Performance Practice: 4 Wins for your next Employer

 "What are you going to do with that?

Dancers and parents of dancers, has this question ever made you stop short or feel defensive? Have you paused in reflection of all the time and energy you spent on dance training? 

Have you, as a non-dancer, asked this question to someone?

If so, READ ON!

There are documented physical, mental, and social benefits to taking dance classes. But this post is not about them. 

Training in dance has direct, employable benefits for job seekers. Here are four ways dance training is marketable outside of the studio. I use the term "transferrable skill" to build the bridge from dance training to other professional endeavors. 

Transferrable Skill 1: Ability to learn quickly and apply feedback. 

Dance students must immediately repeat physical and artistic movement phrases demonstrated by their instructor. This prepares the brain to take in, apply, and adjust given material quickly. In a job setting, dancers can transfer this competency to the skills of a specific profession. The employer benefits from a dancer's previous training: the dancer is already effective at learning which reduces job-specific training/ comprehension time and increases time focused on the employer's output. 

Transferrable Skill 2: Demonstrated presentation skills.

Dancers train to perform in front of an audience. Dancers are adept at being seen and appearing confident in front of other people. Performance practice and proficiency prepares dancers to address a group of people from center-stage or the center of a conference room. 

Transferrable Skill 3: Collaboration and cooperation to complete a project. 

Even when a dancer is preparing a solo, there is collaboration between the choreographer and dancer. Both need to work together to create the dance, or, in business terms, the final product or project. This is further demonstrated when a dancer is working within a group. The "product" is the performance with a specific process to completion and deadline. The success or completion of the performance provides immediate feedback to the dancers and choreographers. This feedback is then applied to the next product/ performance (see Transferrable Skill 1). 

Transferrable Skill 4: Interpersonal Effectiveness

Beyond just working together is working together well. Psychologists call this "interpersonal effectiveness." It is the ability to build and sustain positive relationships while maintaining a sense of self-awareness and emotional balance. Performance practice teaches dancers to "read a room" and adjust their energetic output accordingly. Slightly harder to describe than Transferrable Skills 1-3, interpersonal effectiveness is a skill that allows dancers to adapt and adjust to a variety of situations with a professional demeanor. 

Hiring a dancer means an organization is getting more than someone who can execute a series of steps. The company is employing someone with years of demonstrated success learning and applying new information, presenting, collaborating, and working well in a group. 

Dancers, parents, and educators can advocate for dance performance practice as valuable, work-ready training.  

So, next time someone asks "what are you going to do with dance?" You can proudly respond, "Anything!" 

Performance practice provides dancers with employable skills.
Alvernia University Dance Company performs my choreography at A Winter Concert, 2024. 

Students in my "Ballet for Athletes" at Alvernia report that dance practice and performance make them more aware of the people around them.