Annual Salary
£0 to £0
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Performing arts or Games or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Performing arts or Games or go back to all job sectors
Dancers use movement to perform for live audiences or in recorded performances.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; away from home
There will be
0.5% more Dancer jobs in 2027.
You'll specialise in a form of dance, like:
Typically you could:
You could work in a creative studio, in a theatre, at a TV studio, at a film studio, on a cruise ship or in the community.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding, you'll travel often and you may spend nights away from home.
You can get into this job through:
You'll usually need a degree or diploma in professional dance or musical theatre. These take 2 to 3 years to complete and are offered by dance schools, performing arts schools and universities.
Academic qualifications may not be essential if you show enough talent at audition.
You could get a Dance and Drama Award to help with fees and living costs.
You'll usually need:
There is no set entry route to become a dancer but it may be useful to do a relevant subject like:
For entry to some courses at level 3 and above you may need to attend an audition.
You'll usually need:
Dancing is very competitive and you'll need to develop your skills by getting as much dancing experience as possible.
You could do this through:
This can also help you to build a network of contacts in the dance profession. This will be useful when looking to get experience or a job.
You can apply directly to become a dancer, if you have a high level of training and ability in at least one form of dance.
Most professional dancers start taking dance classes from a young age. You can take graded exams from awarding bodies like:
Classical ballet dancers start training very young, usually at 10 or 11 years old. It's possible to make a career in contemporary dance if you start at a later age, if you're prepared to work hard and put in a lot of training.
You could join One Dance UK and Equity for professional development and to make industry contacts.
You can find out more about becoming a dancer from:One Dance UK; Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre
You can also get more details about working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
Many dancers combine their performance work with part time teaching or behind the scenes work in the arts.
With experience, you could become a choreographer or become self employed and set up your own dance school.
With further training, you could go into community arts development or dance therapy.
You'll need: