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Stayin'
Alive!
What You Can Do to Earn Money Besides Wait
Table
May 2000
Dear Dancers,
Unless you sign a union contract with a major NYC dance company and stay on for your entire career, chances are you'll need to find gainful employment other than
performing, at least occasionally and probably as an on-going fact of life. For that matter, you may want to supplement your income even if you do land a plum job
with ABT or Alvin Ailey.
The time-honored means of paying the bills for show biz folks, of course, is to wait table. Proponents of this choice always cite the flexible hours, the willingness of
bosses to let you trade shifts with someone if you want to go to an audition, and the potential for hefty tips. All true. But there are drawbacks as well. Especially for
dancers, a job that means being on your feet for many hours while hoisting heavy trays may not prove to
be the best kind of cross-training. And at least one erstwhile
waitress, DanceArt.com's very own Stacey, had so much trouble getting corks out of wine bottles that she had to quit her job at a fancy restaurant. So, what other
options are there for putting a jingle in your pocket? Plenty! Here are just a few to get you started:
Teacher for Test Prep Companies
Heather Hinds, a 22-year-old Texas native who is a Columbia University graduate and a STEPS scholarship student, makes a tidy sum by preparing students to
take the Medical College Admissions Test (M-CAT). She works for the Princeton Review, and likes the fact that the evening commitment leaves her free to take
class and go to auditions during the day. Heather was a pre-med major with a concentration in dance during her undergrad years and hopes to dance professionally
before going to med school. Because she has a specialty, her hourly rates are higher than the usual $15 to $17 which teachers for SAT courses get. But the lower rates
are still quite respectable! For more information, call 1-800-2REVIEW or visit the
Jobs with
Us section of the Princeton Review site.
Another leading test prep company is Kaplan. To find out about teaching jobs, call 1-800-KAPTEST or visit the
Work at Kaplan corner of the
KAPTEST site.
Tutor, On-Line or Off
The Princeton Review has a newly-initiated on-line
tutoring service. Registration is free for a limited time only. You can also tutor in person, either for a test prep
company or on your own. Some people find students by posting notices on public boards in grocery stores. A better solution is to get listed with the
Parents League of New
York. Rates run from about $20 an hour to much higher for experienced and highly recommended tutors.
Private Lessons
If you are accomplished at something other than dance -- playing the piano or the flute, perhaps, or singing -- you can build a private clientele and charge $30 and
up. Post flyers in dance schools and shops, or spend a little venture capital to advertise your services in
Backstage or Show
Business. Once again, another place to be listed is the Parents
League.
Accompanist
Mark Jelks is a stellar example of a dancer who is also an accompanist at top studios. You may have heard him on CD's created with David Howard such as
"Classics for Kids," and now on a CD from Finis Jhung called
"The
Magic of Mark Jelks." There are other dancer/accompanists around town, too. If you're a talented pianist or drummer, submit your resume to studio owners or ask
your favorite teachers for a private audition.
Dance Teacher
Teaching dance should never be thought of as a place holder until you get a performing job. See
Jane Donovan's excellent column on this subject in
Talent in 3D. However, if you genuinely love to teach and if you've had some experience at your local studio, you can work out a way to combine teaching with going to auditions
and performing.
Stacey and I used to sub for one another and we were religious about visiting each other's classes regularly to stay abreast of the curricula. That
way, the students never felt abandoned when one of us had another commitment, and the classes progressed as planned. This held true both for children's classes
and adult classes. That was a special situation, but you can probably arrange for something similar if
you are up front with the studio owner when you interview for a job.
One possibility is to explain that you will need some flexibility in your schedule and that you would like to have a student assistant who could take over the classes if
need be.
Fees for teaching range from $15 an hour in some suburbs to
$35-$40 an hour in Manhattan for newcomers and much more for the
big names. Some studios give you a split of the take, but that
usually doesn't happen for children's classes.
Model
If you're 5'9" or taller, think about contacting a leading modeling agency such as
Ford. And no matter how tall you are, hop on over to DanceArt.com's
Dance Club
Board where you can ask Susan or Stacey what it takes to be a dancewear catalogue model.
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WARNING: Watch out for people who approach you in New York
City and claim to be "managers" for models. They will tell you that you're gorgeous and offer to photograph your portfolio for a staggering sum to get
you started. Do not fall for this scam! |
Dancewear Store or Music Store Clerk/Manager
Capezio's, Freed of London and Sansha need your enthusiasm and expertise. So does Tower Records. You get a salary, probably low 20's, plus benefits, and the
bosses are used to dealing with people who need time off to audition and perform.
Usher
There are lots of theatres in NYC and they all need pleasant people to hand out playbills and say "This way, please." Pay varies with the size of the venue. You get
to see the performances for free and you'll have your morning and afternoon hours off except on matinee days. You never know where this might lead. Maria Di
Dia, a friend of mine from my Ballet Repertory days, started as an usher at the Empire Theater on 47th Street. She was eventually promoted to theater manager and
she now runs her own successful company, Maria Productions, Inc., located on Broadway in the heart of the Theatre District with hits such as "The Blue Man
Group" and "The Donkey Show" to her credit. She also produces Jacques D'Amboise's
National Dance Institute.
Dog Walker
Are you a pooch person? You can collect $10 per dog per hour twice a day taking city dogs out for a stroll. Some adept dog walkers handle ten leashes at a time
with no problem. Post flyers in your building and in veterinary offices in your neighborhood, or simply approach dog owners in the park and offer your services.
Cat and/or Plant Sitter
Do felines fancy you and vice versa? List yourself with the local pet store as a reliable cat sitter and you can start pocketing $25 a visit for giving Tabby her daily
rations and staying a bit to let her have some lap time while her owners are away. If you are also asked to water the plants, tack on an extra $5. Be sure to leave a
note saying how adorable Tabby was and reassuring her "parents" that she wasn't a finicky eater. They'll want you back.
Babysitter/Live-In Sitter/Summer Nanny
You can make $5 a hour up to much more. List yourself with the
Parents League. Word of mouth also works wonders. Or take
Nancy Bielski's 11:30 class at
STEPS regularly. You could end up sitting for her daughters, Sophie and Tess, but only if NYCB's Jenifer Ringer gives up her current claim to the job. Nancy has
used a succession of ballerina babysitters over the years and she's very well-connected to ballerina moms such as Cheryl Yaeger and Kathleen Moore who also
need sitters.
Birthday Party Clown or Ballerina
You can charge $50 an hour and up for themed birthday parties. List your services with the
Parents League and advertise in
Big
Apple Parent.
Companion to an Elderly Person
Check the classifieds in The New York Times
under "Household Help Wtd.", especially on Sundays. Rates vary. Some people do this full-time, but you would be
looking for part-time opportunities to relieve the regular caregiver evenings or weekends.
Personal Assistant
Again, check the Times, also under "Household Help Wtd." The job entails being a kind of private secretary, often for an East Side socialite. Rates are not
published. Negotiate.
Handmade Crafts Business
One enterprising ABT dancer rakes in extra dollars by making exquisite bun wreaths and selling them on consignment for $16 each at the
Ballet
Shop. Other
dancers I know make and sell jewelry, hair ornaments, hand-painted silk throw pillows, Christmas tree decorations and even dance bags. Some offer their wares at
retail outlets. Others advertise, while still others rely on word-of-mouth. For help figuring out how to pay for supplies and set your prices, visit
Independent Means.
The site, formerly called An Income of Her Own, focuses on women under
twenty, but the advice could apply to any small business owner.
Hat/Coat Check Person
My source, a STEPS "schol," (a "schol" is a scholarship
student - they work at the desk, clean the studio, assist in classes, etc. in exchange for
free classes) says the tips are phenomenal and that the job is a lot easier than waiting table. Her advice is to pop into restaurants and hotels to find
out whether there are spots open.
Office Temp
If you're a word-processing whiz, a Web guru, and/or have the people skills to be a charming receptionist, look on the front page of the Sunday Help Wanted
section of the Times and apply to some of the temp companies listed there. One ad I'm looking at right now lists openings in such glam industries as Entertainment,
Music, Cosmetics, Publishing, Internet, Investment Banking, Fashion and Advertising. Most jobs pay $15 to $18 an hour. Some of the companies have Web sites.
Here are three top examples for you to visit: United Staffing Systems
(Click on the Office
Support channel); Forum Temporary Services and
Madison Avenue
Temporary Service.
Free-Lance Writer
This, obviously, was my choice back when I was a young dancer and I'm still at it. My bible while I was getting started was a monthly magazine called
Writer's Digest. Another good magazine is
The
Writer. Also, you might want to order a copy of my book, Breaking into Article
Writing. It's out of print, but Amazon.com
will search for a copy. And put the annual Writer's
Market into your electronic shopping cart as well, so you can learn where to sell your work and how big a
check you can expect to receive. As examples, specialty magazines pay from
$100 - $350 per article or short story, while major magazines pay from
$1500 - $4000.
Book advances run from $500 to six figures. You have to make back your advance before you start collecting royalties, which means a percentage of the publisher's
earnings. For the record, most books don't make back their advances.
A Final Word to the Wise
Think of yourself as a successful entrepreneur instead of as a dancer who's patching together a living. Those of us who have embraced this lifestyle, approaching it in
an absolutely upbeat and businesslike fashion, can tell you that the pluses far outweigh the minuses. We probably work harder than we would for any boss, but we
pretty much make our own hours and we're free graciously to decline jobs that don't appeal to us. Best of all, we can afford to live and work in NYC!
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AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT: Uncle Sam calls you a sole proprietor and an independent contractor. You have to keep your paper work straight and pay your taxes just like
anybody else. Jump on over to the IRS
site for some special help in this area. There's even a "learning lab" with
tips for
teens.
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Meanwhile, Back in the Dance World
OK, enough of Real Life 101! I've been meaning to remind you that New York not only boasts the major dance companies but also teems with terrific
performances by smaller troupes and touring ensembles. Summer 2000 for example will offer, among others, the chance to see Dance Africa 2000, the National
African-American Ballet, Restoration Dance Africa Ensemble, Baryshnikov's White Oak Project, Sarah East Johnson and Hope Clark, Donald Byrd/The Group,
Fourth Dimension Dance, Carol Nolte and Diane May, Michael Mao Dance, Beppie Blanket, Alpha-Omega Theatrical Dance Company, Dances For Wave Hill,
Bebe Miller, Douglas Dunn, Pucci Sport, Philadanco, Trisha Brown, David Parsons, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, Chen and Dancers, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane, the
Bolshoi Ballet, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Garth Fagan Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, Tap Extravaganza 2000 and Three Point Juncture, plus groups
from Tibet, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Mexico and France. This truly is the Dance Capital of the world!
See you in class!
Sondra
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