Life as a professional dancer is tough, so to help keep you motivated we asked Prue Skene for a few encouraging words. Awarded a CBE in 2000 for her services to dance, Prue is an experienced arts manager and has had a long association with Rambert Dance Company.





“Anyone on the threshold of a career in dance must be hugely talented and know that they can do nothing else. The years of training, the hours of hard work and the pain won’t have put you off and you will be determined to succeed. To have such certainty about what you want to do in life seems a true gift to the rest of us who flaff about wondering how to earn a living, and you wouldn’t have come through the years of dance school unless you were able to accomplish it.



So think of yourself with confidence and don’t be deflected by doubters. Go to each audition determined to get the job, but pick yourself up quickly if it doesn’t happen. Something, somewhere will happen in the end.



If I had to give just two tips to dancers they would be:



Remember the old adage about being nice to people on the way up because you’re going to meet them on the way down. Even if there is no downward slide – but it is a precarious career – being nice is always preferable to being horrible!



Show an interest in life in general. However consuming your dance career is, it will end relatively early and you may want to retrain. In any case the more rounded a person you are the more your own creativity will benefit. Go to the theatre, visit art galleries, read books, keep up to date with current affairs. The best artists are the most curious ones.



Good luck!”