November 16 marked 6 months since I moved to Atlanta, and I have to admit it has been as much of a hustle as I had anticipated. Most of the tough decisions made are rooted in the need for me to submit to the process of transitioning to a new city/lifestyle and not run back home to Chicago unnecessarily. Though I am currently between both cities performing and teaching due to a residency I was awarded through Links Hall in Chicago, IL, I relocated to Atlanta, GA to accept a company apprenticeship position with Ballethnic Dance Company and get deeper into the commercial dance world. In Chicago I have had the opportunity to dance in music videos or choreograph performances for Tha Pope, DLow, Juiix, Nola Adé, and JaLonny--thoroughly enjoying each experience. However, there seems to be a glass ceiling for commercial work in Chicago if you are not signed to dance-oriented talent agencies, like Clear Talent Group, Bloc Talent, and MSA, or a performer under sports entertainment franchises, such as the Luvabulls, Incredibulls, and 312 Crew for the Chicago Bulls basketball team. It may have more to do with the culture of Chicago as it would appear that our attention turns more towards performances from concert dance companies (e.g.: Joel Hall Dancers, Giordano Dance Chicago, Chicago Dance Crash, Red Clay Dance Company). Dance academies and colleges and universities in and around Chicago are very intentional in training students to have the technical proficiency needed for dancing in a professional company. Just as well, there has grown a surge for funding for dance artists by local government and collegiate dance programs to create performance works driven by research, cultural awareness, and community engagement--like the works of Nejla Yatkin and Erica Mott. All of that said, herein lies the issue: I love concert dance, commercial dance, and community dance; must I choose between the three pathways in order to become a successful, stable, and satiated professional dancer?
The best way to begin answering these questions would be to define each pathway, right? WELL…
- Concert Dance: Dance performance from an individual or group of dancers made for a theater stage with the primary purpose of storytelling. The performances are usually a series of dance works created for members of a company over the course of 8-10 months (called a company season), with a series of huge mainstage theater performances lasting for a weekend or weeks occurring 3 times within that 8-10 month period--though there may be extra performances throughout the season done for outreach or promotional purposes. This is the most traditional pathway for professional dancers as this is the performance style for ballet schools/dance academies, dance department programs in higher academia, and professional dance companies.
- Commercial Dance: Dance performance from an individual or group of dancers designed for screen or stage purely for the purpose of entertainment. Dancers are performing on assignment--coordinated by a company/corporation and the talent agent/manager of the dancers--and are no longer a collective once the gig or project has ended. The work performed may be for short-term, like an advertisement campaign for a corporate retailer or a music video performance, or long-term, like a music concert tour or a recurring role on a television show. Occasionally, you may see dance companies take on commercial work as their name and brand has gained widespread appeal. In fact, most dancers attain work in commercial dance because those performance credits greatly help in obtaining jobs between gigs. As industry and technology evolves, this pathway continues to grow immensely in popularity, accessibility, and validity.
- Community Dance: Dance performance from an individual or group of dancers that has a theme or purpose that caters to the immediate community of the audience members. Community dance performances can be performed on theater stages and on film, but are not limited to those methods. In fact, many community dance performances are done in open public forum spaces and are site-specific (the piece is created in the space that it is performed in and utilizes all of the resources of the performance space). Those performances serve a purpose to educate the audience about the history and culture of a person, society, place, event, or idea. Yet newer and less crystallized as compared to the other dance pathways, this pathway will continue to be viable as it maintains an intimate connection between artists and the general public.
In a conversation with fellow Dance 411 summer intern Kelly Rodriguez, an independent dance artist and AMDA New York graduate, we talked about our relocations from large cities plentifully filled with a wide range of dance opportunities. Kelly admitted that she's a modern girl at heart, but spending some time in LA after graduating college exposed her to the ways of the commercial world. Ever since she caught the "commercial bug", Kelly wanted to pursue it further, and that's what brought her from Brooklyn to ATL. However, she and I both agree with so much opportunity and having a wide range of ability and goals, why can’t we just live our best lives and try whatever fits us at the time? Besides, if you ask each of us what kind of dancer we are, our answers, we hope, will be "A booked dancer!"
Let's open the conversation! Which dance pathway(s) interest you most? How are you preparing for the pathway(s)? What companies, talent agencies, and arts initiatives best suit your dance career goals? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or e-mail me your responses to this article at averybrandon0812@gmail.com. Thank you for your time, and stay elevé-ted!
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