Crunching the Numbers
As part of my diagram in Module 1, I identified ethical considerations within my practice. One such consideration that stuck out to me was the issue of personal finance. Within my diagram I referenced an article by Lyndsey Winship that discussed how Covid-19 had catastrophically affected freelance dancers.
It occurred to me that this article was one of the few instances in which I had seen any real discussion of the financial reality of being a professional freelance dancer, especially in times of crisis. It made me wonder why it has taken a global pandemic for the difficulties dancers face in this area to gain national attention. Within British society in general, discussing money is relatively taboo, and it seems to me that this trend is even more extreme within the dance sector. The combination of stiff competition for jobs, alongside the dangerous mindset (which albeit is fading) that hardship makes you a better artist, leaves a perfect opportunity for dancers to be financially exploited.
La Biennale di Venezia, with which Wayne McGregor is currently affiliated as the Director of the Dance Department, recently came under fire on social media for charging ‘successful applicants’ €80 to register. This, coupled with the fact that the 3 month ‘training programme’ is considered by many to be more of an unpaid work contract, and that travel and accommodation were initially not paid for, led many to accuse the organisation of taking advantage of vulnerable graduates and early-career dancers.
This unfortunately is not an isolated incident. In my career I have attended open auditions for large companies that required a fee to participate, and have travelled (often internationally) for auditions entirely at my own expense. Only once have I ever been offered any sort of reimbursement for travel costs. The issue with this is not only that it is unethical, but that it also excludes dancers who do not come from financial privilege, reinforcing the existing issue of elitism that I feel exists within the contemporary dance world. Rather ironic for a dance form that prides itself on being ‘inclusive’.
All dance companies face some level of financial constraint; hence it is unrealistic to expect six figure salaries and large bonuses. However, the current practices of charging dancers to audition, not contributing anything towards travel and accommodation, and offering unpaid internships would be enormously controversial in any other field. I feel this says a lot about how dance is often seen as a ‘glorified hobby’ rather than a job within society, despite the fact that to train professionally often costs more than a traditional degree, alongside all the costs of maintaining your technique and skill-level once you have graduated. I also feel the current pandemic has shown the precarity of our industry, and how those within it are neither respected nor valued financially.
I could write for hours about this topic and I think it could be a really interesting area to explore in my inquiry.
Article mentioned:
La Biennale di Venezia:
https://www.labiennale.org/en/dance/2021/biennale-college-danza-2021-dancers
OH .....MY.... GOSH.....I love love love this post! And im so glad that I finally stumbled across your blog page. Not only do I agree with all you have put into words, but it also touches on where I think my inquiry will take me. In m1 I touched on differentiation and the wealth divide due to working in two very different financial dance school.... making co-curriculum dance inclusive for all. BUT seeing the world step on line now, has shown the cracks of the wealth divide become even bigger! essentially making even educational in some parts unavailable!
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know about this article you have mentioned and il defiantly take a look at it. It insane to think a career that is sometimes seen as elitist is normally self funding. I remember a cruise liner company I worked for very briefly that didn’t “pay” you for rehearsals. (Their words) “We pay for your accommodation/flights and you receive 5Euros a day for food. THEY DONT PAY YOU TO ESSENTIALLY TRIAN FOR THIER SHOWS!! SAY WHAT! This was a large well know company! I was in shock! Do they think its a previliege to work for them...this is a job not a fun 7 months holiday we are embarking on! Could you imagine telling a city banker in London that he has to train for 6 weeks without pay so he can ‘possibly’ have the job after that ! He would laugh you down the street! I could also talk for hours on this. and wish I could actually send a voice note on my feelings towards this! The problem is there is so many under paid jobs out there for dancers!And weirdly, no one ever feels they have the right to say we need more money or we wont do that. Ultimately because we love our job you just get on and do it.... I think dancers/singers and actors Nowadays are slightly more inclined to not work for small wages, but certainly when I was auditioning I was happy to just get the job, and anything I earned seemed amazing compared to my waitress job I hated.
Its funny as im reading a book at the moment called."This is going to hurt” -this is a true life recall told in a humourous way from an ex doctor- In it he says "‘The NHS should […] acknowledge its below the prevailing rate but they are in the job because its their calling”.
Isn’t this just insane that your passion or ‘calling’ is seen in such a low disregard to earn a living??
https://www.waterstones.com/book/this-is-going-to-hurt/adam-kay/9781509858637
Sorry I have rattled on so much, great post. Thanks for sharing the links.Ill defo continue to follow your journey. xx
Hi Claire,
DeleteThanks so much for your comment. Yes I think schooling and training going online has exacerbated the wealth gap even further unfortunately. I'm really encouraged to see that I'm not the only one that has a lot to say on this ahahah. Also that book sounds super interesting!
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Alys I LOVE this post and I'm so glad you're talking about this topic! I'm a huge advocate for not being squeamish about discussing finance a) because it's so so important for the overall quality of your life and b) because despite this, it's pretty much never discussed in school, during training or at home/amongst friends etc. I'm from a Musical theatre background and it's just the same as you've described: the expectation that because this career is your 'calling' or 'passion' that you'll probably be willing to do it for free, fraudulent or just unethical castings and agencies requesting up front fees, the lack of recognition in society that this is a job like any other with a LOT of expenses.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing you touched on that is abundantly clear in the performing arts is elitism. It's hard to look anywhere in this job and not see people from financially privileged backgrounds. Of course they still face the rejection and uncertainty of these industries, but they also have access to a lot more which I think makes the playing field a lot more uneven. Equally the industry is teaming with performers who didn't grow up with money and who face enormous financial pressure to keep up with expensive memberships, exorbitant training fees etc etc. Not to mention the performers out there who never even got to try. The kids with talent who's families couldn't afford to send them to classes or who don't consider the arts a viable career. I know for my part, I begged to go to ballet lessons at about age 4 and my mother brought me along to the nearest school to check it out but, being a single mother, she just couldn't afford it. I can't wait to hear more about this and read your posts. I know this is an aspect that I'm considering for my inquiry so I'm eager to listen to other people's findings and viewpoints!
Same as Clare, sorry this is so long but it's so interesting! x
Hi Shelley,
DeleteThanks so much for your comment. It's interesting to hear that this issue exists in the musical theatre world as well, since I'm in the contemporary dance industry I don't often interact with people from that side of the industry as much. It's also disheartening to hear that elitism exists in the musical theatre world too. There definitely needs to be more work done to make the arts in general more accessible, and that needs to come from the top (i.e. government funding and initiatives) in my opinion.
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Amazing blog Alys, you've made so, so many important points about the way the industry and its workers are seen and undervalued. It has been such an interesting read.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'm someone who always wants security and to know what's going to happen, where money will come from etc, so I baffle myself in that I chose a profession with so many uncertainties and financial imbalances, but like you say, when it's your passion and you're used to getting on with things, you just get on with it.
But we shouldn't have to. Like Clare has said above, asking another profession to work for no pay or to pay an interview fee would be met with an outcry so it shouldn't be acceptable for the arts. There seems to be this attitude of 'well you chose the profession, so deal with the consequences', when if you look throughout history, the changes, standards, laws, employer obligations, ethics codes etc within different industries have come about because old ways were deemed unacceptable and workers needed better treatment and legal protection - yet here we still are.
I agree there's a massive contradiction in an industry that calls itself inclusive yet brackets out a huge population because they can't afford travel, audition fees, classes etc etc - elitism manifesting in both their expectation that you can afford it and in their opinion of themselves and how you should feel that the 'privilege' of getting to work with them (or just to have them look at you as you apply) should be payment enough. It's not enough.
This would be such an interesting and important area to investigate and I'd love to see where you go with it. I suppose you just have you figure out which 'gap' you want to fill with your research xx
Hi Roanne,
DeleteThank you for your comment! I completely agree with everything you've said. I also am someone that constantly thinks about financial security, not only in the short term but also in the long run, and I have had people make extremely disparaging comments surrounding the fact that I wish to have a career in the arts and be able to live solely off my earnings. I feel that perhaps the lack of education surrounding personal finance could be a method to almost pull the wool over our eyes in terms of how poorly we are valued financially, so then when we have issues organisations and often the government can just accuse us of money mismanagement?
This topic is so broad and unfortunately this issue so prevalent that I'm really having trouble trying to hone in on a specific aspect of it!
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That is so true, I think even in general education there needs to be a lot more focus on 'real life' issues like dealing with finances, tax, insurance etc so it isn't just regarded as this 'grown up' thing that isn't talked about and you magically acquire the knowledge of. And then professional arts training should cover this specific to the arts - like you say if they don't teach you, you don't know your worth and what you should be asking for as absolute standard and minimum - hence it isn't fought for more.You even hear stories, be they 'rags to riches' or teachers, choreographers, directors etc struggling when they started out, but nothing changes, there is the expectation that you'll struggle instead of a move to change the culture.
DeleteHope you can narrow it down - maybe see if there's a journal or article that sparks your interest or if there are recorded interviews with an artist who discusses it (if they exist...) x
Alys I am so glad I have found your blog!! I am thinking for my inquiry at looking into career transitions/retirement for dancers and one of the themes that comes up a lot is financial hardship - the need for that more stable/secure income for mortgages and deposits etc which again has been heightened by the pandemic! Looking forward to seeing your inquiry develop as I'm sure some of our literature will cross paths xx
ReplyDeleteHi Georgina,
DeleteThanks for reading my blog post, I love your idea. One of the reasons I am so adamant about improving personal finance education in our industry is because we rarely think about it in the long run. The emphasis seems to always be on making enough to survive, as opposed to making enough to save and therefore plan for retirement/career transition/property purchasing etc. I look forward to reading your blogs! x
Wow Alys, like everyone else had said - this is just great! It is just so relevant to everyone I think. It is something that has tormented me on a daily basis for years, well for nearly my whole career. And especially NOW post Brexit (I worked solely in mainland Europe) and with COVID. Like you say it is practically a taboo topic, especially with older generations I feel. I think now people are getting a bit more savvy and especially among ourselves we have the courage to share our thoughts on it. I guess there's always been the problem that so many of us, myself included have been happy to work for very little. I was just happy to have a job in the performing arts!!! With such fierce competition, we are all dispensable. It really is a very worrying issue!!!
ReplyDeleteI mean I always remember them saying warningly in Theatre School " if you want to really make money, don't go into the performing arts." Which yes ok to an extent, is obvious, only the fortunate few make it to the big bucks BUT that doesn't mean everyone else should work for pittance.
Like I said I am constantly followed by an ill feeling for the future, having no kind of retirement scheme from my freelance work. When I worked in Germany there was something set up there for performers as a way to help protect for their futures. I'll find a link out, I think you can put the page into English. Maybe it's just worth a look if you're thinking of going down this route for your enquiry. It may also not be helpful but you will see ;) maybe just to see other countries approach or how a similar model could be set up...
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.versorgungskammer.de/&prev=search&pto=aue
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts on this. It feels like it would be a really good discussion topic on it's own! Everyone could have a good rant and get a lot off their chest probably. It was an inspiring read and I look forward to reading more form you Alys. Good luck xx
Hi Lauren,
DeleteThanks for the link, I will definitely check it out! It's common knowledge that the performing arts are a difficult industry to make money in, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be paid a living wage. I also have worked in Italy so the issue of Brexit is in my opinion relevant to this issue too.
Thanks so much for your comment,
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