Beyond the stage: Career transition and retirement of professional dancers

Abstract

Introduction: Career transition for professional athletes can be a complex, multidimensional process with the outcome contingent upon the individuals’ cognitive, social, behavioural and emotional resources and level of preparation for transition/retirement. Dancers accumulate a quality of skills through a performing career, at times sacrificing personal development at the expense of performance excellence. It has been acknowledged that career paths in dance are more often meandering than linear, highlighting the need for multi-skilling. Transferable skills are often poorly understood in cultural industries, consequently opportunities beyond performance for professional dancers are potentially not as accessible. Dancer career transition programs currently operate internationally in America, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom. Despite efforts to provide dancers with transition and retirement advice and resources, there appears to be critical deficiencies in the support networks in Australia to maximise the potential for dance artists to build sustainable careers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences of dancers transitioning and retiring from professional dance to potentially identify further resource development and support opportunities for dancers beyond the stage.