Career profile Dancer

Table of Contents

• What does a Dancer do?
• What is a typical salary for a Dancer?
• What personality traits are common among Dancers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Dancers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Dancer do?

Dancers perform dances.

In addition, Dancers may perform on stage, for broadcasting, or for video recording.

What kind of tasks does a Dancer perform regularly?

Dancers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Study and practice dance moves required in roles.
• Harmonize body movements to rhythm of musical accompaniment.
• Coordinate dancing with that of partners or dance ensembles.
• Train, exercise, and attend dance classes to maintain high levels of technical proficiency, physical ability, and physical fitness.
• Collaborate with choreographers to refine or modify dance steps.
• Develop self-understanding of physical capabilities and limitations, and choose dance styles accordingly.
• Perform classical, modern, or acrobatic dances in productions, expressing stories, rhythm, and sound with their bodies.
• Audition for dance roles or for membership in dance companies.
• Attend costume fittings, photography sessions, and makeup calls associated with dance performances.
• Monitor the field of dance to remain aware of current trends and innovations.

The above responsibilities are specific to Dancers. More generally, Dancers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Dancer salary?

What personality traits are common among Dancers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Dancer are usually higher in their Artistic and Realistic interests.

Dancers typically have very strong Artistic interests. Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Also, Dancers typically have strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Dancer tend to value Achievement, Relationships, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Dancers strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, Dancers strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Dancers moderately value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Dancers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as achievement/effort, persistence, and cooperation.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Dancers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Dancers need?

Dancers often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Dancers usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Dancers

• 4.4% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 36.9% completed high school or secondary school
• 21.6% completed some college coursework
• 7.7% earned a Associate's degree
• 24.1% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 4.9% earned a Master's degree
• 0.5% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Dancers

Important Abilities needed by Dancers

Dancers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Dancers need abilities such as gross body coordination, extent flexibility, and dynamic strength in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Dancers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Dancers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Dancers frequently use skills like active listening, critical thinking, and coordination to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Dancers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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