Career or Art: Do Ballet Dancers Have to Choose?

It seems every other woman can remember her mother dressing her up in a tiny tutu and sending her to ballet class as soon as she could balance on two feet. Over her childhood and teenage years, she may replace that tutu with a pair of cleats or a violin. Those that never do say their pure love for the art form is what gets them through the many injuries, rejections, and inherently low salaries they face. Professional dancer with American Midwest Ballet Elena Carter says, “Right now in my life, I can’t see myself not dancing. It’s just something I need to do, it’s part of my identity.”

Elena Carter stretching before pointe work

Before attending the University of Arizona’s prestigious School of Dance, Carter spent her childhood studying at the Pacific Northwest Ballet school on scholarship. Although other graduating seniors decided to bypass college and continue training at PNB or other companies, Carter always knew she wanted to go to a university. Along with her dance degree, Carter also received a degree in mathematics and hopes to put those skills to use after retiring from dance. Since her graduation in 2016, she has danced with American Midwest Ballet, previously known as Ballet Nebraska, as an apprentice which is the second tier position in the company.

Other aspiring ballet dancers decide to streamline their careers by skipping college. One example is Wen Na Robertson who also trained at PNB before moving to Atlanta to join Atlanta Ballet’s conservatory program in lieu of college. However, after two years with the conservatory, Robertson left for the same program which Carter trained at, the University of Arizona’s School of Dance. “UA offered a college education while also offering some of the best dance training in the country,” she said. Robertson is graduating this May and is excited to take on the real world after refining her training and building her repertoire at UA.

Wen Na Robertson in a moment of stillness during UA School of Dance Advanced Ballet

Not all dancers choose to stick with ballet like Carter and Robertson. The steep climb to the top of the industry causes many to make the tough decision to leave the art form behind, like former professional Rebecca Hambalek. A ballerina since she was two and a half years old, Hambalek was elated to accept an apprentice position at Ballet Tucson after graduating high school. For her first year in the company, in 2014, the young dancer was not paid except for in the form of free pointe shoes. One year later, when she was offered the same apprentice position, Hambalek felt stuck between pushing through another year of unpaid work or attending the University of California Los Angeles, which she was accepted to after high school graduation. Though many tears were shed over her decision to leave ballet in the past, Hambalek is excited to pursue a career in Child Life while continuing to move and create with Los Angeles based dance group ICARUS Contemporary Dance. “I know in my heart that I’ve lived my dream of being a ballerina, even if it was for a short period of time,” she said.

Rebecca Hambalek still finding ways to create

On top of the copious amounts of hard work, mentally and physically, ballerinas accept to pursue their passions, they are also paid relatively poorly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, “The median hourly wage for dancers was $14.25 in May 2017. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.74 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $30.95”.

However, for professional dancers such as Carter, Confucius’s belief that if you “choose a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life”, rings true.

“I just feel so fulfilled when I dance and when I perform and I would rather be a poor, happy dancer than working a job I hate,” Carter said.

Not all ballet dancers are living paycheck to paycheck though. Caroline Perry, a member of Houston Ballet’s corps de ballet, has not found it necessary to work more than one job and says she is living very comfortably. When Perry graduated from high school, she instantly received a job offer from Houston Ballet and said the excitement of the opportunity made it easy to choose to continue with dance rather than attending a college.

According to paysa.com, a dancer at Houston Ballet earns an average of $62,973. This is almost double the national average. As a younger dancer in the company, Perry said she instead receives a large stipend bimonthly as well as half of her rent supplemented. If a dancer keeps pushing, they may be rewarded with a top position as a soloist or principal dancer which pays upwards of $100,000 annually.

However, many ballet dancers come to realize that getting into a company and eventually making it to the top involves much more than talent. Hambalek says other uncontrollable factors dictate whether someone makes it or not.

“I think that’s the harsh reality; no matter how talented you are or how much you train, it takes the right timing and a little bit of luck to get your foot through the door… I don’t mean to sound discouraging, but it’s just something that took me a long time and frankly a lot of tears to realize,” she said.

For those that do find the right combination of talent, luck and timing, the hard work never ends but truly pays off.

Robertson said, “It takes an extraordinarily strong and passionate person to undertake all the hardships of being a ballerina…You need to be able to focus on your love and dedication to the art form in order to make it in this cutthroat world.”

It is undoubtably difficult to continuously keep your head up through the twists and turns of being a ballerina but those who identify as dancers stick with it no matter what.

“If someone really wants it, then no matter how much you practice at it, you’ll always still want it and that fire and determination will always be there,” Carter said.

Joe Ogren dancing in UA School of Dance Advanced Ballet

Gabrielle Mix

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Dancers and Choreographers