Making it as a professional dancer can be hugely competitive but using your training, there are a range of other roles you can go into beyond a career on stage. Linda Jasper, Director of Youth Dance England, offers some advice for young dancers aiming for a career in the profession.

“So, you’ve decided that you want a career in dance. Be under no illusions that you have selected one of the toughest career paths possible – but also one of the most rewarding.

Photo: Brian Slater

Young dancers who dream of a career that is their passion often forget that the dance profession isn’t just something that takes place on a stage or in a rehearsal room. Careers in dance can take place in all kinds of settings – hospitals and art centres, backstage, in schools and community centres and even in offices. In fact, you may like to know that of the estimated 30,000 people employed in the dance sector, only 2,500 are performers! 22,500 go into teaching careers and the remaining 5,000 are employed in a variety of ‘support’ careers such as management, therapy and notation.



Many of those entering the dance sector will start their careers as performers and then move into other areas as they mature or wish to broaden their skills. Others will discover during the course or their training that there are non-performance areas that interest them and they may wish to use their training to develop abilities in producing and project management, technical production or initiating a portfolio career. An individual with a number of skills, perhaps in performing, teaching and managing, combines these strengths and becomes a highly employable and flexible dance artist.



The one thing that unites all these wildly different strands in the sector is the commitment and dedication they all generate. Whilst a performer’s career, like a footballer’s, can be brief, a career, or vocation, in the dance ‘industry’ can last your entire working life. Use your skills and you can enjoy a life-long career in dance.



Transferable Skills

In reality, only a tiny percentage of people who train as dancers succeed as performers or choreographers. However, the huge variety of skills and techniques they have gained through their training will equip them for a multitude of other roles that can be just as fulfilling as, or perhaps more than, a performing career.



Once you have developed key skills such as discipline, motivation, creativity and team work, your dance craft can be applied creatively in many ways. It can spill into words onto a page, be snapped in a stunning photograph passed onto others through the sharing and teaching of skills. There are numerous opportunities for people who want a career in the dance industry and many of these will require different skills, picked up in a variety of situations and contexts.



Whether you choose to become a teacher, costume designer, dance therapist or a company manager, all of these roles require an understanding of dance in its many forms and all of them have an essential contribution to make to the dance world.



Best of luck with your career in dance!”



You can download the full Guide to Careers in Dance from the Resources section of the Youth Dance England website.

Karen Pearson, radio producer & director of production company Folded Wing, gives her thoughts on how best to get your music heard on the radio.



“As a radio producer, I receive loads of new music and e-mails from artists, music promotional companies and record labels on a daily basis either on CD (and very occasionally on vinyl) sent via the post or, more increasingly, as MP3s on download links sent via email.



At Folded Wing each member of the team – from Account Manager to Exec Producer to Production Assistant – is responsible for listening to music for a particular show that we produce but due to the crossover in musical styles across our shows, we’re also constantly passing music around the office.



With downloads and CDs added together, we receive anywhere between 50-100 releases a day.



So how can you make your release stand out from the rest and get it played on the radio?

1. Do your research

This is an obvious one but make sure you do your research:



• Check out lots of radio shows, there are more platforms than you think to get your music heard on.



• Find out which are the most relevant radio shows, and the best radio stations, production companies and producers, to send your music to.



• Find out the names of the Producers and Production Assistants on the programmes so you can contact them personally.



• Try and find out how far in advance the shows need to receive tracks before playlisting them. If you want your song played at the end of July, you will probably need to send it in at least a month before.





2. Provide essential information only

Make sure you include all the essential information about your release:



• Release date – this is very important! Try and print the release date on your press release/CD as big and as clearly as you can, so producers can see it easily.



• All relevant artist details.



• All relevant record label details.



• A short summary of the music style/sound (What makes your music different? What artists are you influenced by? Who have you recently been on tour with? Have you won any awards?)



• Include a personalised letter if possible, with recommended tracks that you think would work particularly well for that show.



• Be creative: try and get a quote about your music from a well known DJ/artist and include this on your press release/CD or suggest an on-air competition for your music (offering a CD/tickets to one of your gigs for example).



• A nice, clear photo/picture is always good too.



• I would recommend not sending too many pieces of paper that can get lost easily, keep your press release to the essential facts only, one or two pieces of paper should be enough.





3. Presentation is important

Make sure that your product/package is presented nicely and is clearly labeled with all the correct information on (and without spelling mistakes!). I always open the handwritten envelopes first before the printed ones, it feels a little bit more personal.





4. Send a physical copy if possible

If it’s an album release, try and send a CD as opposed to emailing a download. A physical copy is much more user friendly, especially for passing stuff around the office, and taking music to studio’s. For single releases, downloads and online video links make more sense. Another good idea is to go to the club nights that the radio DJs play at and hand them a copy yourself. A nice personal touch!





5. Emails are also good

If sending your release by email, try to include:



• A streamable link so that the music can be accessed easily.



• An accompanying link to video online.



• If possible provide links to your music in a variety of formats (MP3/WAV etc).





6. Make personal contact

Making personal contact is very important. It shows that you really care about your music and it gives a personal touch. So 5-7 days after sending your music, follow up with a call, and try to get some feedback on the music and if it is likely to be playlisted. Try not to take negative feedback personally, and be patient. These things take time. And always remember your boundaries as a promoter, you don’t want to annoy people.





7. Make your music stand out from the rest

The best way of getting your music heard is by making great music that stands out from the crowd. When people hear great music, they love telling people about it and passing on the information.





8. Target specific shows with exclusive jingles/tracks

A great way of ensuring that your music gets heard is by making a special, exclusive version of a track or jingle especially for a particular radio show. It shows that you really love the show and that you really want your music played. It’s guaranteed to make the show’s producer smile!"





Folded Wing produce award-winning podcasts, world-renowned radio shows and unique multi-platform music events. Folded Wing were named “Indie of the Year” at the 2011 Radio Production Awards.



For more advice on how to get radio play, listen to the free Folded Wing podcast.

It’s that time of year again – the BBC Proms are now in full swing! This year’s concerts kicked off on Friday and we at the Performing Arts Fund have been reminiscing about last year when around half of our Training in Musical Theatre scheme winners took part in a special celebratory Prom for composer Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday.

Rehearsals at the Royal Albert Hall

The day kicked off at 8:30am with a warm-up and a rehearsal of the whole show with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Stephen Sondheim himself was watching from the auditorium and giving notes throughout. Each of the numbers was meticulously rehearsed and then there was just enough time to make final preparations, get into make-up and costume and head to the wings, ready to perform to a packed house of aficionados and music lovers.

The concert featured a rendition of Our Time by a chorus of Performing Arts Fund singers, among them soloists Joseph Claus, Waylon Jacobs and Emma Odell. Emma recalls the experience of performing alongside the likes of Judi Dench, Simon Russell Beale and Bryn Terfel:

Soloists (from left) Joseph Claus, Emma Odell and Waylon Jacobs

“The show went off with a bang. Daniel Evans and Simon Russell Beale were hilarious with their Invocation and Instructions to the audience from The Frogs. Caroline O’Connor added bucketfuls of pizzazz with Broadway Baby. Other highlights for me were the excerpts from Sunday in the Park with George and, of course, watching Judi Dench perform live. It was all absolutely amazing!

The evening flew by. The Performing Arts Fund chorus warmed up during the interval, and I tried my best to stay calm and focussed, determined not to let nerves get in the way of enjoying such a special night. I arrived at my entrance, had my hair and make-up fixed, and stood watching Everybody Ought to Have a Maid on the monitor, flanked by Caroline O’Connor and Judi Dench. Surreal! The men ran off-stage to tumultuous applause and on I went. It was incredible. So many people in front, above, behind and below the stage, not to mention cameras flying about. I loved every second of it, and could have sung there all day. It was over all too quickly! The finale, Sunday, was heart-stirring stuff, and the show ended on a massive high with Side by Side from Company.”

The company performs Side by Side

This performance – a wonderful experience for all involved – was received positively by the media:



“The biggest surprise, and therefore the biggest joy, was to see three unknown performers who were beneficiaries of the BBC Performing Arts Fund, joined by a chorus who have also benefited from it, in a rendition of that stirring anthem to youthful optimism, Our Time, from Merrily We Roll Along, and making it utterly their own.” (The Stage)



“The real lump in the throat moment came, however, Glee-style with Our Time from Merrily We Roll Along, delivered by soloists and a chorus from the BBC Performing Arts Fund. They brought this touching, optimistic pop song to life with charming simplicity.”

(The Art of the Torch Singer)

An appreciative audience

This year, as every year, the BBC Proms provide a wonderful opportunity for performers and audiences alike to enjoy the best of what classical music has to offer. Many of those who performed in Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Prom have now gone on to success in the West End, and you can read all about their progress on our Winners page.

This year, of course, the Performing Arts Fund is focusing on dance, but next year it’s music again and, who knows? We could even be making a return to the Proms!

Youth theatre group Bounce Theatre, based in Hounslow, were the winners of one of our community grants for Young People’s Musical Theatre in 2010. As the day of their performance approaches, Louise Pendry, director of the production, gives us her thoughts on how the group has developed through the project.

It’s hard to believe that we will mount our musical – The Wizard of Oz – in less than a week. The production will be the culmination of six months of work across Central Hounslow, involving over 200 people between the ages of 3 and 70+.

Local residents have been involved in a whole range of aspects of the production process. Local children will be performing in the play; teenage musicians will provide the accompaniment; we even have a set design team of families, children and older people from Age UK, who with their artwork will transform Lampton School into the world of Oz.

The support of the BBC Performing Arts Fund has allowed us to turn the play into a musical. This is a completely new experience for the children, and it’s proving to be the icing on the cake for us all!

Initially, some children were uneasy at being asked to sing or dance. The boys in particular were less to keen to try some choreography! It has however become a chance for both the artists and the children to learn from each other. It’s encouraged us to find new ways to bring dance and song into what we do. We now have a scene of giant puppet crows flying through the audience, as puppets became a way to get the children to dance without realizing it! We’ve also found that the children are happier to sing while skipping around the room than while standing around the piano. The chance to work with a Musical Director has given the children a whole host of new skills, from learning to breathe to increase their projection, to hitting new notes and creating new sounds with their voices.

Encouraging the children to act has presented its own challenges. You learn to balance your expectation of how to create a character with the realization that a child is learning to speak out loud through what you are doing, so you meet somewhere in the middle. You don’t always get what you think you will, and you have to change your mind a lot along the way but ultimately, I think it makes you better at what you do as an artist. I think it also shows the importance of investment in the arts and young people, because of the broad array of benefits it affords them. One father told me his daughter has dyslexia and dyspraxia so to hear her speaking out lines is both a surprise and a joy.

Brian MacMahon, In-house producer for Dioneo, a London based operatic production company, gives us his take on the role(s) of the producer.

When I was a student I made theatre in all kinds of different ways. I acted, adapted, directed, lit, costumed, production managed and marketed shows from page to stage with varying degrees of success. The one thing I never really got a handle on was the role of the producer. Blessed with a succession of talented fundraisers and administrators, producing was never something to which I felt I needed to turn my hand.



Since graduating, however, it’s been an entirely different story. With the paucity of employment opportunities for performing artists in the industry today, often the best approach can be to make your own work: write, commission, fundraise for and stage it on your own terms. This was, after all, the business model adopted in recent years by theatre companies like Kneehigh, Punchdrunk and HighTide, all of which have achieved considerable success as a result of their efforts.



Last year, I decided to take this approach myself, joining forces with new companies and helping them to stage new work. The trouble was, this meant getting to grips with producing, and as disciplines go it’s certainly no easier, nor is it any less demanding, than acting, writing or directing. Producers have a lot of responsibility – often they will be the main go-between, liaising with venues, negotiating on performance rights, trying to ensure a good deal for the company.



With all this in mind, here are a few suggestions I have for anyone starting out as a producer:



1. Be organised.

This is number one for a reason. As a producer the onus is on you to schedule your company’s time constructively. It is never too early to start sounding out performance venues, possible backers, contributors and those who hold the rights to works you want to perform. If anything, approaching people months – sometimes years – in advance creates the impression of assured professionalism, and will serve you well when it comes to negotiating good terms for your company.



2. Be strategic.

Have a long term strategy in mind for your company. By the time one show goes up you need to be hard at work on the next. Make sure you get value for money – if you have invested in a production and it does well, can you arrange a transfer to a larger venue, saving yourself the cost of commissioning new costumes, set and props? Know where the money is coming from for future work and make sure that the company is able to invest when the right opportunity comes along.



3. Be pragmatic.

You can’t achieve everything – at least, not at first. If your budget only stretches to a few hundred pounds you can’t sign up to a contract with a venue that charges you thousands. Approach backers openly and honestly; always remember that you are auditioning sponsors just as they are auditioning you – is this the right sponsor for you? – Are you after the same thing? Think carefully about the structure of your operation – do you prefer to freelance or work solely with one company? How can that company grow over time?



4. Do good business.

All opportunities in the performing arts involve a degree of marketing and good business sense. As a producer you have to balance your own and your company’s agenda against the demands of suppliers, venue managers and publicists. Your aim should be to develop good, long term working relationships. If good people want to work with you again, that sets you up nicely for the future. You should also take care to remain involved with the company’s work – you can’t do your job unless you regularly talk to directors and designers and get excited about the work the company is creating.



Producing your own work can be very exciting: you get to help set the direction of a company, take on the projects you’ve long nurtured in the back of your mind, and do things the way you think they should be done. In order to be successful, however, there’s a lot to get right, and you will have to put in a lot of time and energy, and be prepared to deal with setbacks. Ultimately, if you’re in charge, it’s you who will have to face up to the consequences if things go wrong. Get it right, however, and the rewards are well worth the wait.