What Is The Value Of A Dancer? 12 Powerful Ways To Know Your Worth

Last night on our weekly #LetsTalkDance Tweetchat on Twitter, we discussed the business of dance, and we had a live chat where we shared our thoughts and feelings in response to the following questions:

So when you look at these factors which ultimately determine the value and cost of someone’s work/services, what industries come to mind? Here are a few…

• Law
• Medicine
• Real Estate
• Construction
• Education

Well, based on the criteria that I listed above, Dance should be included in that list. Why? Because all of the following factors apply to those in the dance field.

• Specialized Training Is Necessary.
• Not Able To Be Done By The Majority Of The Population.
• Expensive and Extensive Training and Education Required.
• High Risk Work.
• High Probability Of Injury.
• Ongoing Training/Education Necessary.
• Inconsistent Work.
• Extensive Preparation Necessary To Perform The Work.

So, given all of these factors, why do we continue to work for pay below what we are worth? Where is the return on our time and financial investment in our training and education?

I’m a dancer, so I know all of the obvious answers:

• We Love What We Do, And Would Do It For Free. That’s nice. I know a lot of people who love what they do, but that doesn’t mean they do it for free! Are you crazy? How are you supposed to eat, pay your rent, buy a home, pay for healthcare, etc. with this attitude?  God has blessed you with gifts and talents, not only for your own enjoyment, and that of others, but also as a way for you to sustain yourself, and provide for yourself. If you take those gifts/talents, and give them away for free, or for less than you should, then how will you take care of yourself? And more importantly, who can you blame other than yourself, when you’re constantly struggling financially? We have to do better.

• There Aren’t Enough High-Paying Job Opportunities. There is a lot of truth in this statement. But what do you do, just give up, and say “Oh well”? NO! You start to create your own, high-paying opportunities. You get creative. You seek out ways that you can produce something of your own, that will allow you to change this. The high-paying dance opportunities that do exist, exist for a reason. Look at the factors that have contributed to those jobs being so valuable and use that to create something of your own that can mirror that in some way. Don’t make excuses either. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

• It Would Mean Saying ‘No’ Sometimes, And I Don’t Want To Do That. I’ve said it time and time again, when you say ‘No’ to the things that you don’t want, or that are not driving you towards your goals, you say ‘Yes’ to what you DO want. Think of it like this. You don’t want to be like one of those people who’s always in a dead-end relationship, simply because they’re afraid of being alone, and waiting for the RIGHT person to come along. But, when you continue to do work that is below the standard of work that you aspire to do, you decrease your own value, and you end up missing out on those really great opportunities that you’ve always dreamed of, because you’re distracted with the small stuff. You have to say no sometimes, and you have to learn to be selective. Just think, quality vs. quantity.

• It’s Not About The Money, It’s About My Passion For The Art Form. No, it’s not about the money, because if it was, we would’ve all quit a LONG time ago. But money does matter because, it costs money to train/take dance classes, to rent out space for rehearsals, to pay for your dance education, to pay your rent, buy food, pay for physical therapy, etc. So, turns out, it IS about the money, because, you can’t actually dance without money. So, we’ve come full-circle again, and we’re back to, knowing your worth, and not settling for less than you’re worth. We, collectively, need to raise the standards in this industry, to improve our quality of living. We each play an important role in that fight.

• That’s Just The Way It Is. Or should I say, “that’s the way it’s been”, but guess what? That’s not how it has to be in the future, if we take a stand for ourselves. No one is going to do it for us. It starts with me, and it starts with you.

Here Are 12 Powerful Ways To Know Your Worth/Value As A Dancer:

1. Calculate The Cost Of Your Dance Training and Education.

2. Respect Yourself And Your Craft.

3. Create & Produce Your Own Work.

4. Create A Business Entity That You Own.

5. Read Business Books. Knowledge Is Power!

6. Educate Others On Why Your Work Is So Valuable And Ask For What You Deserve.

7. Be Selective In The Work That You Choose To Do. Elevate Yourself.

8. Have A Personal Mission Statement, And Live By It.

9. Know Your Purpose.

10. Know What You Want Your Legacy To Be.

11. Always Focus On Long-Term Goals, Consequences, and Results, Not Just The Present.

12. Don’t Just Think About Yourself, Do What’s Best For The Industry As A Whole.

Have a comment or want to add something to this post? Post it below. I’d love to hear your feedback. Please share this post on Facebook and Twitter and let’s get a discussion going.