I bet people wonder why I dance. Heck, I’ve asked myself that too! I’ve met many people who give me their novel of facts as to why I shouldn’t be a dancer. Nice, right? Has happened so many times though, at this point I’m immune to the criticism. Sure, some of the facts they point out are valid: not profitable, painful, and not normal. But what they can’t comprehend is how much I love moving my body to music and expressing myself through dance.
If you ask other dancers, they say similar things about how they dance because they love it, but if you also delve deeper and ask them what it’s really like being a professional dancer, that’s where you get the juicy, somewhat disturbing, and confusing details. So let’s ask a dancer this very question. “Katie, what’s it like to really be a dancer?”
Excellent question! Well, let me put it to you this way. I dance because it brings me the most joy out of anything else I’ve ever done, so of course I chose a career in dance. However, this choice doesn’t come without a price. Sleepless nights, mental illness, tears, pushing your body to the limits. Yes, that’s dance everyone!
In order to really be a professional dancer you have to have the highest level of dedication and work ethic out there, or else you’re going nowhere fast. Your body is your instrument. So while everyone else is eating fast food for lunch and talking about how they haven’t worked out in a year, you’re at the gym drinking a smoothie because 100 people are going to be staring at your body in tights later tonight onstage. Don’t get me wrong here, I need my McDonald’s Big Macs to survive, but what I’m saying is that being a dancer is a full time job. It affects everything in your life.
But don’t forget! You also need to work another at least three jobs in order to support yourself. What? You thought I just danced? Yes, I’m a dancer, but honey part of the job description of professional dancer is working additional jobs to make enough money in order to dance. A dancer’s annual income is around 20,000 - 30,000 a year. In today’s day and age that means you're eating chicken noodle soup every night and sleeping in a closet-sized apartment with no electricity. This is why while professional dancers are rehearsing and performing, we’re also out here bussing tables, teaching pilates, and being a nanny for two snotty kids on the Upper East Side. Why should a job that affects your whole life and takes the most mental and physical strain on your body be a job that doesn’t even make enough to pay the bills?
So, why do I dance you ask? Because the moment I step onto a stage, feel the energy of an entire audience, hear the music pulsing, and begin moving to tell a story without any words at all, that’s the moment I live for. You’ll never fully understand unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Just like you’ll never understand what it’s like to win the Super Bowl unless you experience it. But while I work three jobs just to do my main career, football players get paid millions of dollars to do what they love. Why? A dance performance can bring people together just as well as a football game can. Dancers work just as hard and are just as athletically talented as football players. So, why do dancers have to struggle to stay sane just to do the job they love and are best at? That, my friends, is the question I’m working to answer and the problem I’m trying to solve. Because I don’t deserve to get mindf*cked. I deserve to have gatorade dumped on my head and be taken to Disney World just like those football players.
Hello! Welcome to my first blog! If you stumbled across this through my website, you probably already know who I am. But if not, hi, I’m Katie and I’m a professional dancer in the NYC/CT area.
For my first blog ever I wanted to talk about the “new world” of dance. It really is a whole new world, as the little mermaid would say. Unfortunately, it may not be a happy one. I am so tired of not being able to dance. Of not being able to do my job AT ALL. The theaters are closed, the dance studios are barely beginning to open back up, and the government has made it incredibly difficult to receive unemployment for 1099 workers.
With the frightening uncertainty and lengthy timeline of COVID-19, the dance world needs to regroup quickly. I know we have been doing our very best in this pandemic to keep dancing, but we are on the verge of losing this art form completely. Dance is a live art. It’s meant to be seen in person, which makes it extremely complicated to figure out how to make this work.
So many people are arguing. Should we wear a mask or not? Is this disease really that serious or will I die? We need to stop fighting. Whether you agree with officials right now or not on COVID prevention practices, just follow them! None of the precautions are detrimental; some are irritating sure. However, if it could help stop COVID faster, why wouldn’t you follow the rules? Even if it’s annoying to dance with masks on, just do it because the sooner COVID stops, the sooner we can dance normally.
Next, we must perform. It is crucial that we figure out how to have performances, because that is the only way dancers make money and are actually able to do their jobs. Dance companies rely on donors and ticket sales. No performances equals no money. As I have performed twice since COVID hit (less than a fourth of what I usually do), I know it IS possible to have safe dance performances. People are scared, but they’re also craving entertainment. Providing them with dance in a safe environment thrills audiences. I believe we need to tackle dance performances like restaurants and bars are tackling the situation these days. Make a safe space: a stage 12 feet from audience members and seating at least six feet apart from each audience group. Provide them with some booze even! If restaurants are open, we can open theaters or even makeshift theaters.
Third, let’s talk about the government shall we? I don’t care what political party you belong to. That does not matter. What matters is the fact that me and my fellow dancers have struggled to receive any government aid for unemployed people. If you have a “normal” W-2 job, it is much easier to receive aid than if you are a self-employed gig worker. For years the arts have been pushed aside. Please explain to me how athletes are paid top dollar but dancers who are just as physical receive the bottom of the barrel. We should be treated much better than that, as the arts provide a wide variety of ways to enrich learning and help people.
It is an ongoing battle that has only recently began to be approached with ferocity. We need to raise more awareness about this topic through social media, talking to state representatives, and educating people on the problem. Making people aware of the monetary issue in the dance world can have a huge impact on the future of the “new dance world.”
Finally, how do we be creative in this time? I think we have all as artists felt uninspired and hopeless during COVID at some point. However, we cannot let those feelings win. As I mentioned before, dancers hold the power to help people. As a choreographer, I am always brainstorming about what a piece can say to an audience. A piece with a message holds the power for change and healing. We can create a dance about how we feel about COVID to get our feelings out and to let audience members get their feelings out as well. We can also make dances about the other prominent topics in the United States and the world right now. Let’s create work about police brutality or about gun control. Whatever you believe in and want to say, make a dance about it. The dance world has the power to unite this crazy planet of ours. Perhaps the “new world” of dance is one focusing on healing, unifying, and exciting everyone just by coming to a dance performance. We can say so many things with our bodies with the silent language of dance, and social media makes advertising or posting content of our work super accessible for everyone.
The world as we know it must change. The United States must change. There is so much fear, uncertainty, and hate surrounding us, but dance has the power to change all that. We need to utilize this amazing art form, and make sure it’s around for a long time to come. Dancing says so much without even saying one word. Be the change dancers; do it for yourself and everyone around you.