Fiona Carlone

Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

In our vast, growing world of culture, ingenuity, and creativity, dance has become a

staple in our artistic freedom. While dance is enjoyed by many, a stable career as a dancer is hard

to come by. It is, in my own words, the starving artist phenomenon. As a dancer, my biggest

aspiration is to achieve a successful career in dance, but I acknowledge it could be an unlikely

one. I cannot live without dance, as it is such a big part of my life, and I want to be able to pass

along my knowledge of dance to people coming up below me. Because of all these facts, a career

as a professor of dance intrigues me and attends to all of my interests.

A professor of dance specializes in, well, dance. They earn around $76,710 annually

teaching college graduate and undergraduate students in courses relating to things such as dance

history, theory, choreography, and technique. Furthermore, dance professors create lesson plans

pertaining to introductory or advanced courses. Introductory simply means a lecture oriented

class whereas advanced is focused on furthering a dancer’s overall technique. Professors also

choreograph for works performed in dance concerts and performances. The art of choreography

is one that dance professors know well. Constantly, professors have to be working on their

personal work (choreography, grants, essays, research) as well as passing knowledge from class

to class, technique to technique, and student to student. Professors have rather flexible hours.

They can choose the times and days they prefer to teach, to a certain extent. Summers are pretty

much a clean slate for them, however, many professors choose to teach at summer programs and

travel because of the experience and extra pay. For example, many intensives, such as American

Dance Festival, pull in some of the top professors in the country to teach. Professors also get the

chance to travel, sharing lesson plans, dance philosophies, personal research regarding dance,

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

and so much more. Dance professors not only have to be familiarized in the art of dance, they

also have to familiarized in the art of writing, public speaking, and presenting.

Successful dance professors don’t become successful until they complete the following

checklist. Earning a bachelor’s degree is first. Aspiring professors can earn a bachelor’s in arts or

fine arts. Their study is also rather flexible, depending on the desired career outcome. It can be a

study of a specific technique or a study of dance history. The process of earning a master’s

degree is similar. The biggest difference is about the process. While earning a master’s degree

you must also begin to accumulate outside experience teaching and choreographing. What comes

next gets a little hairy. Some universities only require professors to have a bachelor and master’s

degree, but others prefer professors to also have a Ph.D. It is much more uncommon for colleges

to prefer dance professors to have Ph.D, according to Killian Manning, a post-professional

dancer and choreographer (Manning, Killian. Personal Interview. 28 February 2019). Scholars

that teach at UNCG such as Duane Cyrus and Virginia Freeman Dupont hold a BFA and a MFA

from well known schools like Juilliard. Most dance professors migrate towards the more

well-known dance colleges to work. Onstage blog (​Onstage Blog​. The Top 25 College Dance

Programs for 2018-19. August 21, 2018. Web. February 28, 2019.) ranked NYU as the number

one university for dance, followed by schools such as Juilliard and Oklahoma City University.

This is where you will find some of the top professors in the country. While these are the best

known universities, places like UNCG have managed to create an incredibly successful dance

program, pulling in brilliant professors such as BJ Sullivan, the creator of safety release

technique.

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

While many migrate towards universities, others migrate towards conservatories to earn a

degree and to seek job opportunities. Conservatories specialize in the arts. They have programs

specifically for music, theatre, dance, and visual arts, rather than a diverse set of courses for

almost any profession, such as a standard university would have. For example, NYU is a

university, but UNCSA is a conservatory. As far as training goes, many serious dancers flock

towards conservatories to earn their BFA and MFA, as said by Killian Manning (Manning,

Killian. Personal Interview. 18 February 2019.) In terms of job opportunity, many professors

flock to universities to teach. Personal preference is also a factor. People who desire to teach a

wide range of people with diverse interests and passions are more likely destined for universities.

People who focus on training people to be professionals, specifically, are destined for

conservatories.

Personally, my biggest conflict involving my career is deciding between a career as a

professional dancer or a career as a professor after graduating from high school. Because of this,

I took a look into the pros and cons of both sides. As a whole, a professor is a much more secure

job, according to ​Online Degree ​(Dance Professor. ​Online Degree.com.​ Web. 28 February 2019.)

The pay is around $76,710, whereas professional dancers make an average of $41,371 working

for companies throughout the United States. The hours of a professor are workable and the

overall job prospect could be higher. The biggest downside would be missing out on the

opportunity to perform. As artists, we live for performing. The rush the audience gives us is

indescribable. Putting our instruments on stage and letting the music fly through our bones is the

most magical part. Professors still get to create, but they don’t get to experience the rush.

Professional dancers, specifically pop dancers, are experiencing a significant employment

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

growth in the pop culture industry with the arts becoming such a big part of the TV and movie

industry, according to ​Learning Path ​(​Professional Dance Careers: Job Description & Salary

​ earning Path.org. Web. 1 March 2019.) There are also many opportunities popping up
Info. L

across the globe for talented dancers, although they can be difficult to snag. While these two

professions interest me, it is more than likely I could experience both.

Professors of dance are taking over the dance world with their influence. Dance scholars

sweep the nation with their unusual approaches and new ideas. For instance, B.J. Sullivan. She

invented an entire technique based around the idea of release, and it traveled from city to city,

state to state, and even country to country. Science and somatic movement has been tied into

dance by people such as Glenna Batson. The University of Florida recently put out a book

“​Perspectives in American Dance: The Twentieth Century.” ​It is an eloquently written book with

entries by about a dozen dance scholars challenging ideas about race and gender and connecting

​ e’ve been able to attach dance to physics and math, kinesthetic studies and
our world to dance.​ W

anatomy. Almost every part of a dancers world can somehow be connected to the world that

surrounds all of us. Professors and their studies have set the ground for all of the discoveries,

innovation, and creativity we experience today.

Being a professor of dance is anything but easy. It takes skill. Effort. Talent. But it is also

more than rewarding. Having the chance to touch the lives of hundreds, even thousands of

people throughout your career is something that can’t be overshadowed. The opportunity to

research and discover has been a rewarding process. Getting a chance to interview Killian

Manning and learn about people such as B.J. Sullivan has been a sneak peak into the wondrous

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

and graceful world of careers in dance. The wisest piece of advice I could end this on is, “Have

faith. If you want to dance there will be a place for you.” (Manning, Killian. Personal Interview.

28 February 2019.)

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

Works Cited

● College of Visual and Performing Arts. ​uncg.edu.​ UNC Greensboro. Web. 2 March 2019.

<​https://vpa.uncg.edu/home/directory/​ >

● Dance Professor​. Online Degree. Web. 28 February 2019.

<​https://www.onlinedegree.com/careers/arts-design-entertainment/dance-professor/​>

● Manning, Killian. Personal Interview. 28 February 2019.

● Jackie Burrell. ​Colleges vs. Conservatories.​ ThoughtCo. 20 October 2018. Web. 1 March

2019. <​https://www.thoughtco.com/colleges-vs-conservatories-3570360​>

● Dawn McKay. ​Career Planning.​ The Balance Careers. 14 December 2018. Web. 2

March 2019.

<​https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-professional-dancer-525577

>

● Atkins, Jennifer. R. Sommer, Sally. Young, Tricia. ​Perspectives in American Dance: The

​ lorida: University of Florida, 2018. Print

Twentieth Century. F

● Faculty Bios. ​American Dance Festival. ​Web. 2 March 2019.

<​http://www.americandancefestival.org/studios/dancestudios/faculty-bios/​>

● The Top 25 College Dance Programs for 2018-19.​ OnStage Blog. 21 August 2018. Web.

28 February 2019.

<​https://www.onstageblog.com/onstage-blog-news/2018/8/21/the-top-25-college-dance-p

rograms-for-2018-19​>

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Careers in Dance: Professor of Dance

● Professional dance Careers: Job Description & Salary Info. LearningPath. Web. 2 March

2019.

<​http://learningpath.org/articles/Professional_Dancer_Careers_Job_Description_Salary_I

nfo.html​>