Dear all,
where to start...?
I think this has been a difficult one to get going on for many of us. Since my last post where I initially said I would like to inquire along the lines of Production Managment and Company Choreographer I spent a while listening and thinking about the general comments and advice on the blogs of current and previous 2nd Module students and from our advisors.
I was really pleased to hear from Jessica Hay and Charlie Bidston and I have also read some other blogs such as Alicia Beck and Rozanna Gaffor who have also spoken about progression into management.
I came to the conclusion that actually Production management/ Company Choreographer are quite a way away from my current professional practice. They are however my aspirations for the future, so I don't want to dismiss them totally, if at all.
I want my inquiry to be about working towards these goals within my current Professional Practice as a Professional Dancer. I realise that having a managing role is a step up or a step across from my current practice but believe that it is still relevant to what I am practicing today as a lot of the skills that I have and am gaining now can be transferred to this new transdisciplinary occupation.
Realising that I want to start benefiting my career for the future while still fulfilling my performance career as a Professional Dancer helped me to start to develop more new and exciting (hope you think so) questions in relation to this:
I believe I am capable of managing a company/ choreographing for a company but I am not yet competent. How can I prove that I am capable?
What skills to I need to gain so that I become competent in the management field?
How can I gain these skills in my current professional practice?
What skills do I already have that I can use to help me towards my future practice?
How important is experience in management?
Can I gain this experience whilst working as a professional dancer?
These questions allowed for sub questions which I brainstormed. Many apply to both current and future lines of my professional practice:
How can I ensure my career is long?
Are dancers being paid enough to sustain a career?
Is there enough work to sustain a fulfilling career?
Why is image so important?
Are dancers putting their health at risk for the sake of image?
What can I do to lower my injury and health risks?
Is there enough support for injured dancers?
Why is it so difficult for performers to get mortgages?
Are performers taught enough about equity, tax, insurance?
Does equity really help anymore?
How important is experience within employment for a dancer?
Is it better to stay within one company or to move around?
Is there a future for next generation producers/ choreographers?
Does anybody have any comments on any of my questions? Maybe we can discuss them together and go about constructing a place for our SIG. I'd also love to hear from anyone with different ideas, maybe our questions cross over at points, it would be great to hear from people looking from a different angle.
Thank you for reading!
Emily x
where to start...?
I think this has been a difficult one to get going on for many of us. Since my last post where I initially said I would like to inquire along the lines of Production Managment and Company Choreographer I spent a while listening and thinking about the general comments and advice on the blogs of current and previous 2nd Module students and from our advisors.
I was really pleased to hear from Jessica Hay and Charlie Bidston and I have also read some other blogs such as Alicia Beck and Rozanna Gaffor who have also spoken about progression into management.
I came to the conclusion that actually Production management/ Company Choreographer are quite a way away from my current professional practice. They are however my aspirations for the future, so I don't want to dismiss them totally, if at all.
I want my inquiry to be about working towards these goals within my current Professional Practice as a Professional Dancer. I realise that having a managing role is a step up or a step across from my current practice but believe that it is still relevant to what I am practicing today as a lot of the skills that I have and am gaining now can be transferred to this new transdisciplinary occupation.
Realising that I want to start benefiting my career for the future while still fulfilling my performance career as a Professional Dancer helped me to start to develop more new and exciting (hope you think so) questions in relation to this:
I believe I am capable of managing a company/ choreographing for a company but I am not yet competent. How can I prove that I am capable?
What skills to I need to gain so that I become competent in the management field?
How can I gain these skills in my current professional practice?
What skills do I already have that I can use to help me towards my future practice?
How important is experience in management?
Can I gain this experience whilst working as a professional dancer?
These questions allowed for sub questions which I brainstormed. Many apply to both current and future lines of my professional practice:
How can I ensure my career is long?
Are dancers being paid enough to sustain a career?
Is there enough work to sustain a fulfilling career?
Why is image so important?
Are dancers putting their health at risk for the sake of image?
What can I do to lower my injury and health risks?
Is there enough support for injured dancers?
Why is it so difficult for performers to get mortgages?
Are performers taught enough about equity, tax, insurance?
Does equity really help anymore?
How important is experience within employment for a dancer?
Is it better to stay within one company or to move around?
Is there a future for next generation producers/ choreographers?
Does anybody have any comments on any of my questions? Maybe we can discuss them together and go about constructing a place for our SIG. I'd also love to hear from anyone with different ideas, maybe our questions cross over at points, it would be great to hear from people looking from a different angle.
Thank you for reading!
Emily x
Hi Emily, congrats for your epiphany! It looks like a lot has fallen into place. I too am concerned about taking on a whole new 'topic' without linking it to dance, so i am being more aware of this now also. Your management questions which link to money are really interesting to me, as I am hoping to look at the management of budgets in the arts and how it is effecting dancers. The questions ' Are dancers being paid enough to sustain a career' is interesing. Some contracts are short and unpredictable, and this is always difficult when trying to manage income. Also the question of staying with one company (security) or moving around (maybe more excting/inspiring but more risky) is a very apt for me at the moment. As I am changing companies at the end of the season ( after 5 years of security), and now I am reminded again really how hard it is out there for dancers to find new jobs. I think experience is really important and employers always feel secure if they know they can rely on you, if you have had experience. This makes it sometimes even tougher for graduates to find work.
ReplyDeleteSo.. I take it that makes us SIG's....?! :)
Hi Emily, like you I have started to inquire in a completely different direction as well but it is exciting! You asked whether performers are taught enough about equity/tax/insurance? At Italia Conti we had someone from Equity come in and speak to us and I have to say I wasn't convinced it was all that necessary. If I get a performing role that involves a pay roll and requires me to be an equity member then of course I will join but since they hand out advice for free and Im not on a regular income from performing (it comes from teaching instead) I don't feel it is something I need, however, I do know that Equity members can join their pension scheme. In terms of tax, we had a performers accountant come in ad speak to us, gave us handouts and very good advice. (He is now my accountant as I have 3 different financial statuses... confusing!) I don't know all that much about insurance but I do know you have to be careful about what you have as your job status as this can increase your rate dramatically. Just putting actor means they assume it is for films and it rockets up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alicia and Jessica for your replies! Jessica I'm still very confused about equity as no one has really ever explained it to me it makes me want to look into it further as there could be important information that I am unaware of!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I've quickly set up a discussion group on Linked in, http://lnkd.in/ze3zWF this link is to my profile and then I think you can navigate to the group from there. It took me 5 mins to set up a profile but I think it would be brilliant for our SIG group if you'd like to discuss things together there? Let me know x
I am so happy to have read your post! I feel like every one is looking at the teaching/educational aspect where as I, like you, would like to run my own company and choreograph. I never thought about the managerial side of this and how I could look in to it. Your post has really helped me to think about this as a line of enquiry. Maybe we could talk about SIG?
ReplyDeleteEmily