Promoting Entrepreneurship for Dance Majors in Higher Education

Abstract

Dance graduates are more likely to become self-employed or undertake freelance work in the field of dance. To succeed and build a career, they need to understand the arts market and develop management and organization skills for planning, fundraising, application writing, promoting, and touring. In Korea, the low employability of dance graduates and lack of their entrepreneurial skills have been age-long problems because dance courses and module contents have given weight on dance technique modules. Dance departments have failed to develop graduateness and to provide the students satisfactory career guidance. It would be the best if, during university, students are given support not just in fulfilling their creative potential but also helping them gain confidence and adequate skills required to equip them for self-employment and freelance working. I thus suggest that to embed entrepreneurship across the dance curriculum can be an effective approach to address the reality of employment in dance and develop innovative career strategies. This article identified entrepreneurial competencies required for a successful career in the dance sector and suggested pedagogical approaches to enhance entrepreneurship for dance majors in higher education.