Is a career in Modern Dance just has hardto attain as a career in Ballet, Jazz,

Question:I know a lot of theater actresses need to know some Modern Dance for whatever theater they perform. Can anybody tell me about what having a career in Modern Dance might be like? What kind of experience in other dances do you need?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I know a lot of theater actresses need to know some Modern Dance for whatever theater they perform. Can anybody tell me about what having a career in Modern Dance might be like? What kind of experience in other dances do you need?

Hi again.

Ballet will always be the hardest style of dance to get a career in. A career in Jazz and/or Modern dance will be a bit easier. I explained a bit of this when I was trying to explain to you how college is not the best route to a career in ballet.

Modern dance, such as the style pioneered by Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, etc, is not the style needed by most theater actresses. Musical theatre majors need a bit of ballet and more of a focus on jazz dance. But most actresses don't even need to reach the advanced level in jazz for theatre.

Most modern dancers aim for jobs in modern dance companies, which are non-profit ventures that are rarely well-funded and pay very little. They ALWAYS need to supplement their income with other endeavors - usually teaching, but anything else they can manage. Theatre dancers aim for jobs in the showbiz/ for-profit sector. It helps if they have agents and they regularly audition for shows that can last 2 months to several years. In many cases, they also need second jobs to make ends meet. Their life is the same as struggling actors.

As for what kind of other dance experience you'd need, well, the more experience you have in anything - singing, acting, acrobatics, etc - the better. Which means tons of training through hours and hours of classes that cost tons of money for jobs that don't pay much living in cities with high costs of living. Is this adding up for you yet?

I'm curious to see the answers to this one. As a hobby researcher, I know that there are trade magazines for EVERYTHING. Have you poked around and looked into getting subscriptions for the ones that cater to professional dancers?

Also look into talent agencies that specialize in dance; read their jobs lists and so on, see what experience they seem to be looking for.

I hope this helps some?

later:
hey was curious, and I found one for you. http://www.dancespirit.com/ no idea how good it is, but there must be others like it!

A career in any dance form is hard to attain, but not impossible if you are really determined.