Dance as a Profession or Side Career

Being a professional in the dance scene demands a complex

skill set. Dance practitioners have to develop a range of skills in
many fields, including administration, organization, discipline,
motivation, creativity, physical fitness, great control over the
own body, and an ability to accept criticism. Dance
professionals often hold down multiple jobs and have to be
able to work independently and as a member of a team. These
abilities make dance professionals highly skilled and very
employable individuals within and outside of the dance world.
The skills and commitment are needed for a career in dance is
the hard training behind these skills often goes unnoticed. In
the past, a career in dance was regarded a frivolous occupation
and not a proper career. And, this came from lack of
understanding of what the training of a dancer involves.
Nowadays there has definitely been a shift in understanding
and dance as a career is taken more seriously. Accordingly, this
shift is connected to the fact that dance has become much
more varied. ‘Dance is used for its health benefits and as a form
of therapy now, before it was purely for entertainment.’
Following this statement, I want to point out that dance has
become much more accessible and is used in many different
ways within our society.
There are two main aspects to a career in dance. Firstly, the
physical nature of being a dance practitioner makes it difficult
to sustain the career due to loss of physical skills through
ageing or injuries. This notion of a short – lived career has the
potential to devalue dance as it may not be sustainable. I
personally think that a life – long career in dance is possible,
through choosing different ways of being involved in dance and
perhaps changing paths within the dance sector. For example,
going into teaching, dance therapy or management at a certain
age. Secondly, why dance ass a career is valued differently to
other professions, because such a small amount of the
population identifies with it, and would get involved in it. This is
certainly interesting to about. However, the quantity of people
who are directly involved with dance shouldn’t determine the
value of a dance career, because there is a big variety of
aspects that make a dance career valuable. For me, these
aspects have to do with the quality of the work and not the
quantity of people who are reached.
“The arts sector might be seen as less important than for
example the healthcare sector because a society couldn’t
function without healthcare but the chances that society could
function without art are higher.” However, I fell like this is a
common mindset and might, partly, explain why dance as a
career is undervalued. I believe, that part of the reason why
dance is often valued less than careers in other sectors is
because dance practitioners have an impact on society on a
personal level.
Why dance should be considered as a career?
Because:-
1. Dance helps in better health.
2. Dancing also helps in enhancing one’s personality.
3. Dance also connects oneself to spirituality.
4. It always helps to relieve the stress.
5. And one can be successful and earn properly in the field of
dance.

Does dancing help in better health?

Absolutely yes, it does help in better health by :
1. Better Brain Health – A study done, found that dancing can
boost one’s memory and even prevent the onset of
dementia. Taking time to remember steps and the
changing movements of a dance is also a great way to
challenge our brain. Scientists have found cognitive skills
such as planning and organizing also improve with an
exercise like dance.
2. Improved Flexibility – The movements associated with
dance can increase flexibility and reduce stiffness. Even
the simple stretches associated with dancing can help ease
joint pain and any soreness from other more strenuous
exercises.
3. Minimized Stress – Dance can increase levels of the
hormone serotonin, which can improve one’s mood.
 4. Reduced Depression – A study looking at the effects of
dance on patients experiencing depression found that
those who participated in an upbeat group dance showed
the least number of symptoms associated with depression.
5. Weight Loss – Increased movement also usually means
increased weight loss.
6. Improved cardiovascular health – Of course, the faster you
dance, the faster your heart will beat, which can lead to a
stronger and healthier heart.
7. Better Coordination Strength and Balance – Dancing
requires lots of fast movements and good posture, which
can help you gain better control of your body. Dancing
works your body from all planes, which means all your
muscles are involved, not just some.
8. Improved Social and Emotional health – A dance class is a
great way to make new friends and branch out socially!
Having positive relationships is a major contributing factor
to better mental health – it can increase feelings of
happiness, reduce stress and even lead to a stronger
immune system.

How can dancing help in enhancing one’s personality?

Dance is a beautiful way to express one’s emotion and feel
wonderful and energized.
Dancing improves one’s personality in following ways :
  Elevates your mood when you are stressed and helps you
stay focused.
 Provides sense of well-being and shuns away negative
thoughts which is really helpful in decision making.
 Fun way to loosen up after a hectic day and channelize
your energy.
 Builds stamina and endurance which helps one to work
harder for longer duration.
 Recalling steps, routine and dance pattern is a good
mental exercise and keep mind young, quick, alert and
open.
 It also requires Time, Duration and Coordination which
improves your managerial skills and builds artistic outlets.

Spirituality of Dance
Dancing, personally I feel, is the most underrated forms of
spirituality. Meditative dancing, if there is such a term, can be
used to transcend the boundaries of our consciousness and
connect with the source.
It’s well documented that Nataraja or the dancing form of
Shiva, represents the source of creation, preservation and
dissolution, yet such little importance is given to dance when it
comes to worship.
The healing power of dance can help us align our mind, body
and spirit. Dancing paves the path to inner freedom, expression
of the self and discovery of intricate personal truth. It is
perhaps the most enjoyable way to explore self - awareness
and self - discovery.
For the spiritual dimension of dance, improvisation is important
as an act of total surrender to the music or the inner impulses
felt through the music. For a dancer, improvisation can also be
a field of creative exploration.
The main difficulty concerning spirituality is that it is a deeply
subjective inner state, inherently intangible and thus difficult to
measure. This mean that speaking of “spirituality” we may not
be absolutely certain what we are really talking about
specifically one of the problems in the study of spirituality is
related to the fuzzy semantics and terms such as spirit, soul,
spirituality which are not included in the same categories as
inner space, consciousness, self – perception, intention, qualia
or subjectivity. Additionally, spirituality might be analyzed from
at least four different views, i.e., evolution of spirituality,
semantics, anatomy and cognitive function. All the above has
led to a suggestion that spirituality might be a multidimensional
rather than a coherent phenomenon.

How do you pursue a career in dancing in India?

Simply put, by dully diving in and committing to it. Pursuing any
career requires commitment and like other career streams,
dance is heavily dependent on one’s commitment. Dance brings
together the best of the athletic and artistic world, both of
which require consistent learning and growth in order for the
individual to stay relevant and find success.
So, to answer the question of ‘how’ to pursue a dance career in
India, first we must look at the question WHY.
In brief, the ‘why’ is very important because, many young
dancers enter the space because of the joy and euphoria they
feel when they dance. However, the professional world of
dance involves intense and rigorous training, breath work,
meditation, anatomy, to name a few aspects. These aspects are
often seen as ‘boring’ for the short term dancer and so many
quit before they even begin. However, for the dancer that’s
fully committed and for those who have a clear ‘why’, they are
fully engaged in all of the aspects that are involved.
The ‘why will determine if you are in this for the short term or
the long term, and in order for you to succeed in the dance
career, you need to be in this for the long term.
Now, we can address the question of HOW. A big part of this
involves years of physical dance training in a classical
technique, but just training is not enough. In order to succeed
in the dance industry a dancer must also go beyond physical
training and acquire soft skills such as teaching, networking,
communication skills, etc.
The dance industry in India can benefit from strong leadership
who can create further employment and job opportunities. In
brief, the industry needs more entrepreneurs. So, apart from
dance training, aspiring dancers must also look at developing
other skills that will contribute to their careers.

I personally see no reason for dance to have a lesser value than

other career choices. In my opinion, dance offers so many
positives – health benefits, problem solving skills, direct
contribution to the economy – that dance should be seen as
nothing other than a precious of our society and culture. There
are many more positives of dance than the ones I have
mentioned. Dance in the world already has a functioning sector
in which practitioners are hard – working and continuously
progressing yet undervalued. It seems only right to support
these professionals and give them the recognition they
deserve. I think, dance professionals should be seen as an
important asset to our society and their jobs should receive
great respect.
Technically, to make it a profession, one must be flexible, agile
and have an understanding and knowledge of music and
rhythm. Being a versatile dancer will give them an edge of
being able to adapt to different movements and dance styles.
Dance is not just physical experience, but a mental, emotional
and spiritual one too. You need to be mentally strong to sustain
hours of rehearsals, years of struggle and decades to find
acceptance. If you have a grounding in either ballet or Indian
Classical dance forms, your foundation will be extremely strong.
These styles form the basis and prepare you for any other
dance style. In terms of technique, understanding of the body,
positioning the weight, balance…… the overall understanding
and adaptability become easier.
When asked through a survey questionnaire about ‘Dance as a
Profession or Side Career’ to 30 dancers about what will they
choose ‘dance as a profession’ or dance as a side career’ , a
little more than half chose “Dance as a Side Career”.
To conclude, there is a lot more that can be discussed,
however, I believe the above points are some of the important
and larger aspects to careers in the dance space.