work, again
i feel bad that i haven’t written here in a while. however, i’ve decided that right now it’s more important that i pour my creative energy into thinking about what i do with the rest of my time–that is, the 40 hours per week when i’m not dancing, thinking about dance, or writing creatively. i’m trying to figure out what might be a better fit for me than the arrangement i currently have.
which leads me to ask this of readers: if you are trying to be an artist or creative person of some sort, how do you make money? i talked with a dancer last night who spends at least 20 hours per week dancing in various companies (mostly for free), 15 hours making money at a desk job, and some more hours teaching dance to make up the balance.
if you are trying to make it as some kind of artist, how do you do it? what type of jobs do you have, spending how many hours at each? and do you make enough money to live on without seriously stressing?
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Amanda,
How about interviewing dancer/Pilates instructors? It seems to be a way to do dance and make a living.
Comment by Nancy Havlik — December 12, 2007 @ 6:07 am
I spend about 14 hours a week teaching dance at various community centres (very detrimental to my body and draining to my artistic energy, I recently wrote a quick post about this) 20 hours a week sitting at a desk in an office, the odd paid freelance writing gig (I’ve got a piece in the March issue of Dancer Magazine! Yay!) and I spend a good amount of my time stressing about money and being horridly broke. Right now I would love to buy some groceries but I’m waiting on a paycheque…waiting and waiting…
When I dance I dance for free, most of the time. Making my own work, trying like hell to get it presented, dancing for friends, doing unpaid apprenticeships…the odd paying gig happens every once in a while and I love the feeling of getting paid what I deserve for what I love to do. Hopefully in the future I’ll have more of that. Truth is however that I love it so much I’m willing to do it for free and bust my ass doing random joe jobs to pay the bills.
Comment by Shallom — February 7, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
shallom, thanks for your comment. but dag, it’s depressing that it’s so hard to do something you love and still get by. i’m in the deep midst of thinking about it now. i quit my job, but am not sure how things will work out. deep thinking right now.
Comment by Amanda Abrams — February 14, 2008 @ 9:22 am