What do ballet dancers make

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United States. Average Ballet Dancer Salary. Job Details. Job Listings. How should I pay? Price a Job. What am I worth? Find market worth. The qualities of flexibility, rhythm, perseverance and endurance are taught from an early age. While it's possible to earn a bachelor's degree in dance, most ballet dancers choose to train at a professional ballet school, often starting their formal training when they are just five or six years old.

Dancers typically train for many unpaid hours to land an audition with a professional ballet company, where they'll start out in a junior ensemble or "corps de ballet" position. Competition is tough, and you'll likely attend a lot of auditions before landing a contract.

You'll need to be flexible in terms of residence and be prepared to make sacrifices to advance your career. In terms of a ballet dancer's salary, few find a path that's lined with riches. This means that if you lined all dancers up from the highest to the lowest paid, the person in the middle would earn this amount. Ballet dancers work in the performing arts industry either as self-employed "jobbing" dancers who hop from performance to performance, or as a permanent member of a ballet company.

The latter is tough to land but offers considerably more job security. In fact, she didn't necessarily see herself going out of state for high school, but she knew she wanted to seriously study dance. After looking at other performing arts high school programs and self-reflecting, Interlochen rose to the top of her list: "When it came down to it, Interlochen was the best fit for me, both artistically and personality-wise, considering all of our incredible teachers and performing opportunities.

Jones admits that she's always been pretty independent, but, of course, moving away from home at 14 years old was still an adjustment. Interlochen Arts Academy dance majors perform in four staged performances—two full ballets and two mixed-repertoire shows—each school year. In addition to performances in the theater, students can also take part in local touring opportunities talk about prepping for dance-company life! Jones says she'll always remember rehearsing and performing her first full-length ballet, Swan Lake , at Interlochen and then taking it on tour.

Outside of technique classes and performances, dance majors are a part of Interlochen's larger ecosystem of young artists, which includes majors in creative writing, film and new media, interdisciplinary arts, music, theater, and visual arts.

For students looking to further their training away from home for a shorter duration, Interlochen hosts various dance opportunities during the summer. Offering multiple sessions ranging from two to three weeks for dancers grades 3—12, Interlochen summer programs focus on either classical ballet or contemporary dance. Additionally, Interlochen offers one-week intensives starting June 18, in classical ballet, contemporary or hip hop.

Applications for both Interlochen Arts Academy and Interlochen Arts Camp are currently open online with virtual auditions submissions. January 15, , is the regular-decision deadline for Interlochen Arts Academy and the priority deadline for Interlochen Arts Camp. Financial aid is available and awarded on a rolling basis, so prospective students are encouraged to apply early. News News. Dance As Activism. Pop Culture. Breaking Stereotypes. Career Career. Career Advice. Guides Guides.

Costume Guide. Dance Retailer Directory. Virtual Dance Opportunities. College Guide. Dance Annual Directory. Source: World Ballets. The type of company largely determines the dance style that is favored in performances. Within a company, there can be jazz, hip hop, ballet, and other ensembles. A company is not limited to ballet. However, many companies are famous for their ballet performances.

For instance, the Moscow Ballet is widely known for their performance of The Nutcracker. Most ballet dancers start fairly young when they begin their training. Most people say it is necessary to begin at a very early age to make it as a dancer , but that is a misconception.

Both training and practice allow you to gain experience and skill, two highly desired traits for ballet dancers. The companies and schools that hire ballet dancer look for the following traits:. A degree is useful after you retire from dancing, as well. Many dancers go on to be choreographers , so an understanding of dance and movement is helpful. Additionally, there is the option to teach, where again a college degree will be essential.

Although a consistent paycheck comes with being hired by a company or school, many ballet dancers are self-employed. Source: Labor Statistics. Some ballet dancers are considered outliers on the pay scales, and knowing a little more about their incomes and the companies they work for may be helpful.

These outliers include famous ballet dancers making over six figures a year. Source: Misty: Prima Ballerina. Source: Richest Ballet Dancers.