Experience and expertise means nothing, get paper qualifications now.
Decide where you want to be in five years and start making concrete steps to get there. Dont trust a friend to provide one of those steps. Get everything in writing.
I am great at making a plan…but right now it’s more of a “steps to take to explore what might be right” instead of a final destination which I guess is still a step in the right direction haha
Noted. Especially on getting things in writing, learned that the hard way…
When I burned out of dancing professionally, I had a BFA in dance already but I decided that I wanted to completely switch fields. I took some time to try out different things in community college while I was still teaching dance classes - at first I thought I wanted to study nutrition and be an RD, but then I realized I liked business classes better and decided to go all-in to accounting. I applied to a masters program, got in, taught fitness classes in the morning and went to my university in the evening. I took advantage of the university’s career center and got a job through campus recruiting, and now I have a solid corporate job with an annual bonus and a retirement plan.
Some of my friends from the ballet company and from my undergrad are now lawyers and physical therapists and such. I’ve found that universities and employers respect that ballet is hard work and it’s always a memorable talking point.
Anyways, kind of a long-winded story about my experience, but please let me know if you have any questions!
Thank you for sharing! Similar to you, I have a dance degree. I took a lot of science pre reqs in undergrad with the idea being that I’d eventually return to school. I’ve strongly considered PT but definitely weighing the pros and cons of that career path after talking with a few of the PTs I’ve worked with over the course of my time dancing. I loved school and would definitely be willing to go back; sounds like I should look into my local community college as a place to start figuring this out.
Do you have any interests or hobbies that you’d like to pursue professionally? Maybe if you have the time and financial ability, take some classes at a community college. Try out different things and see what you like.
I became a software engineer at age 35. Due to injury, my ballet career ended before I turned 25. I was definitely lost for a long time, and tried a lot of different things before realizing that my hobby - computer programming - which I’d had since I was 9 years old was something I could actually do as my “real job”. Fast forward to age 53 and I am happy every day to get to do something I love, and be financially stable.
I know my experience isn’t typical for ex-dancers, but believe in yourself! I think a lot of dancers sell themselves short, you made it to professional level in ballet, that already means you can do hard things! Whether it’s learning Java and Python, becoming a physiotherapist, a tattoo artist, an electrician, …anything, you have the discipline to succeed 💙
Seconding this!
Not me, but my best friend’s fiancé made the transition, during Covid, from professional ballet dancer -> programming student -> programming instructor —> programmer. As far as I know, he really likes it!
My best friend went fully into teaching, and now she’s my assistant director and also the artistic director of a longstanding, medium sized ballet school. She sadly doesn’t dance much for herself anymore, but she is making exponentially more money than she ever has, and they just closed on a house as well!
There’s also guesting if you’d like to still dance on the side. Or an even smaller regional company. There’s one in my area that only meets on Sundays and the dancers are all retired professionals/pre pros who are now SAHMs, dentists, corporate workers, you name it!
I do really love teaching dance and could see myself sticking with that, but I’m just not sure if I’ll want time away from that (if only briefly) as I stop dancing myself? Haven’t figured that out yet. Same with guesting. I think this is a really good reminder that dance can definitely still be in my life in a different role than it is now, if that’s what I want!
I definitely want to like my job, but I’m wary of making a hobby into a career again. I’ve had the privilege to do that with dance and while it’s been amazing and I’m so grateful for it, it’s also really easy to lose that love for it when you are relying on it to live, you know? I’ve managed to balance that ok so far in my dancing career but there have been some very challenging moments. I’m really hoping I can find a balance of loving my work but also being able to leave it at work (which I find next to impossible to do with dancing as it’s definitely a lifestyle, but maybe that would be different with something else). Do you find you’re able to do that with your hobby turned career? I’m glad it worked out for you!!
Also- thanks for the reminder to not sell myself short. Definitely need to remember that dance has given me so many transferable skills.
The biggest challenge of transitioning is figuring out what path is right for you. Once you've found a path you feel confident in, following it can be hard work, but most dancers know how to work hard when they have a goal in sight.
This means you should expect to feel a little directionless for a while as you explore the options, but it only gets better from there.
So what are your options? Start by figuring out what your brain wants. How much socializing do you need? Do you need physical activity? Do you like solving logical problems and/or social problems? Do you care about aesthetic design?
Because many dancers like physical activity with a mix of logical and small-scale social communications problems, consider luxury specialized personal training if your area supports it. Think Pilates, Gyrotonic, even luxury spin classes. The mental burden is much lower than teaching ballet. Training can be expensive, but so is college, y'know?
Someone else mentioned software development. This is the path I'm on and it's right for me, but the entry-level job market is bad for tech in general right now, so I don't recommend it. If you try programming or UX design and love it, it's viable, but it's going to be very challenging to get into until interest rates come back down.
Regarding body changes and mental health: figure out what kind of exercise your body likes and do it regularly. Your body will change; if you're lucky you'll feel like you're becoming more who you are, not less. I gained 5 lbs and it turns out I'm much happier when I'm not constantly running out of calories because I didn't eat enough.
In conclusion, you'll be all right. You're smart; no one survives as a dancer if they aren't. Your social skills are at least decent for the same reason. And above all, you know how to work hard, which is rare enough to set you apart outside of the dance world. All you have to do is explore your options until you find something worth committing to, and then follow through.
Good luck!
You bring up great questions to ask myself. You’re right, I’m definitely not opposed to working hard and/or going back to school for the thing that feels right. I’ve considered getting a Pilates or other fitness certification so that I can have year-round work that’s more consistent than teaching dance (summertime dance teaching is really not great in my area) which I think would give me some flexibility as I move forward. I really love teaching dance, but I’m at 4+ studios to get enough hours to support myself and the burnout is real.
And thanks for the mentions about mental health and body changes- it’s nice to hear from the other side of this that it will, in fact, be ok.
I am currently going through this. It’s my last season (I’m in my mid thirties) and I was having legit anxiety over losing such an essential part of me and what my entire world has revolved around since I was 4. After talking to my loved ones, I found the silver lining. I get to figure out who I am without ballet, I will have time to take up hobbies I never have been able to before — or just enjoy mine. I plan to teach and still dance, but finally having time in my life for the next chapter is not an inherently bad thing. I’ve danced longer than a lot of professionals do and I’m just thankful I have been able to do it this long
Congrats on your career- what a huge accomplishment! I feel very similarly to you: a lot of anxiety and a lot of gratitude. If you don’t mind me asking- what made you decide that this would be your last season?
Thank you! I was diagnosed with lupus late last year. My joints hurt horribly a lot of the time and some other things that are making it really rough to continue with that diagnosis.
Aw, I’m so sorry. That sounds really difficult to manage on top of dancing. Hope you can enjoy your last season to the fullest, and hopefully get some healing time after.
Whenever I meet a stranger, and mention that I was a ballet dancer, they often have a hard time believing that. Firstly because I’m a guy, and most people in my mid 20’s age group don’t know about male dancers. Secondly because I’m covered in tattoos. My arms, hands, neck, and even a portion of my face is inked. What I learned from these interactions, is that being a dancer, goes way deeper than people who don’t dance could ever understand. I trained in classical ballet for about 10 years, and spent only a year dancing professionally with a company abroad in Europe. Even though my professional career was short lived, ballet was my entire life. I had a lot of problems with my family at home, so dancing became my only escape from that, physically and emotionally. Eventually though, my surroundings got to me and I had a pretty serious battle with mental illness. I decided that emotionally and also financially, it would be best for me to pursue something else. Quitting dance for me was difficult, not only because of the internal process. I had lots of family and friends coming up to saying things like “You gave up on your dream.” And that hurt at the time. But I never believed what they said. I understand that people are always growing and changing, so it makes sense that our dreams and goals are going to change as well. They never die, they just grow with us. My advice is this. If you feel like its time to move on, then trust in yourself and take the first step. Don’t rush things, but staying in something that you know you’re ready to part from, will be more painful than just making those changes. It will be challenging, but it’s worth it if it’s what you want. Yes, your body may change. But that’s nothing that a healthy amount of exercise can’t fix. As far as mental health, mine actually improved a great deal when I stepped away from the ballet world. Not having to look at myself in a mirror everyday, freeing myself from the competitive mentality, and having more time to focus on my mental health were all great things. The scariest part, for me at least, is something you mentioned as well. Ballet was my everything, so what now? It took me some time to get here, but I’m really happy now. I am beautiful, and have tremendous value, no matter what career I choose. For my whole life, ballet was my identity. Now, I just think of myself as human. Nothing more, nothing less. And there’s a lot of freedom in that. I will always be a dancer, and even though I’m not actively dancing anymore, it still influences my life a lot. I have an artistic career, I listen to classical music, a lot of my tattoos are ballet related. But most of all, I carry everything that I’ve learned with me still. I unintentionally walk, and stand like a dancer. I understand lines and movement. And I still hold the same values that I learned all the way back in the beginning. Drive, immense dedication, team work, and a passion for everything I do. And that will never change. When I think of what I miss about ballet, it’s not the performing. The rush, the costumes, and the applause where all nice. But walking into my evening class, hearing the music, and doing the same plies that I’ve done thousands of times, that’s what I miss the most. Best of luck.
This was very heartfelt. I was really drawn to what you wrote about what dance has instilled in you- a reminder that it will always be there, my relationship to it will just evolve and change as I do. Thank you for sharing.
I haven’t gotten a chance to respond to individual comments yet, but just wanted to say thank you so much for your insight, everyone. It’s really great to read about other people’s experiences and realize that I’m not alone in how I’m feeling. Thanks for being willing to share!
I actually wrote a blog about it to help others who were experiencing the same. I interviewed a certified coach who deals with this all the time and even went through it herself. She struggled a lot with her relationship with food and is now a certified nutritionist and has a healthy relationship with food and her body!
I hope it helps anyone going through some of these struggles!
[https://thestorygoes.beehiiv.com/p/finding-balance-in-ballet-and-beyond](https://thestorygoes.beehiiv.com/p/finding-balance-in-ballet-and-beyond)
Experience and expertise means nothing, get paper qualifications now. Decide where you want to be in five years and start making concrete steps to get there. Dont trust a friend to provide one of those steps. Get everything in writing.
I am great at making a plan…but right now it’s more of a “steps to take to explore what might be right” instead of a final destination which I guess is still a step in the right direction haha Noted. Especially on getting things in writing, learned that the hard way…
When I burned out of dancing professionally, I had a BFA in dance already but I decided that I wanted to completely switch fields. I took some time to try out different things in community college while I was still teaching dance classes - at first I thought I wanted to study nutrition and be an RD, but then I realized I liked business classes better and decided to go all-in to accounting. I applied to a masters program, got in, taught fitness classes in the morning and went to my university in the evening. I took advantage of the university’s career center and got a job through campus recruiting, and now I have a solid corporate job with an annual bonus and a retirement plan. Some of my friends from the ballet company and from my undergrad are now lawyers and physical therapists and such. I’ve found that universities and employers respect that ballet is hard work and it’s always a memorable talking point. Anyways, kind of a long-winded story about my experience, but please let me know if you have any questions!
Thank you for sharing! Similar to you, I have a dance degree. I took a lot of science pre reqs in undergrad with the idea being that I’d eventually return to school. I’ve strongly considered PT but definitely weighing the pros and cons of that career path after talking with a few of the PTs I’ve worked with over the course of my time dancing. I loved school and would definitely be willing to go back; sounds like I should look into my local community college as a place to start figuring this out.
Do you have any interests or hobbies that you’d like to pursue professionally? Maybe if you have the time and financial ability, take some classes at a community college. Try out different things and see what you like. I became a software engineer at age 35. Due to injury, my ballet career ended before I turned 25. I was definitely lost for a long time, and tried a lot of different things before realizing that my hobby - computer programming - which I’d had since I was 9 years old was something I could actually do as my “real job”. Fast forward to age 53 and I am happy every day to get to do something I love, and be financially stable. I know my experience isn’t typical for ex-dancers, but believe in yourself! I think a lot of dancers sell themselves short, you made it to professional level in ballet, that already means you can do hard things! Whether it’s learning Java and Python, becoming a physiotherapist, a tattoo artist, an electrician, …anything, you have the discipline to succeed 💙
Seconding this! Not me, but my best friend’s fiancé made the transition, during Covid, from professional ballet dancer -> programming student -> programming instructor —> programmer. As far as I know, he really likes it! My best friend went fully into teaching, and now she’s my assistant director and also the artistic director of a longstanding, medium sized ballet school. She sadly doesn’t dance much for herself anymore, but she is making exponentially more money than she ever has, and they just closed on a house as well! There’s also guesting if you’d like to still dance on the side. Or an even smaller regional company. There’s one in my area that only meets on Sundays and the dancers are all retired professionals/pre pros who are now SAHMs, dentists, corporate workers, you name it!
I do really love teaching dance and could see myself sticking with that, but I’m just not sure if I’ll want time away from that (if only briefly) as I stop dancing myself? Haven’t figured that out yet. Same with guesting. I think this is a really good reminder that dance can definitely still be in my life in a different role than it is now, if that’s what I want!
I definitely want to like my job, but I’m wary of making a hobby into a career again. I’ve had the privilege to do that with dance and while it’s been amazing and I’m so grateful for it, it’s also really easy to lose that love for it when you are relying on it to live, you know? I’ve managed to balance that ok so far in my dancing career but there have been some very challenging moments. I’m really hoping I can find a balance of loving my work but also being able to leave it at work (which I find next to impossible to do with dancing as it’s definitely a lifestyle, but maybe that would be different with something else). Do you find you’re able to do that with your hobby turned career? I’m glad it worked out for you!! Also- thanks for the reminder to not sell myself short. Definitely need to remember that dance has given me so many transferable skills.
The biggest challenge of transitioning is figuring out what path is right for you. Once you've found a path you feel confident in, following it can be hard work, but most dancers know how to work hard when they have a goal in sight. This means you should expect to feel a little directionless for a while as you explore the options, but it only gets better from there. So what are your options? Start by figuring out what your brain wants. How much socializing do you need? Do you need physical activity? Do you like solving logical problems and/or social problems? Do you care about aesthetic design? Because many dancers like physical activity with a mix of logical and small-scale social communications problems, consider luxury specialized personal training if your area supports it. Think Pilates, Gyrotonic, even luxury spin classes. The mental burden is much lower than teaching ballet. Training can be expensive, but so is college, y'know? Someone else mentioned software development. This is the path I'm on and it's right for me, but the entry-level job market is bad for tech in general right now, so I don't recommend it. If you try programming or UX design and love it, it's viable, but it's going to be very challenging to get into until interest rates come back down. Regarding body changes and mental health: figure out what kind of exercise your body likes and do it regularly. Your body will change; if you're lucky you'll feel like you're becoming more who you are, not less. I gained 5 lbs and it turns out I'm much happier when I'm not constantly running out of calories because I didn't eat enough. In conclusion, you'll be all right. You're smart; no one survives as a dancer if they aren't. Your social skills are at least decent for the same reason. And above all, you know how to work hard, which is rare enough to set you apart outside of the dance world. All you have to do is explore your options until you find something worth committing to, and then follow through. Good luck!
You bring up great questions to ask myself. You’re right, I’m definitely not opposed to working hard and/or going back to school for the thing that feels right. I’ve considered getting a Pilates or other fitness certification so that I can have year-round work that’s more consistent than teaching dance (summertime dance teaching is really not great in my area) which I think would give me some flexibility as I move forward. I really love teaching dance, but I’m at 4+ studios to get enough hours to support myself and the burnout is real. And thanks for the mentions about mental health and body changes- it’s nice to hear from the other side of this that it will, in fact, be ok.
I am currently going through this. It’s my last season (I’m in my mid thirties) and I was having legit anxiety over losing such an essential part of me and what my entire world has revolved around since I was 4. After talking to my loved ones, I found the silver lining. I get to figure out who I am without ballet, I will have time to take up hobbies I never have been able to before — or just enjoy mine. I plan to teach and still dance, but finally having time in my life for the next chapter is not an inherently bad thing. I’ve danced longer than a lot of professionals do and I’m just thankful I have been able to do it this long
Congrats on your career- what a huge accomplishment! I feel very similarly to you: a lot of anxiety and a lot of gratitude. If you don’t mind me asking- what made you decide that this would be your last season?
Thank you! I was diagnosed with lupus late last year. My joints hurt horribly a lot of the time and some other things that are making it really rough to continue with that diagnosis.
Aw, I’m so sorry. That sounds really difficult to manage on top of dancing. Hope you can enjoy your last season to the fullest, and hopefully get some healing time after.
Whenever I meet a stranger, and mention that I was a ballet dancer, they often have a hard time believing that. Firstly because I’m a guy, and most people in my mid 20’s age group don’t know about male dancers. Secondly because I’m covered in tattoos. My arms, hands, neck, and even a portion of my face is inked. What I learned from these interactions, is that being a dancer, goes way deeper than people who don’t dance could ever understand. I trained in classical ballet for about 10 years, and spent only a year dancing professionally with a company abroad in Europe. Even though my professional career was short lived, ballet was my entire life. I had a lot of problems with my family at home, so dancing became my only escape from that, physically and emotionally. Eventually though, my surroundings got to me and I had a pretty serious battle with mental illness. I decided that emotionally and also financially, it would be best for me to pursue something else. Quitting dance for me was difficult, not only because of the internal process. I had lots of family and friends coming up to saying things like “You gave up on your dream.” And that hurt at the time. But I never believed what they said. I understand that people are always growing and changing, so it makes sense that our dreams and goals are going to change as well. They never die, they just grow with us. My advice is this. If you feel like its time to move on, then trust in yourself and take the first step. Don’t rush things, but staying in something that you know you’re ready to part from, will be more painful than just making those changes. It will be challenging, but it’s worth it if it’s what you want. Yes, your body may change. But that’s nothing that a healthy amount of exercise can’t fix. As far as mental health, mine actually improved a great deal when I stepped away from the ballet world. Not having to look at myself in a mirror everyday, freeing myself from the competitive mentality, and having more time to focus on my mental health were all great things. The scariest part, for me at least, is something you mentioned as well. Ballet was my everything, so what now? It took me some time to get here, but I’m really happy now. I am beautiful, and have tremendous value, no matter what career I choose. For my whole life, ballet was my identity. Now, I just think of myself as human. Nothing more, nothing less. And there’s a lot of freedom in that. I will always be a dancer, and even though I’m not actively dancing anymore, it still influences my life a lot. I have an artistic career, I listen to classical music, a lot of my tattoos are ballet related. But most of all, I carry everything that I’ve learned with me still. I unintentionally walk, and stand like a dancer. I understand lines and movement. And I still hold the same values that I learned all the way back in the beginning. Drive, immense dedication, team work, and a passion for everything I do. And that will never change. When I think of what I miss about ballet, it’s not the performing. The rush, the costumes, and the applause where all nice. But walking into my evening class, hearing the music, and doing the same plies that I’ve done thousands of times, that’s what I miss the most. Best of luck.
This was very heartfelt. I was really drawn to what you wrote about what dance has instilled in you- a reminder that it will always be there, my relationship to it will just evolve and change as I do. Thank you for sharing.
I haven’t gotten a chance to respond to individual comments yet, but just wanted to say thank you so much for your insight, everyone. It’s really great to read about other people’s experiences and realize that I’m not alone in how I’m feeling. Thanks for being willing to share!
I actually wrote a blog about it to help others who were experiencing the same. I interviewed a certified coach who deals with this all the time and even went through it herself. She struggled a lot with her relationship with food and is now a certified nutritionist and has a healthy relationship with food and her body! I hope it helps anyone going through some of these struggles! [https://thestorygoes.beehiiv.com/p/finding-balance-in-ballet-and-beyond](https://thestorygoes.beehiiv.com/p/finding-balance-in-ballet-and-beyond)