Do Dancers Need Agents?

Hollywood, CA (April 27, 2006) – Before the mid-eighties, dance agents didn’t exist. Auditions were simply cattle calls that resulted in sub-standard wages paid to the ones who were picked.

But by 1985, things had changed. A well-known dance teacher, Julie McDonald, was teaching jazz dance in California when a knee injury ended her career.

Forced to rethink her future as a teacher, she struggled through one job after another before wondering why dancers didn’t have agents like actors did.

Putting an ad in the Daily Variety for a dance audition resulted in 300 dancers showing up. Subsequently, Ms. McDonald landed her own office at one of L.A.’s top commercial agencies, Joseph, Helfond, & Rix. She was given a phone, a desk, and 50% of any commissions she brought in.

Thus, a new era was born.

Today, all freelance dancers need to find agents. First, the dancer auditions for the agency. If they give a good performance, they’re brought on by the agency and sent on auditions for employers.

Dancers have to be available 24/7 because auditions can come any time, any day and the ones who get there early are most likely going to get the jobs.

Once they land the job, the employer pays “scale plus 10%” which means the dancer gets scale pay and the agent gets the 10%. Although this can seem like a lot to be giving up, the dancer is relieved of the legwork that has to be done to find auditions.

Agents are not that easy to latch on to though and most only operate in L.A. and New York. For the rest of the hopefuls around the country, there are alternatives to finding auditions that might be closer to where they live.

One site in particular, Explore Talent www.exploretalent.com lets its members post their resume and headshots and then matches them up to auditions in their area.

More information on dancing as a career can be found at www.dancers411.com.