DCDanceBlog

i’ve been thinking about jobs recently. the difficulty, that is, of finding a fulfilling one if you’re a creative person. man, think of the dancers in this town who make ends meet by teaching dance, or pilates, or yoga. or by doing arts administration work. sure, these things pay the bills, and they’re probably marginally interesting and are at least associated with something exciting.

but to move up even a step is tough, it seems. i know folks who are aspiring dance critics, and making any money doing it–and even establishing the slightest foothold–takes a lot of persistence, almost as much as getting anywhere as a dancer. we can all agree that actually making a living as a dancer is a ridiculous impossibility, at least in this country, but making money writing isn’t a whole lot easier.

i was talking with some friends recently about a couple of dancers–both guys, as it happens–who do seem to have found some success in cobbling together a mix of teaching, bodywork and dance production, and make a living doing it. the bodywork seems to have helped them find a niche, but they’ve managed to ensure that their unique perspective on movement–in a broader sense–is also included. my impression with these guys is that making this happen has required no small amount of persistence, as well as a pretty good business sense that has helped them  market and promote their “product”.

i’m a person with a lot of interests, and it’s conveniently allowed me to make decent money doing one thing while my more creative side is freed from having to earn its keep. but i’ve realized that if i wanted to actually make money doing something a little more creative, i’d have a hell of a time figuring out how to make that work. in fact, finding a way to get paid to do more creative work requires creativity itself, an openness of mind to brainstorming and combining potentially incongruent concepts. i love the idea of gradually developing a plan that is totally unconventional and unique to one individual, but figuring it out is a hell of a task.

about those guys i mentioned earlier, what’s funny is that they probably don’t have a lot of security, but they do seem to have interesting work lives that are multi-faceted and mixed, which hugely appeals to me. i’m told that at least one of them has been angling to get a university teaching job for a long time, and that surprises me: even though it would give him a lot more security (and prestige), it somehow strikes me as a lot less varied and dynamic than what he’s doing now.

so yes, i do think it’s possible to create a life of creativity that also pays the bills, but i think it requires a lot of persistence–and probably more than a little brains, talent and confidence. and that’s a pretty tall order.

i’d love some feedback on this; it’s an idea i’m grappling with personally and i haven’t made any headway yet.

Postscript

I just saw this morning that the sunday ny times had a great article about 5 theatre actors in new york that examines how they make a living and how much money they’ve made in the past few years. it’s amazing how little money they all make (often around $25k/year)–and a couple of the actors are actually fairly old (50+)! and yet it’s obvious that they all love what they do and can’t imagine giving it up. one guy in particular said no to the opportunity to make a decent wage as an understudy b/c he actually would have been performing very little.