Dance

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Arts administrator
• Choreographer
• Community arts worker
• Dance movement psychotherapist
• Dancer
• Higher education lecturer
• Secondary school teacher

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Actor
• Event manager
• Personal trainer
• Talent agent
• Theatre director

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Many dance students gain practical experience by creating, producing and performing their own work alongside their degree. This can help you develop skills in areas such as project management, marketing, budgeting, ticketing and event organisation.

Some dance degrees include an optional professional placement year or opportunities to work with dance companies, theatres, schools or arts organisations. These experiences can give you an insight into professional practice and help you make useful industry contacts.

To gain experience, you could:

• complete an internship or work placement
• create and deliver workshops
• help with community dance projects
• teach or assist with dance classes
• volunteer at festivals and performances
• write reviews or articles for dance publications and websites.

Choose opportunities that reflect your interests, whether these are performance, choreography, teaching, producing or arts administration. Building relationships with other dancers and creative professionals can help you hear about projects, collaborations and paid work. You could also create a showreel or portfolio to demonstrate your performance and creative experience.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

Many dance graduates work freelance or on short-term contracts, combining several roles to develop a portfolio career. You might work across performance, choreography, teaching, community dance, production and arts administration. Auditions, networking and collaboration are important for finding opportunities and developing professional relationships.

Employers and organisations offering paid or freelance work include:

• arts centres, theatres and cultural venues, such as Sadler's Wells
• commercial entertainment employers, including cruise lines, holiday resorts, cabarets and theme parks
• community dance, health and wellbeing organisations
• dance companies, such as English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Rambert and The Royal Ballet
• dance schools, colleges, conservatoires and universities
• film, television, music video and live events production companies
• musical theatre and touring production companies
• schools and other education providers.

You may also work for individual choreographers, producers or artists, or create your own performances, workshops and community projects. Some experienced dancers establish their own companies, schools or freelance teaching businesses.

Find information on employers in creative arts and design, charity and voluntary work, leisure, sport and tourism and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Studying dance provides you with specialist knowledge in different dance forms, dance history, choreography, community dance, arts administration, and the commercial and business side of dance and the performing arts.

A dance degree also develops transferable skills that are valued by all kinds of employers. These include:

• presentation and communication skills - to promote and showcase your talent
• ability to work independently
• teamwork and creative collaboration - important when working on performance pieces with other dancers and choreographers
• focus
• original thinking
• time-management and organisational skills
• self-awareness and awareness of others
• self-discipline
• creativity and flexibility
• analytical, critical and research skills
• writing and marketing
• the ability to take on board feedback and learn from it
• pursuit of excellence
• resilience.

Further study

Further study options open to you include postgraduate study in specialist fields, such as choreographic practice, arts administration, digital arts and community dance.

It's also possible to study a general postgraduate degree in dance to deepen your knowledge and interest in your particular performance subject.

Other options include going on to further study in dance science, strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, osteopathy or vocational fitness/healthcare qualifications such as personal training.

Or undertaking further training, such as a PGCE specialising in dance, in order to teach dance in secondary schools.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses in dance.

What do dance graduates do?

Nearly a quarter (24%) of dance graduates are working as dancers and choreographers after graduation. Other jobs that make up the five most commonly reported occupations include:

• sales and retail assistants (8%)
• actors, entertainers and presenters (8%)
• bar staff (5%)
• coffee shop workers (3%).

Secondary education teachers (3%) also appear within the top ten.

Find out what other dance graduates are doing 15months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.