did for the world of chefs and restaurants, Making It does for the art world.Making It is a gonzo memoir of an established artist crossed with objective advice, tips and tricks fleshed out by a best-selling art historian and Pulitzer finalist writer on art. It peels back the shroud and reveals the highs and struggles in the life and career of a working artist. Specifically aimed at aspiring artists and art students, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to know what it is like to have an artist's-eye-view of the art world, asking the tough and often glossed-over questions that rising artists inevitably have, not only about the creative process, but about navigating the turbulent waters of the social, professional, academic, critical, museum and trade elements of a career as a visual artist. How best to deal with the abundance of alcohol, drugs and sex while wire-walking your own artistic dilemmas? How can an artist launch his or her career and help it flourish? What's it like to achieve every artist's dream, including showing at the Venice Biennale? What does it really mean to "make it" and how can you maintain your groove once you've arrived? All these questions and more are answered in this combination tell-all memoir and how-to manual for rising artists and anyone wanting a behind-the-scenes tour of what it's like to be an artist.
The Artist's Compass: The Complete Guide to Building a Life and a Living in the Performing Arts by
An inspiring, real world guide for artists in the classic bestselling tradition of What Color Is Your Parachute? that shows how to build a successful, stable career in the performing arts, from the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Music Center who has carved her own success through her creative talent and business skill. While performing artists have many educational opportunities to perfect their craft, they are often on their own when it comes to learning the business skills necessary to launch their careers. At the end of the day, show business is, well, a business. In The Artist's Compass, Los Angeles Music Center CEO Rachel Moore shares how to make life as a performer more successful, secure, and sustainable by approaching a career in the arts like an entrepreneur. A former dancer in the American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet, Moore knows firsthand what it's like to struggle and succeed as an artist. Now in an offstage role as CEO, Moore shares the hard-won lessons she's learned about making one's own success and encourages every performer to develop creative talent alongside marketable skills. With testimonials from artists like Lang Lang, Sigourney Weaver, and Renee Fleming, plus inspiring anecdotes from Moore's own journey in the arts, The Artist's Compass teaches aspiring performers how to think like an entrepreneur to create their own brand and marketing platform to achieve personal and professional success. In an engaging, realistic, and authoritative voice, Moore combines her artistic and corporate experience to address the finer points of building a career in a challenging industry, teaching young performers how to achieve financial independence so that they might have creative independence.
Associations, Networks, + Other Organizations
Many dance associations, networks, and organizations offer not only networking opportunities but also administrative and/or financial support for producing your work, as well as information related to job openings, upcoming auditions, grant opportunities, and obtaining health benefits.
Choreographers + Companies
Performance, Rehearsal, + Educational Venues
Talent Agencies + Unions
Artist Residencies
Grant Funding Organizations
Jobs + Auditions
Business Matters
Dancer + Choreographer Reels
A reel is one of the most important things you will need to promote and market yourself. Be sure to watch a wide variety of reels from other dancers and choreographers that you admire, to get a sense of what the current industry standard is, and what the creative possibilities might be.
Consider creating a YouTube channel. This has been a very effective marketing tool for many dancers and a way to reach a larger audience. Daniel "Cloud" Campos (seen above) is an American dancer, director, choreographer, and actor who started breakdancing at the age of 11. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the dance industry, he joined Madonna in 2004 on her Re-Invention World Tour, and again in 2006 on her Confessions Tour. "Cloud" has been working as a professional dancer for well over fifteen (15) years, and has successfully morphed his dance career into that of a multi-faceted performance artist.
Other Marketing Must-Haves