Do you have to go to college to be a professional dancer?

Question

I was wondering, do you have to go to college to become a professional dancer? When I get out of high school I plan on moving to California, and become a dancer. But I wanted to know if you had to go to college for it.

Answer 1

I would reccomend going to a preforming arts school or a college with a really good dance program.

If you have a degree in dance, you have a better chance of getting a job.

A lot of studios require some type of degree in order to teach.

Answer 2

No, in fact you probably shouldn't. When you plan to be a professional dancer, college takes years from your career. I know that a lot of professional ballet companies have dance schools, and you can study with them and hope to join the company after that. But otherwise, as far as I know you just jump right in and start auditioning. But maybe you're talking about hip-hop or something like that, in which case I don't know a whole lot. I just know that if you want to be a ballerina, you should probably hold off college until you retire from professional dancing. Good luck!

Answer 3

My daughter just graduated from a major university with a BFA in dance. Yes, it's really a college (with a football stadium and everything) and, no, you don't have to go to become a professional dancer. You just need to be trained by teachers who went as far in their professional dance careers as you plan on going. (You also have to be really, really good.) If you come from an area where your teachers never danced professionally under full-fledged contracts (being paid for a local Nutcracker gig doesn't count, not does winning prize money for a touring dance competition), you can't expect to jump into the professional world of dance without more training.

So the question becomes: how do you get more training? Aside from a college dance program, you'd have to take classes from a professional dance studio such as the EDGE Performing Arts Center in L.A. That means time and money to take those classes. How are you going to pay for them? And what happens if you get injured and are no longer covered by your parent's health insurance? By going the college route, the money you spend on dance classes is also going towards earning your bachelors degree so you're not forever forced to work in food service or retail to supplement your measly dance income. AND your parents can keep you on their health insurance plan until you graduate.

Keep in mind that pre-professional dancers need to be in dance  classes at least 15 hours a week while they are in high school and at least 20 hours a week after that. That kind of schedule makes it hard to work to support yourself and keep up your dance skills. You also need experience with professional-level auditions before you intend to strike out as an aspiring professional dancer or you're in for a very rude shock. If your only sense of how good you are is how you stack up at  your home studio or what your friends say about you as a dancer, you're not ready to go pro.

Otherwise, best of luck to you!

Answer 4

It's not really a college, it's called Preforming Art School. And you don't always go to it, but it's good to. Sometimes your studio will offer you a job or something. But Preforming  Art School isn't just dance. It's like, singing, dance, and acting together.

Answer 5

um...not a college but usually a preforming arts school. And you usually do have to go unless some person with a major company sees you at competition or somewhere but the chances of that are slim. Id go with the schooling (or theres always so you think you can dance) lol

Answer 6

No, not really. Try going on SYTYCD. (so you think you can dance) I'll vote for you! Try teaching at the studio where Britney Spears works at on the side, while going to school. (school will look great on your resume) Talk to some counslers about how to become a pro dancer. You will probably have to go to a lot of auditions for movies or broadway shows. Get an agent... GOOD LUCK!