Being in the world of professional dance, especially within this current economic climate, networking has become one of the most important ways in which to find work. I am a true believer that in this chosen profession "who you know" can be extremely vital for staying in employment and I use many networking forms to stay in the so called loop.
Network Dance
This website was introduced to me whilst I was in my final year of training and comes with extreme appeal as unlike many networks for dancers, it is free. Consisting of the ability to create a personal profile where in which you can upload your CV, photos and videos for other members and in fact anyone with internet access to see. The greatest advantage of using this site, however, is that daily new posts are published with worldwide auditions, also covering most styles of dance. The added option to search specifically for certain genres of dance making the search hugely simple. Without websites such as these, knowledge about auditions would be near impossible.
Most recently I have used this site to look at specific companies I have been interested in as the network is also used as a database in which worldwide companies keep their contact information. The opportunity to be able to contact directors and companies individually is always beneficial as you then create a more personal relationship when its comes to wanting to show that certain director how specifically interested you are in working with their company.
I must admit that I do not use this network to its full potential as the fact that anyone who "googles" my name would be able to see what ever I publish about myself to not be ideal. I like to be able to keep some distance between what I do in my dancing career and what I do outside of it so that is impossible to effect any professional opportunities. I have always felt it is better to be safe than sorry on this subject.
Dancers Pro
Much like Network Dance, Dancers Pro is a website aimed to help dancers,choreographers, photographers, teachers and directors advertise themselves or their businesses on a much larger scale with very little difficulty. There are two types of memberships that can be chosen to suit the users need consisting of "Dancer" or "Job Post". Both of these choices are in fact free but to be able to apply for any of the posted jobs, a lot of them not being advertised on free websites like Network Dance, a monthly charge has to be paid.
I only discovered this website after my graduation and it is the main source of networking I use. This is maybe due to the fact that I have to pay for it and therefore wish to make good use of it but also most of the work I have done outside of company work since my graduation, such as the flash mob that I used as my first post on this blog, has been due to responding to advertisements on this website.
The profiles published on dancers pro have the same amount of privacy as Network Dance in the sense that your profile can be accessed by any domain and so I limit the amount of media I allow to be published. However one the most ideal aspects of this website is that photos and pre written cover letters can be stored privately, making applying for advertised work a lot quicker and easier if I am on the go.
Dance Europe
As well as a website that posts upcoming auditions. Dance Europe enables you to purchase a book containing almost every ballet company and contact globally.
This opens up the option to network and promote yourself via email.
Through the entirety of my final year in training, I sent a large amount of emails to companies I was interested in working with alongside my classmates that did the same.
The importance of writing the emails personally yet formally is vital as every vocational schools graduates are competing for the same attention from the directors.
Word of Mouth
Throughout my time in the dancing world it has become extremely apparent that although it is a global profession, oddly everybody within it is connected somehow.
This realisation can be used to a great advantage by dancers as it enables us to continuously learn how to improve within the career. Since I have moved to the london area, this being the best location to pursue dance within the UK in my opinion, I have found my connections have grown immensely and in turn I have found myself finding employment with much more ease than before I relocated.
It is also always greatly encouraging to meet those that are in the same position as your self and learn from each others experiences.
Having classmates that are placed all over the world, speaking to them about what they have experienced in their career and taking from that the knowledge of how I further better my own pursual of professional dancing is probably the most beneficial form of networking in terms of self improvement rather than direct employment.
Agents
I do not as yet have an agent as it is usually used by dancers who wish to work more towards the commercial and musical theatre sides of dancing and my current preferred genre is ballet. Although I can see the benefits of having at least one agent in terms of self promotion, particularly with these career paths.
I have previously in my career spoken with agents to learn about the benefits, most of which being the vast amount of knowledge and connections they usually have about upcoming auditions and opportunities that may never be advertised on public or even charged websites. Many auditions particularly for musical theatre and cruise ships can come with the option for auditions made especially for those who have agents. This of course would make your employment chances much greater as you are not amongst the masses auditioning (hundreds have been known to turn up to open auditions in London).
Blogging
Blogging is the newest form of networking I have been introduced to by taking part in this course. I am aware that many successful and famous dancers write blogs regularly so that readers can see how they are progressing in their career and give advice based upon their own experiences to future generations of hopeful dancers.
Personally other than learning interesting information about these professionals lives, it is in writing your own blog that I can see the most benefit. I am still very new to this type of networking although I can see the potential in voicing your own opinions and questions to a wide audience so that the accumulation of others experiences can help with your own professional growth.
My Ideal Network
It would be hard to say what my ideal network would be as the all of the above which I use benefit my career in very different ways. I also like the fact that I have to use more than one form of networking as I feel finding the "perfect" form that had it all would in fact limit you as you would no longer be searching for ways to improve your networking further.
I would, however, rather have more privatisation when it comes to publishing personal information such as my body dimensions, photos and videos as when it comes to applying for certain employment it is sometimes best to not show certain past experiences that would not appeal to what they are ideally looking for in an employer. Having a network that was useful and free would also be perfect but I understand I am being a little silly when it comes to the idea of that.
Improving my Networks
In terms of my use of the networks above, I need to look into using them to their full potential to widen my database and knowledge further.
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