By Meghan Bowden
If you’re an artist of any kind you will have a “bill-paying” job to supplement the income you receive from your art (and often BE the primary source of income to support your art-making). Finding the right one can feel like a job on its own, but once you’ve found it, the bill-paying gig can be just as rewarding as time in the studio or on stage. It can provide an excellent outlet for other creative interests, build marketable skills applicable across the job market AND support the demanding physical work of dancing professionally.
Here are few facts about earning potential for artists, specifically dancers, compiled by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Median hourly wages of dancers were $12.22 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.03 and $18.82. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.28, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $27.26. Annual wage data for dancers were not available, because the wide variation in the number of hours worked by dancers and the short-term nature of many jobs—which may last for 1 day or 1 week—make it rare for dancers to have guaranteed employment that exceeds a few months.”
www.bls.gov/oco/ocos094.htm#earnings
$12.22 per hour is approximately $25,000 per year (before taxes), and that’s working 40 hours per week for 52 weeks, which is unfathomable in the dance world (and down right unhealthy!). The reality is dancers work around 20 hours per week, for less than 21 weeks out of the year, which is closer to approximately $5,000 per year (before taxes!).
So what’s a dancer to do?
Keep it MOVIN! Try one of the following professions of a David Dorfman dancer: Teach. Write. Choreograph. Judge. Draw. Manage. Study. Model. Dance. Train. OR, check back here each week to learn more about the life of a David Dorfman Company Member.
This week features the fiery and fabulous, Renuka Hines. Renuka joined the company in 2008. Here’s what she had to say about paying the bills and making dances happen.
Renuka, what’s your job title outside of DDD?
Dance Teacher
What was the first job you had after college?
Dancing for David and as a Nanny for a 3.5 year old child.
What was the highest paying job you’ve had?
Being a Nanny.
What are 3 most important lessons you learned from the bill-paying jobs you’ve had?
It's all about balance--paying the bills is important because finding a consistent source of money allows me to dance more. I'm not exhausted from piecing together odd jobs to pay my rent.
It's impossible to be everywhere at once, and there will be times when the demands of all of my jobs don't align. I find that when I try to be in the moment wherever I am (and not worry about where I am NOT), I feel like I truly give my whole self to each job. We really don't spend all of our time dancing, so the jobs we do outside of dance need to be fulfilling in some way also. Ideally, a bill-paying job can also be creative and energetic fuel for the art that we make.
What are you up to now? How does it support you as a dancer with David Dorfman Dance?
I currently teach 14 classes a week in NYC to dance students ranging in age from 2-10. My students' energy, creativity, and vulnerability constantly amaze and humble me, and in teaching them I remember to apply those same things to my work with David and the company.
What’s your advice to dancers out there in finding the right job to pay the bills and support their dancing?
Don't sacrifice one thing for another. Dancing is what we do because we love it; it is the thing we are most passionate about, and many people don’t have the opportunity to do the things they are most passionate about. That being said, finding a job that supports your work and life as a dancer is also important. Being a dancer is hopefully a long career- one which is sustainable because you balance your passion for dance with the reality of being able to live securely.
Renuka hails from Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Columbia University in 2008 where she received the Louis Sudler Prize for the Arts and was also a finalist for the ACDFA/Dance Magazine award for Best Performer. Renuka joined David Dorfman Dance in 2008. She is also currently performing with Nicholas Leichter Dance and has worked on projects with Tze Chun, Colleen Thomas, and Bill T. Jones. In addition to dancing and performing, Renuka is happy to be teaching young dance students at schools and studios around NYC. Renuka is constantly humbled by the incredible support of her family and friends and would like to thank them for believing in her as much as they do.
If you’re an artist of any kind you will have a “bill-paying” job to supplement the income you receive from your art (and often BE the primary source of income to support your art-making). Finding the right one can feel like a job on its own, but once you’ve found it, the bill-paying gig can be just as rewarding as time in the studio or on stage. It can provide an excellent outlet for other creative interests, build marketable skills applicable across the job market AND support the demanding physical work of dancing professionally.
Here are few facts about earning potential for artists, specifically dancers, compiled by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Median hourly wages of dancers were $12.22 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.03 and $18.82. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.28, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $27.26. Annual wage data for dancers were not available, because the wide variation in the number of hours worked by dancers and the short-term nature of many jobs—which may last for 1 day or 1 week—make it rare for dancers to have guaranteed employment that exceeds a few months.”
www.bls.gov/oco/ocos094.htm#earnings
$12.22 per hour is approximately $25,000 per year (before taxes), and that’s working 40 hours per week for 52 weeks, which is unfathomable in the dance world (and down right unhealthy!). The reality is dancers work around 20 hours per week, for less than 21 weeks out of the year, which is closer to approximately $5,000 per year (before taxes!).
So what’s a dancer to do?
Keep it MOVIN! Try one of the following professions of a David Dorfman dancer: Teach. Write. Choreograph. Judge. Draw. Manage. Study. Model. Dance. Train. OR, check back here each week to learn more about the life of a David Dorfman Company Member.
This week features the fiery and fabulous, Renuka Hines. Renuka joined the company in 2008. Here’s what she had to say about paying the bills and making dances happen.
Renuka, what’s your job title outside of DDD?
Dance Teacher
What was the first job you had after college?
Dancing for David and as a Nanny for a 3.5 year old child.
What was the highest paying job you’ve had?
Being a Nanny.
What are 3 most important lessons you learned from the bill-paying jobs you’ve had?
It's all about balance--paying the bills is important because finding a consistent source of money allows me to dance more. I'm not exhausted from piecing together odd jobs to pay my rent.
It's impossible to be everywhere at once, and there will be times when the demands of all of my jobs don't align. I find that when I try to be in the moment wherever I am (and not worry about where I am NOT), I feel like I truly give my whole self to each job. We really don't spend all of our time dancing, so the jobs we do outside of dance need to be fulfilling in some way also. Ideally, a bill-paying job can also be creative and energetic fuel for the art that we make.
What are you up to now? How does it support you as a dancer with David Dorfman Dance?
I currently teach 14 classes a week in NYC to dance students ranging in age from 2-10. My students' energy, creativity, and vulnerability constantly amaze and humble me, and in teaching them I remember to apply those same things to my work with David and the company.
What’s your advice to dancers out there in finding the right job to pay the bills and support their dancing?
Don't sacrifice one thing for another. Dancing is what we do because we love it; it is the thing we are most passionate about, and many people don’t have the opportunity to do the things they are most passionate about. That being said, finding a job that supports your work and life as a dancer is also important. Being a dancer is hopefully a long career- one which is sustainable because you balance your passion for dance with the reality of being able to live securely.
Renuka hails from Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Columbia University in 2008 where she received the Louis Sudler Prize for the Arts and was also a finalist for the ACDFA/Dance Magazine award for Best Performer. Renuka joined David Dorfman Dance in 2008. She is also currently performing with Nicholas Leichter Dance and has worked on projects with Tze Chun, Colleen Thomas, and Bill T. Jones. In addition to dancing and performing, Renuka is happy to be teaching young dance students at schools and studios around NYC. Renuka is constantly humbled by the incredible support of her family and friends and would like to thank them for believing in her as much as they do.
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.
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