<A HREF="http://www.interlog.com/~dtrc/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.interlog.com/~dtrc/</A> <P>worth a look - especially if you're a canadian dancer considering your re-training options (kim glasco???........ )

This site has some very encouraging words, if I dare quote them:<P>"Most dancers retrain in either entrepreneurial or professional careers.<P><BR>The academic averages of dancers who choose to go to University are very high.<P><BR>The experience and discipline of having done something in depth for so long is easily transferred to academic work.<P><BR>The nature of how they learn, that is the mind/body connection, serves them very well in other situations.<P><BR>Skills dancers have are easily transferable to almost anything they undertake."

*Ahem* I know quite a few former dancers who have gone into other fields. Dance writers, artists(myself) several photographers, physical therapy sorts, not to mention choreographers,and teachers. And those are all dance related. Then there's attorneys, and more. These are just some that I know of personally. I did a talk once, along with a couple of these others, at a dance company's summer student program about what to do when you "don't dance anymore." The students were all very interested, and most had actually thought about what they might be doing, or that they would need to be doing something. That's more than I did when I was their age. <BR>The impression that I got from these young people was that they wanted to know what possibilities there were of things that they could do that still had a sense of dance about them when they were ready to hang up their shoes.<p>[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited June 24, 2000).]

Yes, Maggie, I too know many dancers who are now doing something else. However, it remains difficult for some. More than most other performing arts careers, dance is the most cruel in limiting, naturally, the age of the professional dancer.

I think the key here is for dancers who have moved on to other rewarding things to inspire the others. Resource centers are extremely useful and could provide many areas of information. Some of those things were mentioned in the article, the practical applications. I see also providing inspiration and mentoring, using those dancers mentioned above, to speak, or offer their own story and advice. I think this can give the transition more meaning besides just getting on. Of course, this is may already be happening in the resource centers. Did I just say resource centers? The one above seems to be the only one. Are there any elsewhere? I'm not familiar with any in the U.S. What a shame.<P>[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited June 28, 2000).]<p>[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited June 28, 2000).]

Yes AGMA offers one in NYC. I had a friend who went and got some office skills, but to tell you the truth I don't think that it was the kind of "transition" help that she required. Typing and receptionist training did not address the loss of her identity. It may have got better this was about 8 years ago.

Right, Lucy. Not at all what I would envision. A program can't just offer a way to make a paycheck. People's identities must go beyond, even though making a living is integral. Counseling, mentoring, resources, training and education, and example are all important in this pioneering approach. I would sincerely hope that that this place has evolved. <BR>On a lighter note, can you imagine dancers going into, say, car sales the way retired football and baseball players do? My point is, that maybe dancers have a better developed potential for more fulfilling things to pursue (in my opinion) than many athletes do, if not the financial cushion. The counseling, et al above would serve to open up that fact to retiring dancers. Is anyone getting the idea that I have strong feelings about this? lol

Well, I know of one dancer who recently retired and went into printer sales, or something like that. From what I heard, he's making more money and feeling fulfilled. So, sales isn't that bad.<P>I do think there is a dancers' resource center in NYC, perhaps the same one that Lucy mentioned but my understanding is that they provide encouragement and support as well.

IMO, maggie is right on track in saying "maybe dancers have a better developed potential for more fulfilling things to pursue" and "counseling..would serve to open up that fact to retiring dancers"<P>there has been a bit of research in this area in australia - if anyone has anything much in print or online, it would be ausdance <A HREF="http://ausdance.anu.edu.au/" TARGET=_blank>http://ausdance.anu.edu.au/</A> and of course in england there is the dancers benevolent fund - which as i understand it is more about financially enabling or assisting ex-dancers choices, rather than counselling. i do know dancers who have benefited from THEIR assistance.<P>lucy, that must have been SO depressing an approach for your friend - i know if it was me, it would certainly have just made me angry! <P>of course, looked at objectively, these skills might well be the single most-valuable tool an ex-dancer could be given, to move on, no matter WHAT they actually want to do, but it would be hard to see it that way when, as you say, you felt you had 'just lost your identity'.<P>i say that because these days, basic computer skills can be the key to EVERYTHING job-wise, whether it is so your resume looks good, your grant application looks professional, your university papers are legible and well-referenced etc, your dance reviews are well-presented, your applications for a university place or for skills credit or whatever all may look 'acceptable' when they stand alongside everyone else's in the world of study and work today.<P>dance students at the university here, MUST do resumé writing on the computer as part of their basic training. when i saw what they were producing, i understood better why i was having difficulty getting work (at that stage, i didn't have access to a computer): what they PRESENT as, in their raw state as 19 or 20 year old new graduates, was so much more impressive than how i presented my many many years of experience -some of it in prestigious situations- it was all a matter of the current sort of 'hype' that people put on things...