Show Notes
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon As we all know, the ballet job market is incredibly competitive. But, not all ballet careers involve signing a year-long contract with a company. Some dancers choose other paths and we sat down with Linnea Swarting to hear from a dancer who traded the security of a company contract to pursue a freelance career. She talked about how she made the decision to walk away from company life and how she got her first freelance gig. We also discussed what kinds of jobs are actually available to freelancers and then variety is pretty surprising! Think everything from corporate parties to full international tours performing Swan Lake. We also discussed what touring companies really are, how Linnea finds jobs, what she looks for in contracts and how to negotiate before agreeing to join the project. Interested in learning more about the freelance life? You can find Linnea on her website or Instagram at @lswarting. Links: Pick Up a Year-Round Training Corrections Journal Read & Submit Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Support Ballet Help Desk Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI
More from Ballet Help Desk
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon This week, it's just us! We're talking all things postgraduate ballet training. We spend some time going over our most recent iteration of the Ballet Help Desk Postgrad Directory, including some trends we've observed over the last few years. There are some new pieces of data we've added for this year and we discuss why we think it's important that this information be included. Finally, we talk about why dancers need to think much more strategically during their high school years if they have aspirations to dance professionally. Links:
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon There's one body type for ballet. We asked Peter LeBreton Merz, artistic director of Eglevsky Ballet and former director of Ballet West Academy, and Racheal Nye, director of Oklahoma City Ballet's Yvonne Chouteau School and Studio Company, whether that's true. In Part 2, they also answer your questions about competitions: are they the only way to earn summer intensive scholarships or get into top schools, does training for them give you the best training, and does it matter if your dancer never places? Then Peter and Racheal weigh in on when it makes sense to send a dancer to school in Europe, whether big donations lead to better treatment, and whether Vaganova is the only method that works. At the end, each of them addresses a myth we didn't ask about. Links: Online Workshop: Your Dancer's First "Away" Summer Intensive Pick Up a Year-Round Training Corrections Journal Submit Ballet Competition Reviews Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon Turn down School of American Ballet once and you'll never get back in. Most ballet parents have heard some version of that, along with plenty of other myths. So we collected your questions and took them to Peter LeBreton Merz, artistic director of Eglevsky Ballet and former director of Ballet West Academy, as well as Racheal Nye, director of Oklahoma City Ballet's Yvonne Chouteau School and Studio Company. We talk about whether blacklists exist, the pressure to send 10-year-olds away for the summer, get them on pointe early and move them up a level fast, and what Peter and Racheal look for in a 12-year-old. They also get into why nearly every boy is on scholarship, how much seniority counts in casting, and what a school should be able to show before it calls itself pre-professional. Links: Pick Up a Year-Round Training Corrections Journal Submit Ballet Competition Reviews Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon Lily Peta and Emma Wheeler did everything the traditional ballet path asks of young dancers and still found themselves waiting for the right job to come along. Then, they stopped waiting. This past summer they launched Midsommardans, an outdoor ballet festival on Grinda, an island in the Stockholm archipelago. Lily and Emma tell us how two dancers with no background in fundraising or production pulled it off, from convincing the archipelago foundation to take a chance on them to hand-building a sprung stage floor with their families. Along the way, making their own opportunity changed how they see the ballet job market. Be sure to listen to the end to hear the exciting news they have to share about the future of Midsommardans. You can find Midsommardans on Instagram at @midsommar.dans. Links: Submit Ballet Competition Reviews Pick Up a Year-Round Training Corrections Journal Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI
Get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive panel discussions by joining our Patreon We sit down with Ayisha McMillan Cravotta and Alicia Delgadillo of Charlotte Ballet to talk about what the road from trainee to professional looks like there. Alicia recently became associate director of CB2, the second company. The pre-professional trainee program is small, capped at 30 dancers, and starts at age 15, though the group skews older. Charlotte Ballet doesn't provide housing, which Ayisha says helps shape who enrolls. Once dancers move up to CB2, the focus shifts to preparing them for the job itself. Alicia explains how she mentors this small group of dancers, and why half of this year's new hires come from college programs. Both guests talk plainly about the job market and how they help dancers plan for it. Links: NEW! Ballet Competition Reviews Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Support Ballet Help Desk Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI