Dance with a Practical Edge

Calling all dance majors! If prospects of nailing a job after graduation seem slimmer in this economic climate, there are other options to consider when seeking a dance career. There also are options when it comes to choosing a college that will not only keep a dancer in leotards and tutus, but provide her with marketable skills. Today’s colleges offer not just performance degrees but more pragmatic programs, including Dance Science, Dance Management, and teaching certification. Dance Magazine chose three undergraduate programs to profile. While each takes a different approach, all are geared toward providing the dancer with necessary skills to find a job in the dance arena.

Teaching Dreams: University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Sue Stinson, coordinator of the dance education program, arrived at UNCG in 1979 to run the dance teacher licensure program, one of the country’s first. As with any performance degree, students are required to audition as well as take dance major courses. The certification program is hands-on, with candidates going into the public schools as part of their training. Once finished, graduates are qualified to teach in these schools. Since North Carolina has a mandate to offer dance in the schools, jobs had always been plentiful for graduates with certification, but that isn’t quite the case today.

“Until the recession, every graduate got a job,” says Stinson. “Last year was the first time we had anyone looking for a full-time teaching position. We tell them we won’t guarantee a job, but with a teaching license and some flexibility—being willing to relocate, for example—your chances of being hired are really good.”

Stinson adds that many alumni who did not get licensed regretted it later. A number of people who had been dancing for several years were ready for a career change and then enrolled in the program.

Faith Mottershead graduated last year with a BS in dance education from UNCG. She currently teaches at the Community School of Davidson in Davidson, NC. “Since I was young, I wanted to dance and choreograph and start my own company, but I fell in love with teaching,” says Mottershead, “and UNCG has an excellent program. The faculty is great, and when I graduated I had three job offers. Since we also took technique and choreography classes, I felt like I was prepared to help the kids I now teach to put on shows.”

Anatomy of the Body: California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)

In this harbor town south of Los Angeles, the university boasts a lively dance department, with seven studios and a Pilates center. For those seeking careers in dance or dance fitness, CSULB offers a BA in Dance, Option in Dance Science, a curriculum that includes biology and kinesiology. These are taken in addition to the required classes, such as technique and dance history.

Karen Clippinger, whose work involves the application of scientific principles to enhance alignment and movement while lowering injury risk, designed the program in 2004 with Judy Allen. She is also the program advisor. Because the science studies are rigorous, with numerous labs and courses in human anatomy, exercise physiology, and motor learning, only five students graduated from the program in 2010.

Clippinger says it’s essentially a preparatory program. “It provides a base for students to go on to physical therapy school. But it does give you the background information to make you a better teacher—to understand how to prevent injuries, how to design a better class. The body is your vehicle and the more you understand it, the greater longevity you’ll have. We teach this in an applied, practical way.”

Clippinger notes that while many students still seek a performing career, others, deciding that world is too competitive, opt for another direction, such as “being a personal trainer or Pilates instructor.”

Nicole Gendel graduated from CSULB last May with a dance science degree, later becoming certified in Pilates. She plans to move to New York and audition for dance companies while teaching Pilates. Gendel says she chose the school because of its dance science program. “CSULB prepared me for the job market because the field of dance science is so important,” she says. “My knowledge of preventing and recovering from injury, proper body alignment, and how muscles work helped me acquire a keen eye.”

Dancing for Dollars: Oklahoma City University’s BS in Dance Management

Jo Rowan is chair of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management and founder of the school’s dance program. She and her husband, John Bedford, dean of the school, launched the curriculum at the private university in the mid-’80s because they wanted to give dancers a wide range of career choices. The school has 250 students, with 45 enrolled in dance management. The latter are required to take a range of business courses—from management to accounting to marketing—in addition to performance classes.

Says Bedford, “Students learn how to plan and implement tours, how to produce, sponsor, and present performances, as well as study fund-raising and development. They also study dance studio management and learn about contract law, workers compensation, and performing arts unions.” He points out that most students have a performing career and use their management prowess later.

Success stories abound, including that of Katy McDermott. A 1995 dance management graduate, McDermott moved to New York in 1998, where she began stage-managing at P.S. 122. She stage-managed for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company for three years, beginning in 2000. Currently she works at the dance division of the booking agency IMG Artists, where her clients include Jones, Lyon Opera Ballet, and Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, A Dance Company.

“I chose the school because it had a good reputation for producing dancers who worked,” explains Texas-born McDermott. “But after my freshman year I realized the performance life wasn’t for me. I liked the stability that a management degree gave me. In my first three months with Bill T. I worked at Jacob’s Pillow, the Lincoln Center Festival and the Olympic Arts Festival in Sydney. It’s a wonderful way to still be connected to dance.”

Passion is one hallmark of a great dancer. That it can also be found in people with dance-related careers is what makes their lives—and work—infinitely rewarding.

Victoria Looseleaf writes for the L.A. Times and teaches dance history at USC and Santa Monica College.

Originally published in Dance Magazine, September 2010