We are halfway through our time here, and although we don't want to think about it, the questions of 'what are you going to do after' pop up....our honest answer we simply do not know. Performing can be perceived an unstable career or alternatively an exciting and varied lifestyle doing something that you love, however I feel that nobody has the right to question it as a proper job or not.
What is this 'proper job' phenomenon? 9am -5pm? Well I can assure all that dance is not those hours. Countless rest periods in-between jobs seem, to the narrow minded audience that performers have days/months off at a time. Days off filled with countless emails, juggling self employment with no stable income, balancing the 'part time job' with the classes, rehearsals and auditions, maintaining fitness and weight and plenty of other time consuming, money crunching performer maintenance procedures.
'So you didn't go to Uni?'- nope but somehow most of us still have degrees (not that this makes any difference in the current climate!!) Full time 3 year dance courses, mean what they say, full time, not 2 morning lectures a week and a essay due a term, full time dance is 8am-9pm, a different routine learnt and performed each lesson, and it never being right. You don't get a tick when you dance in a class, you get 25 new corrections on top of the other hundreds you have going round your head already. Hard work comes in all forms, and I am not questioning that University degrees are any easier or harder than dance, but once again I feel nobody has the right to question whether its hard work or not.
'Oh you have an audition, did you get it?'- Nope and neither did the other 800, but it was an achievement to be at the audition in the first place, and even more to get a recall. An audition is sometimes compared to a job interview, but rarely at an interview, do you realise that maybe that last desert wasn't a good idea and the other applicants are thinner than you, neither do you have to put higher heels on to attend the job specification, interviews give you the thank you but sorry speech, at an audition most of the time you leave with the answer 'we will call you' and 6months later your still waiting for the call. Book the job and your straight in, get from the cut and your straight in for the next one, or straight off to a class, rehearsal or normal job, but similarly I feel nobody has the right to question whether this is success or not.
'You trained full time, why do you still need to go to class?'- Dance changes, drastically, people change drastically. Similar to taking a teacher training day, or a medical course, you must keep learning in your job to move forward. When your six, you go to dance class to have fun, see your friends, when your older and a professional you go to dance class, to learn new moves, perfect moves..but most importantly network and show your face. Going to a class with 60 other sweaty people, so close to each other that each time you move you hit or step on someone isn't fun, its work, so therefore I feel nobody has the right to say whether this is important or not.
'So what have you been up to? Any news?'
- I've been living my life, I got up, checked my emails, went for a run, called my agent, went to an audition waited in line for 2 hours, to be told after 10minutes, Sorry but no, I rushed across London accepting cover teaching for next week, and reorganising appointments so I can earn that extra £25, arrive at my job, teach primary school age kids how to dance (I never hear people say that job is easy!!), get out of the lesson, check emails again, head straight to rehearsal, shower and sleep.
OR
- I slept in late arriving home at 3am from my part time job, send emails for 2 hours to different companies with my cv and picture, go do some food shopping, sticking to budget, shall I eat Lunch or Dinner that day?, Browse the internet endlessly for auditions, castings, opportunities, check bank balance , have I been paid for that commercial yet? Nope still waiting 3 months later, head back out to my part time job hoping not to finish late as I have an audition early tomorrow. The first one for 4 weeks.
This is what we've been up to, and any news, well yes, nothing that would interest you though.
I found this article a couple of years ago, a brilliant read, and one that I hope people that just do not understand our way of life can at least begin to understand. Every single dancer has this problem. Read it and learn something new, we work hard just not in the obvious ways.
All across London, they emerge from Tube stations and the doors of puttering buses into the cold street; bags slung over their shoulders and taut stomachs beneath thick winter overcoats. You wouldn’t recognise them, as they head for freezing upstairs rooms in tatty gymnasiums and slink into backstage theatre doors. You wouldn’t know their faces, even though they appear regularly in sold-out musicals and on the nation’s favourite television shows. They have no money, even though they perform with famous singers in international tours. READ MORE
We don't judge what you do, don't judge us, we have enough judgement seeing ourselves in a mirror all day in a leotard!!!
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