Ballet Dancers in Career Transition: Sixteen Success Stories

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The average length of a professional dancer’s career is 10 to 15 years. Similar to professional athletes, once the prime years of physical prowess have passed, retirement is inevitable. After retirement, there are still many years of adult life ahead for dancers. Making the transition to a new career is challenging to many. Motivated by her own career transition, author Nancy Upper interviewed former ballet dancers who have made successful transitions into new careers after they stopped performing. Part 1 of the book features interviews with individuals who remained in ballet-related careers. Part 2 discusses the experiences of four dancers who moved on to careers outside the field of dance. Part 3 focuses on former dancers who have used their non-dance careers to help dancers and to promote ballet awareness. Appendices provide information about marketable qualities dancers develop as a result of their training, career transition tips, transition resources and a graph mapping the transition process.