Professional Dancer

Professional Dancer

danceypants

Brooklyn, NY

Female, 25

I am a professional NYC contemporary/modern dancer. I work freelance, dancing in various projects around NYC. It ranges from performance art, flash mobs, and various styles of modern/contemporary dance. It's tough, I hustle everyday. I also bartend to pay the bills and work at a dance studio for discounted classes. It's a struggle, between auditions, classes, and maintaining artistic integrity. But I love my life.

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Last Answer on March 05, 2014

Best Rated

What job did you take that you wish you would've passed on in retrospect?

Asked by kaylee over 13 years ago

None

Do cops ever break up your flash mobs? Ever get arrested? What's the penalty for something like that?

Asked by veevee over 13 years ago

The cops usually don't break them up. The people putting kn the flash mobs usually have to get a special permit from the city, I'm sure they also have permission from the nypd.

Do you and fellow dancers get along, or does it get really catty?

Asked by twoonethree over 13 years ago

It depends. The dance community is very large. But very small. When I go to auditions sometimes I run into the same girls time and time again. I think that the younger the dancer, the more immature they are. Generally the catty ones are younger dancers who just graduated college, were the star of their department and moved to NYC thinking they could keep their diva status. Nothing knocks you harder off your pedestal than auditioning in NYC. There's always someone better than you. I don't notice the cattiness, I also avoid those kind of situations. Most dancers look out for each other I think. We kind of band together and create a unit. I used to be a camp counselor at a performing arts camp for teens, the dancers stuck together and didn't really get involved in the drama like the acting kids or the musical theater kids.

Best choreographer working today, in your opinion?

Asked by G-train over 13 years ago

I have a few. Kendra Portier, Kate Weare, Monica Bill Barnes, Korhan Basaran, Shannon Gillen, Andrea MIller, Sidra Bell.

How do you teach male students to move their hips better? I have no idea what muscle or body part I'm supposed to be activating to make that happen!

Asked by PaulX1 over 13 years ago

I don't really understand this question, but I will do my best. I'm assuming you are having trouble moving your hips because they are tight? Stretch. Stretch. Stretch! Since it would be difficult for me to explain stretches in detail here. Go online and search for stretches for your Iliopsoas (front of the hip crease) and your Iliotibial bands.

have you been asked to audition and when you got there realized the casting director wanted a little more than you bargained for?

Asked by gross over 13 years ago

Um...no...I don't look for auditions on craigslist.

I REALLY want to be a dancer. I understand how hard it is to be in the dance industry but I want it, and I will work so hard. I am turning 17 in less than a week. My DREAM is to be a back up dancer for someone. Is this possible?

Asked by Jennifer over 12 years ago

Hi Jennifer, First let me start by saying I love that you are dancing! And also, I have a question for you. Are you training right now? By 17 and expressing the desire to be a professional back up dancer, you should be taking not only a lot of hip hop, jazz, and broadway style dance (for back up dancing) but also ballet, modern, and tap. You never know when you may need to pull some tricks out of that magical dancing bag. If you are not taking any dance class as of now, you should get in gear girl! Make sure your teachers have worked as professional dancers....Dance team in college doesn't count. Cheerleading does not count. A good teacher has a proper dance education from a college that provides a BA, BFA, or masters in dance performance or dance education. Also, does your teacher have professional performance experience? The reason I ask is, many 'dance teachers' open up studios in towns because they like dancing, they danced at some dolly dinkle (crappy) studio in high school and did some sort of kick line dance team in college. THIS DOES NOT EQUAL A COLLEGE DANCE DEGREE! I beg you..parents, kids, DO NOT go to these studios, these people claiming to be dance educators are destroying girls and boys bodies, training them incorrectly and setting them up for future disappointment and possible recurring injuries. Jennifer, if you are in fact, taking dance classes multiple times a week and getting good, strong, professional training...then you're on the right track. Go to a summer intensive that will refine your technique and will also let you get into some hip hop classes. I don't know about about hip hop, because I am a modern dancer, but I know that's what you need to master to get into back up dancing. Honestly I don't know about back up dancing auditions, that you will need to research. Not to be all tough love on you, but you may work really hard, and not get anywhere..that's the nature of the dance world. I have worked really hard multiple times...to not get that job, or not even get a second call back in an audition. It's the way of the world. But keep trying, you never know what the future holds. I have a friend who only did break dancing with his friends in high school. then when he turned 18 he decided he wanted to become a modern dancer and he busted his ass to get trained and eventually got into a college dance program. and Now he is a dancer here in NYC.