From internships, free audition announcements, and an exciting range of dance magazines and newspaper critiques we have a pot of gold out there! I am in no way saying it is easy to find, but with every opportunity you will gain a piece of your unique map which will lead you to where you want to go. There will be many challenges which will knock you down on the way but learn from these and make them into positive experiences in order to move forward.
We all know the popularity of wanting to become a dancer in a professional company which will tour the world, backing dance for the ultimate superstars, and live the showbiz life – I want to do them all and so do many others! It’s the reality of how many which is usually the first challenge to a dancer, when you come face to face with the thousands of people who are aiming to achieve the one role/place you are auditioning for. The auditioning world is a cruel one: being judged is part of the job for anyone in the industry. If you’re a dancer or performer, you’re judged physically through your movement and appearance. Want a grant for choreography which you have worked on for months? Expect harsh critique on the piece that you have put your heart and soul in to creating.
As hard as it is, our passion fights through which is why, when people comment on how dance is an ‘easy Mickey Mouse’ career, it infuriates me. If I collected a pound for every individual who questioned how you can study dance in higher education, I would be near to pocketing £70.00 at least! My first experience (probably the worst), was when a philosophy student asked ‘do you get a medal then when you graduate?’! The answer being I have double the hours of classes than you, and I will be receiving the same BA Honours qualification!
I was always a big supporter of ‘Dance Vote 2010’ which enabled anyone who wanted to highlight the importance of dance and the arts to politicians and local MPs, enabling you to question them on what they currently do to enhance accessibility to dance. The aim was to stop more cuts in national and local funding and proved that dance was the fastest-growing artform, with audience attendances growing by 103% over the last twelve months.
It therefore came as a huge shock to me when in August, the education minister David Willets announced on the day students were receiving their A-Level results, that qualifications in subjects such as dance and performing arts should be worth fewer tariff points when submitted to university and college admissions systems! I believe that if he spent a week shadowing students studying one of these courses he would think very differently. The physicality and concentration needed in every technique and choreography class, from GCSE to higher education, drain you through fatigue which doesn’t help when you have hours of seminars in dance history, critique writing, anthropology and anatomy to name but a few. The amount of extra hours which dance students put in through rehearsals and performances go unnoticed by way too many surrounding us.
Let’s all do something about it and inform those around us how hard we work for our passion. Through great writers, performers, choreographers, and the outstanding effort we get from arts administration teams, everyone out there deserves to know the effect that dance can have on us all. In the end everyone can dance – even your dad!