How do you succeed in Dance? (Part Two)

Lesson 11: Know when to quit.

“If you’re not getting challenged in a big company, investigate why. Where is your dancing lacking? Where is your work ethic lacking? If you can’t seem to move forward, look into other companies. Go back to what it means to bend your body, to bend your knees, to move in space. You’ll be able to breathe through those moments of difficulty.” —Ashley Tuttle, master ballet teacher

Lesson 12: Remember that even stars are part of a team.

“This is a collaborative art form. Successful dance artists see themselves as part of a whole. They may be the star, but they remain aware that there’s an entire corps de ballet behind them, and a conductor in the pit carefully keeping the music at the right tempo, and someone who will stay late and do all the laundry for the next day. Anytime there’s a mishap onstage, we all have to band together and coordinate the best, most subtle solution possible, ideally without the audience knowing anything was wrong. Sometimes I feel like we’re a pod of dolphins—we communicate very simply and effectively, sometimes just with our eyes or a whisper. We find a way to fix it, then move along as if nothing happened. The stronger the team, the better the company.” —Kelly Brown, production stage manager at Miami City Ballet

Lesson 13: Hire experts.

“Do not be, as one lawyer told me, ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ When you have an opportunity to be paid for your craft, especially when it comes to commercial partnerships with brands and products, find a good entertainment lawyer or agent to help you navigate the contract. It’ll cost you 5 to 15 percent of the overall fee, but is very worth it. They’ll make sure you’re not giving away rights to your image and likeness indefinitely or for longer than the value of your compensation. You’ll avoid being unfairly locked into category exclusivity. The details are truly in the fine print.” —Gilda Squire, founder of Squire Media & Management, Inc., and manager to Misty Copeland and others

Lesson 14: Be insatiable.

“When you see artists who are dancing into their 50s, ask, ‘What is it that has brought them to this moment?’ When you think of Alessandra Ferri, Wendy Whelan, Sylvie Guillem, Mikhail Baryshnikov—they’re incredibly gifted, versatile artists, but there is a drive that is innate.” —Jodie Gates, vice dean and director of USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance

Lesson 15: Get some distance.

“I was getting burned out dancing and being on the road so much with Batsheva, and decided to spend nine months at a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia. There was a scary feeling of space that opened up by cutting the momentum of my dancing life. I became aware of how much I defined myself as a dancer, and held that as a proof of my self-worth. I had thought I wasn’t one of those ‘crazy dancers’ who prioritizes being a dancer over being a person. Now I feel less afraid to drop dancing and that identity entirely, which allows me to continue, and more fully, because my grip on it is more relaxed. Any time I have stepped away, I have come back with more than I left with.” —Doug Letheren, dancer with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch

Lesson 16: Don’t trust the trends.

“Don’t get lost in what is ‘cool,’ even when you see the pros doing it. Trends like no ballet slippers or dressing like you’re at a gym can make anyone watching think less of you, and you never know who is going to walk in. Even I put myself into a unitard and skirt to teach class because I feel and think more like dancer when I am dressed like one.” —Nancy Bielski, master ballet teacher at Steps on Broadway

esson 17: Save money to buy yourself freedom.

“Save enough for three to sixth months. Start by putting a little bit aside. I have the bank do it automatically, so it slowly drips into a savings account. That cushion is going to make it okay for you to not take the crappy gig you don’t want but to hold out for the job that you do.” —Jessica Scheitler, enrolled agent, owner of Financial Groove

Lesson 18: Keep exploring.

“The dancers I’ve watched succeed haven’t been afraid to reinvent themselves, either across topic or scale. Consider how your practice works across platforms—corporate and not, nonprofit and not, on Broadway but also at a place like The Joyce.” —Marc Bamuthi Joseph, vice president and artistic director of social impact at the Kennedy Center

Lesson 19: Don’t cross your legs when you sit.

“Considering the frequency of total hip replacements in dancers these days, you should refrain from sitting with your legs crossed. This position adds stress to the lumbar spine and the hip joints. It compresses the nerves and blood supply to the lower extremities, and it inhibits the abdominal muscles from activity, making them insufficient to stabilize your spine.” —Marika Molnar, physical therapist and founder of Westside Dance Physical Therapy in New York City

Lesson 20: Treat rehearsals like more than practice.

“Rehearsals are not just about preparing for some future event. They are the present, too. So how we engage with each other, and how we literally live together in the hours and hours we have making a thing together, well, that matters. Once I figured that out, my attitude about time changed, as did the actual outcomes of the dances themselves.” —Liz Lerman, choreographer and educator

(Dance Magazine)