Author: Nat Cowx

Four key questions to consider in your career transition

Posted on by Nat Cowx

I meet many dancers who are at various places across the spectrum below with regard to their career transition:

All are great positions to be – from having no idea – where a myriad of possibilities are open for you to explore, to having some idea – meaning you can start testing out and exploring in more depth, to having so many ideas you don’t know which to choose – meaning you have a luxury of choice and can apply the next level of criteria (whether they be earning potential, speed of training or sheer fulfilment factor.)

I’d encourage every dancer, no matter where you are on this spectrum, to consider four key questions:

1.      What are you most passionate about in life?

2.      What are you particularly good at, or skilled in, beyond dance? Could be teaching, talking to people, understanding the science behind movement, or composing amazing camera shots, could be cooking nutritional foods.

3.      What does the world need, or need more of? From more abstract answers such as ‘compassion and patience’ or ‘fighters for justice’, or more job specific such as ‘great primary teachers’ you will have a view – and there are sites you can check to see which jobs/functions are massively in growth.

4.      What you can be paid for – now?

It can help to draw 4 overlapping circles to help you explore this, to get to the Japanese ‘sweet spot’of ikigai, which roughly translates as ‘reason for being,’ where all four areas intersect.

In a perfect world, we’d all find the sweet spot in the middle, and going through this process can help you to identify a number of different options for your future.

For more information, or help exploring your next steps, book an appointment with a DCD coach by emailing dancers@thedcd.org.uk or find out more here.

Career transition and the demands of parenting

Posted on by Nat Cowx

A movement is happening in the world of performing arts, and at its front line is the Parents in Performing Arts Campaign. DCD has recently joined them as a proud strategic partner.

In their own words:

“PIPA’s vision is of a world in which carers and parents are able to flourish in the Performing Arts at every stage in their career. The Industry benefits from maintaining a skilled, experienced and varied workforce.

PIPA enables and empowers parents, carers and employers to achieve sustainable change in attitudes and practices in order to attract, support and retain a more diverse and flexible workforce. By working in partnership we raise awareness, find creative solutions and promote best practice in the UK Performing Arts.”

As soon as I heard about PIPA’s work, it immediately resonated with me through the countless conversations I’ve had with dancers who are transitioning or considering transition to better fit with the demands of parenting.

But what if dancers could continue performing longer, if they wanted to, by being better supported and offered more comprehensive provision when they become parents? What if it were easier for them to return to working on stage? And a more suitable lifestyle for their family once they were back on stage?

Solutions are already being discussed and tested by some of the UK’s high-profile arts organisations including the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

DCD attended PiPA’s recent Symposium, where participants from across the preforming arts discussed issues from fostering positive workplace cultures to practical arrangements to enable performers to continue in their careers. We’re also excited to see the results of PiPAs forthcoming research project looking specifically at dance, music and theatre.

To join the movement, or find out more, head to http://www.pipacampaign.com/

 

Photo credit: PiPA

The next generation of dancers

Posted on by Nat Cowx

Four years into running DCD’s Schools and Conservatoires Programme, it’s still fascinating to see the new issues and questions that young dancers bring up in the sessions.

Research shows that the earlier dancers give thought to their life and career post performance, the more successful and positive the transition, and the more fulfilling their lives might be – this is why we run workshops for dance students in their final years of training in schools and conservatoires across the UK.

We recently made our first ever first to The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, delivering sessions to students in each of the three years of study on the BA in Modern Ballet course which is delivered in partnership with DCD Partner Company, Scottish Ballet.

As well as building knowledge of the incredible range of transferable skills that dancers have, and the students’ individual personal qualities, the workshops also give the opportunity to hear about life as a professional dancer and beyond from some of DCD’s supported dancers, in this case Mikah Smillie, Eve Mutso and Araminta Wraith.

One particularly fascinating discussion came around the level of importance of social media presence and profile in getting work as a dancer. Long gone are the days when dancers barely engaged with technology. The internet is now firmly a part of society and indeed the dance studio. It’s a new challenge that’s being faced by the next generation of dancers who have grown up having an online presence, and all the pros and cons that come with that.

The conclusion of the discussion seemed to be that, although social media presence can be useful to increase a dancer’s profile and that of their company, it’s unlikely that they would get work simply through that – and so there’s no substitute for a great audition! Nor for the human contact and personal networks that are naturally built through a career. One piece of advice that almost always comes up from professional dancers to students is: “always be nice, because people want to work with nice people.” Advice that rings trues both during and after a performance career.

Some things never change.

 

 

Photo credit: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

A global perspective on dance futures

Posted on by Nat Cowx

In March I was invited to speak at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport in Madrid, Spain to contribute to an international conference on the future of transition support for Spanish dancers.

This was the third and last seminar of the project “Dance Futures – Creating Transition Schemes for Dancers and Promoting Sustainable Mobility in the Dance Sector”. This project, organised by the International Federation of Actors (FIA) and the International Organisation for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD) aims to put in motion the establishment of a professional transition scheme for dancers in three countries in Europe – Spain, Belgium and Hungary. The project is funded by the European Union.

Seminars such as this offer a critical opportunity for key stakeholders in the country to come together to discuss practical ways in which long term and sustainable support for dancers can be established.  We heard from Educationalists, Dance Company Directors, Government Ministers and dance artists living and working in Spain. We also heard from dancers who had navigated career transition with little support. There is clearly a strong will from many key players to establish a road map  towards a transition centre for dancers. No more so than César Casares from ConARTE and Danza-T, who is a strong and passionate advocate for all dancers.

During the days after my visit my colleagues were continuing the discussing with a National Conference on this subject. It will take some time, but I have no doubt that significant progress will be made, which will have inestimable impact the lives of dancers in Spain, the cultural sector and wider Spanish society.

I am always privileged to present on the work of Dancers’ Career Development (this time alongside my colleagues from France, Germany and Holland). 45 years ago, DCD was the first Transition Programme for dancers to be set up worldwide and we continue to play an important role in the global conversation. I see sharing our challenges and achievements as a critical part of our work, particularly when it results in new programmes being established.

DCD are able to do this work through the invaluable framework of the International Organisation for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD) which celebrates it’s 25th Anniversary this year. The IOTPD is the international network of organisations dedicated to offering professional dancers the resources and support they need when facing the end of their performance career. There are now 10 countries with transition programmes worldwide. One of the initiatives set up by the IOTPD is the  Philippe Braunschweig Grant.  This is an education grant for professional dancers who have had an international career and who don’t qualify for support from any one of the countries where they have danced. The next deadline for this grant is 30th April. Take a look here for more details:  http://www.iotpd.org/IOTPD-Philippe-Braunschweig-Grant.

More than one true calling

Posted on by Nat Cowx

What’s your calling?  What have you been put on earth to do?  What are you passionate about?  For many, this question is a luxury, as we work various jobs to make ends meet, or fall into careers rather than actively choosing them.

For professional dancers, their dance career is the near-miraculous marriage between a passion, a calling and peak talent.  It becomes more than a career – instead, an identity, creating a specific challenge to overcome in the acceptance of the need for transition.

And not only that, in coaching professional dancers on their transition to new careers post performance, one of the things that strikes me is the common belief that, having only had one career to date, the same must be true post dancing: The belief and pressure to find the next one true career.

And it’s no surprise – in fact, we are trained to believe that we must choose just one thing from a very early age. Which, to me, creates a whole load of pressure to ‘get it right.’  And we start this training really early, as the TED talk ‘More than one true calling’ highlights.  As early as ages three or four, we ask children “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  (Incidentally, this is an early example of linking job with identity.)

So, as dancers come to consider and imagine their lives post performance, having dedicated between 20 and 25 years of their lives to this one career (combination of training and professional career), it can be really scary and pressurised to not only consider ‘what next’ but to imagine that there must just be one thing.

What if, instead, we encouraged children, teens, young adults and anyone going through a career transition, to think and talk about what interested them?  To reflect on what they enjoyed, and what about a specific activity or interaction or environment that they enjoyed?  Doing this recently with a coaching client, she generated a whole list of areas that interested her. Digging deeper, she was able to identify what made those things interesting – and in so doing, effectively created a list of criteria against which she could evaluate training or career options for the future.

And who says even then we can only do one thing?  As an independent facilitator and coach, I get my work and satisfaction from more than one source, whether that be my own private corporate, charity or individual clients; freelance work I do for larger companies; or work I do with partners like DCD (Dancers’ Career Development.)  Some areas generate more financial return than others, others more personal reward. Over time, I’ve managed to create more space for work I enjoy and gradually reduce the amount of work I do on projects that interest or inspire me less.

What if careers post performance could combine interest, passion and the reality of needing to earn a living?  Perhaps part time yoga/pilates teacher, ballet teacher and freelance dancer?  Or part time office job combined with independent personal training?  Or any manner of combinations that help to fulfil your desires and your pocket.   So few people have a job that satisfies every part of them in any case – so why not take a portfolio approach instead?

My job satisfies my professional interests, my need to contribute, some of my skillsets and (usually) my financial needs.  And I have needs outside those that I meet in other ways:  Social or activity groups to meet my need for a sense of belonging or community; friends that meet my need for closeness and being the 100% unguarded me, as well as my need for laughter and fun; courses and development that meet my constant need for learning & development (that may have nothing to do with my career intentions, for example my recent qualification in Indian Head Massage.) We are all more than our jobs.

In placing so much importance on finding the ‘one thing’ to do or be, I believe we limit ourselves and even cut ourselves off from the different facets of ourselves that make us fascinating human beings.  And – of course, if you do have a burning passion or calling and can do that – that’s great too.

My message:  There is no right or wrong way to do this. Explore every part of yourself and find a way to honour your many needs and interests.  Be unlimited.

 

Inspiration:  TED:  Emilie Wapnick: Why some of us don’t have one true calling, Oct 2015

Click here to watch.

The evolution of DCD

Posted on by Nat Cowx

Hello there. And welcome to our new look.

This new look and website, which we’re very excited to share with you, are a reflection of how DCD, and our support for dancers in transition beyond a performance career, has evolved.

Our new look is based on the concept of the core – the strength of the centre, a determined focus and the fact that we know that, no matter at what point they are in their lives, a dancer will always be a dancer. It is not what they do, it is who they are – to their very core.

Our new logo is a circular brushstroke of continuous movement, as there is in dance and in the life long journey of career transition, with DCD and our support for the individual at the centre.

Originally founded in 1973 as ‘The Dancers’ Resettlement Fund’, we changed our name to Dancers’ Career Development in the 1980s as a result of DCD expanding our work to support all professional dancers in the UK to successfully transition beyond a performance career.

This change reflects the more rounded service DCD offers to dancers in terms of sustainable, long term career development.

Over time, the balance has shifted and the support services that dancers are increasingly coming to us for are those around practical, emotional and psychological support, including upskilling, coaching and workshops.

This new website will make accessing our support even easier for dancers, and demonstrate to our partners how they can help change the life of a dancer in transition.

As we respond to the changing needs of dancers, by offering initiatives such as our new online networking platform DCD Connect (coming soon!), and creating paid work experience placements for dancers through our Career Insights Programme – dancers will continue to be at the core of everything we do.

 

If you would like to support DCD to continue to change the lives of dancers in transition beyond a performance career, click here.

 

With enormous thanks to all those who have contributed to the creation of this new look and website: Brand Designer Nat Cowx; Web Developer and DCD supported dancer; Greig Cooke; and including photographs by Photographer Karen Hutchins,  Patrick Baldwin and Caroline Holden and Photographers and DCD supported dancers Lindsey Brook, Tim Cross, Nicole Guarino, Rimbaud Patron, Pierre Tappon, Stephen Berkley-White,  Andrew Ross, Johan Persson and Tyrone Singleton.