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Holly Thomas
Professor Griffin
UWRT 1102
March 11, 2015
Dance: A competitive Community

Within any discourse community there is always some type of underlining factor and
questions that do not first meet the eye. This means that people may assume what goes on in that
community just by solely observing it or from what they hear goes on, but that is never exactly
what is happening. It is important to understand some of the hidden elements that go into
different discourse communities. An example of an interesting discourse community is dance.
Dance has been around for many and many years. Yet, what goes on behind the scene in a dance
community? Think about dance and how worldwide it has become. What does it take for dancers
who revolve their life around dance to get where they want to be as high up in their community?
How competitive is it? A big question for those who dance their whole life and want to pursue it
as a career is, why do some dancers become more successful than others?
In a typical dance community, there are multiple artifacts required for everything to
correspond well together. These include leotards, tights, spandex, a dance room with mirrors,
music, speakers, ballet bar, ballet shoes (or other shoes depending on the type of dance), band
aids and sports tape for blisters, hairspray for performances, a choreographer, many dancers (if it
is a big group performance such as The Nutcracker), lights for an effect during a show, and much
more. Dancers should be able to express themselves in a variety of ways such as movements,
expressions, emotions, etc. Dance can have unique style. To be a dancer, one must be able to

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perform, do basic movement steps, leap, balance, chaines, chasses, turns, and more depending on
which type of dance they are a part of. Without continual training and practice, there will be no
improvement or chance at becoming successful in a dance career.
To become a professional dancer, you must put in way more work than relying on your
natural talents (Doskocil. 15 Truths about dance). A dance community consists of continuous
learning (Doskocil. 15 Truths about dance). Dancers must be able to absorb as much information
as possible, plus some more. This means that it will not be an easy job getting to the level you
want to be at. It is a difficult profession that others do not realize. Those in a dance community
who want to be successful must be dedicated and push themselves to their fullest potential.
Always wanting to improve and hear from constructive criticism. There will be lots of
disappointment along the way. Disappointment seems to be the most largely known aspect of
having a dance career. Those who can handle it better, are the ones who will succeed.
Competitiveness is a gigantic factor, especially today, that coincides with making it big in
dance. In a dance community, one is always going against another, even if they are in the same
community. Dennis Spitzer says, I played sports all my life, and Ive never seen anyone work as
hard as they do. Referring to his ten-year-old daughter after watching her compete in a dance
competition (Kinetz. Budding Dancers Compete, Seriously). He also compares dance to winning,
because that is what the ultimate goal is. It takes just about everything you have to be one of the
top dancers of this century. Does this have a negative effect on the world of dancing? Being
defeated or not getting the feedback one wanted, even just once, can cause someone to feel as if
they are not good enough or might not ever make it as far as they want to go. Is this a motive to
keep pushing forward until they get it right?

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Is aspiring to become a professional dancer worth all the money and time spent? Tom
Ralabate, an associate professor of dance, says Parents are spending maybe $500 on entry
fees alone, not counting costumes, plus the money to go to the studio all year (Kinetz. Budding
Dancers Compete, Seriously). This is just one of the beginning amounts of money spent for a
child as they are starting off in dance programs. Once a child falls in love with the dance
community, they will want to continue taking more and more dance classes or joining other
dance programs, which will add up to a whole lot of money spent over time. Dance classes are
not cheap in todays society. One average dance class a month usually starts at around $40, while
private lessons can be up to $70 plus, all depending on the dance studio. Not to mention someone
who is involved in a competition dance company who travel and perform basically every
weekend. That adds the cost of travel money, new costumes all the time, hotel and food
expenses, etc. Does a family that has more money to fund on their children for dance have to do
with why some dancers make it more successfully than others? It is a good thought to consider.
Think about all of the people in the world who are very talented at dance and want to continue
further with it but are not financially stable or have the right resources to do so. It is a shame that
their dreams could be crushed of not being able to perform in front of many people.
Another key point to becoming successful in a dance community is time. Time is an
essential for dancers. This can be considered in all sorts of ways. Doskocil says, A dancer never
knows when their dance career will suddenly vanish: a company folds, career ending injury, car
accident, deathDance every day as if it is the final performance (Doskocil. Ballet Pages. 15
Truths about dance). She is saying that dancers must make the best of their time and perform
each move every day to their fullest potential, because it not, it could be too late. This states that
if those fortunate enough to have enough time for training and improvement may be the ones

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who can make it far enough in the professional world of dance. Some dancers may not have
enough time available for practicing due to interfering factors such as school, work, family
priorities, children, etc. Depending on how busy ones life is can determine how much of their
time they reserve towards dance, but one who is absolutely, one-hundred percent committed will
definitely be the dancer who goes furthest to reaching their goals and having success with it.
Aspiration and knowledge, or a lack thereof, are two huge essential factors to have within
a dance community. Aspiration is about having a desire and passion to achieve a goal. If dance is
what someone loves to do and wants to keep going with it for the rest of their lives, then they
absolutely must follow their heart and stick with their passion. Without having aspiration in
dance is it even possible to succeed? Doskocil states that You cant control who hires you, who
fires you, who likes your work, who doesnt, the politics of being in a company. Dont waste
your talent and energy worrying about things you cant control. Focus on honing your craft,
being the best dancer you can be. Keep an open mind and a positive attitude. (Doskocil. Ballet
Pages. 15 Truths about dance). To become successful in dance, it is imperative to keep ones
head up, not letting others get one down, moving forward, and most importantly to keep the
passion and fire they had to begin with. This way, if a dance situation does not turn out the way
as planned, there will always be the power of passion. Famous dancers would never make it as
far as they do if they just gave up all the time. The dancers who have more aspiration are the
ones who will be chosen more often for dance opportunities and careers because they will always
strive for perfection and stay competitive towards reaching the level they want to be at.
Knowledge is another one of the essential factors needed to becoming a successful
dancer. Knowledge comes from experience. You can discuss a task a hundred times, go to 1000
classes, but unless we get out there and perform we will only have a philosophical understanding

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of dance (Doskocil. Ballet Pages. 15 Truths about dance). Without dancers starting at the
bottom and slowly working their way up, there is no way they would be able to become a
professional. Just like any other career, a person must start at the beginning level, learn the
basics, get into the more challenging aspects, always try to improve and perfect at tasks, work
their hardest until one day they are promoted and accounted for all their hard work, they may
even eventually be the leading head of their job. Then, they will now be the one whom others
come to for their expertise. Find opportunities to get on stage. You must experience
performance firsthand to call yourself a professional dancer (Doskocil. Ballet Pages. 15 Truths
about dance). In the dance community, knowledge is constantly being added to ones mind and
changed because they are discovering new moves and ways of performing differently. Those who
obtain more dance knowledge are the ones who will succeed further than others.
Taking risks. This is a crucial part of making it professionally in dance. Some dancers
take risks and it is the best decision they had ever made, while others may take a risk and it turns
out to be the biggest let down of their career. While other dancers are not taking risks at all,
which will not get them any further ahead than they want to be. Majority of the time, dance
opportunities are not just handed out of the blue to someone. They must get themselves out there
and make themselves known by showing off their talents with some confidence. Here is an
example of some dance risks according to Doskocil, From letting go of the ballet barre to
balance, to moving around the world to dance with a new company, from trusting a new partner
to trying a new form of dance, dancers must have a flexible mind and attitude as well as body
(Doskocil. Ballet Pages. 15 Truths about dance). Where would any of the dancers in a dance
community be if they never at least attempted to try out for an audition of some sort? They may

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be stuck in the same spot for their whole lives, never expanded their dance connections,
knowledge and movements.
Appearances of dancers can have a make or break situation when it comes to getting
hired for a job. Depending on the type of company, they are usually always searching for a
dancer with a specific look in mind. Many of these occurrences are associated with the type of
dance called ballet. It is common for professional ballet performers to have an exact look
including characteristics such as length of leg, length of arm, length of neck (Peter Boal.
Pointe. Dance media). Usually the ballet dancer must be tall (long legs), skinny, small head,
healthy, and beautiful looking. If one does not have these factors does that mean they will never
get the position they want to get in a program? Not necessarily, unless the company is very strict,
then there may be a chance that they will love that person and their dancing the way it is. Some
dancers who are born with a natural ballerina look will most likely have a lot better chance of
getting a leading role. Is this discriminating? It can be argued but it seems to be unfair for those
who work harder than others but do not physically appear appealing to the company, or
whomever may be judging.
On the other hand, favoritism has been occurring in the dance community as well. There
have been plenty of cases in which a dance teacher/instructor has been known for favoring
particular students over the others. For example, they may often put them in the front of the
entire class for combinations, class pieces, performances, etc. Or it may be that the teacher
knows the student or their parents well from somewhere else so they like them because of nonrelated reasons. They might choose them over other dance students to have solos or exciting
opportunities. Sometimes, it is not even the best dancers of the class who they favor the best. It
is unfair for dance teachers to have a priority list of student dancers because there may be plenty

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of expert dancers in the class, or those who just work really hard and want to improve, but they
cannot get to where they want to be because of the teachers picky choosing. There should not be
someone holding someone back from reaching their goals or getting the same opportunities as
the rest of the class.
Having connections in dance can be the most important part of becoming a successful
dancer. Knowing someone who knows someone can open up a whole door of opportunities.
Many professional dancers got to where they are now by having someone they knew introduce
them to a person higher up, who gave them an audition, which led to a career they love. This is a
big reason why some dancers make it more successfully than others. Even if two dancers of the
same community are equally as talented, the one having more connections would be the one who
ends up famous. Or, a dancer who may not be quite as talented as the next but gets more
opportunities from the people they are connected to will still make it further. Is this fair? It does
not seem ethical for the ones working harder to be stuck in the same place they have always been
when they are the ones who have big dreams to become professionally known. Sometimes in a
dance community, a teacher one has will let them know about events or people they have worked
with to help their students succeed. It can all depend on the location or how popular a certain
dance community is. This is why it is vital in dance to introduce oneself to a variety of people
anywhere they may go, because there is never certainty for when those people may remember
that particular dancer and offer them an audition or something.
Are injuries a part of the reason some dancers make it more professionally over others?
Well, of course it is. In a dance community, there is always something going on behind closed
doors that most people do not realize. Dancers are hard-workers and put their soul into what they
do; if they are dedicated. They are constantly pushing themselves to the limit. Is that limit too

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much? Is it worth the risk of an eternal injury or ruining a dance career forever? Depends on who
one chooses to ask. Dance injuries can be very serious though and nothing to play around with.
There are plenty of times when dancers are seriously injured and will never be the same, or as
good as they were. Even sometimes the teacher can be blamed for the one who caused them to
become injured by leading them to do certain moves. If a dancer gets injured it can make or
break their whole career. In a dance community, the ones who have the better health and well
condition to perform perfectly will go further in their career. For instance, a company hiring
dancers will not want to choose the one who limps or cannot do specific dance moves, they want
someone who they can rely on to do anything they want them to do whenever they ask. Staying
active and healthy will improve their ability to make it successfully in dance.
In conclusion, there is a lot more to a dance community than most people think. So what
answers the question why do some dancers become more successful than others It is a mixture
of hard work, competitiveness, money and time, aspiration and knowledge, taking risks,
appearances, favoritism, having connections, having perfect health/no injuries, etc. All of the
qualities are very important towards having success with dance. Many people in a dance
community may be participating only for fun, but the ones who are serious about making it their
lifetime career must stay focused and put their dreams and goals first. It is not easy to become a
professional dancer, there is never a guarantee of what will happen. There is a constant strive for
competition and being better than the ones who are hoping for the same things, but all of these
factors are main reasons for why some dancers get ahead of others around them. There is not
time to mess around if one wants to be the absolute, best, famous dancer they can be.